On June 22nd, the two boards governing Nature Camp, the Nature Camp Foundation and Nature Camp, Inc., held a long range planning meeting. The purpose was to take a strategic look forward and see where Camp should head and whether we were on the right path to get there.
The NCF last had such a meeting in the spring of 2006, before the split from the Virginia Federation of Garden Clubs later that year. The ensuing years have been devoted to consolidating Camp under its new management. The boards felt that the time had come to take another look forward, relatively free from any pressing emergency.
Two major issues emerged from the gathering, with joint groups formed to address them. The first group was charged to take a hard look at current governance, and specifically, whether the two-board structure continued to be valid. If so, a primary follow-on concern was to determine the best structure to manage the responsibilities of each board for the maintenance and upkeep of Camp’s aging facilities.
The second group was charged with looking at how best to extend the reach of Nature Camp’s capabilities and experience to a broader audience. Emphatically, this was not a desire to increase the current capacity of Camp nor was it to try to establish another campus. The focus is to look at broadening the population of campers and staff to better reflect the diversity of young people in Virginia and the country as a whole, and to examine new partnerships and methods to capitalize on Nature Camp’s expertise and facilities and expand our reach.
Each group had members of both boards on it, and their reports will be forwarded to the two boards for consideration of the recommendations offered.