Reading the River: A Living Systems Leadership Lab on the Chicago River

What if the next breakthrough in regenerative leadership isn’t found in a boardroom, but in the living currents of a river?

Reading the River is a Chicago River experience that invites participants into a living-systems approach to leadership. Participants board a charter boat for a guided River Lab along the Chicago River, learning from two local organizations and engaging four tools from The River Journey Regenerative Ecosystem™ in real time. Through place-based sensing, peer exchange, and shared reflection, they explore how to navigate tension, build collective capacity, and adapt regenerative tools to their own leadership, organizational, and portfolio challenges.

At a time when climate collapse, inequity, and economic instability demand new ways of leading, this session moves beyond models rooted in control and deficit-thinking into a more emergent, place-based practice.

Participants leave with a River Journey Action Plan, a public commitment, and practical next steps for applying regenerative leadership in their own communities.