Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA)

Reimagining Chapter Leadership: Engaging Chapters in Purpose & Practical Governance

“Event Garde transformed what could have been a routine chapter meeting into an energizing, highly practical leadership experience. Our leaders left clearer, more confident, and ready to act.”

- Amy Lestition Burke, MA, FASAE, CAE, Chief Executive Officer, Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA)

Benefit Summary

85%+ reported a clearer understanding of how to run and lead a chapter, including governance and compliance fundamentals
Each participant identified 3+ concrete, immediately actionable improvements for their chapter and left with a peer contact for continued accountability
Participants rated facilitation quality, clarity, and usefulness 4.3 out of 5, reflecting a highly engaging and practical experience
80%+ of SWANA’s 47 chapters were represented, with active participation in all session rotations and intentional cross-chapter mixing to strengthen peer-to-peer learning
Delivered a fully designed, turnkey experience, including live polling insights, real-world scenario exercises, structured action planning tools, and a documented After Action Review to inform future programming

Challenge

The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) sought to redesign its Chapter Connect program to better support leaders across 47 chapters spanning the U.S., Canada, Caribbean, and Guam/Hawaii. Prior formats had been described as overly lecture-based and lacking energy or practical application.

SWANA needed an engaging, hands-on experience that would:

Clarify governance, financial, and compliance expectations
Strengthen alignment between chapters and the national office
Surface shared operational challenges across diverse chapter contexts
Equip volunteer leaders with practical, immediately usable tools
Energize and connect chapter leaders in a meaningful way

All of this had to be accomplished within a compressed planning timeline and delivered as a high-impact, in-person experience at the association’s brand new North American conference.

Solution

Event Garde partnered closely with SWANA staff and volunteer leaders to design and facilitate a highly interactive, four-hour working session. Guided by the theme Stronger Together: Practical Tools for Confident Chapter Leadership, Chapter Connect 2025 emphasized collaboration, clarity, and practical leadership fundamentals.

Rather than relying on content-heavy presentations, Event Garde designed a participant-driven experience supported by thoughtfully developed slides and print materials, blending concise framing with structured application and whole-group dialogue. The experience included:

Live polling to surface real-time chapter health, size, and operational challenges
Purpose and leadership clarity exercises to distinguish mission from programming and articulate chapter “why”
Governance and financial scenario exercises rooted in real-world dilemmas
Rotating small-group discussions to maximize cross-chapter learning
Member journey mapping to identify high-impact touchpoints, friction points, and priority improvements across the chapter lifecycle
Concrete action planning with peer accountability
A professionally designed post-event Learning Companion aggregating participant work product, photos, and key insights

The design intentionally modeled the kind of chapter culture SWANA hopes members experience locally: clear, collaborative, transparent, and focused on both purpose and practice.

Finish

Chapter Connect 2025 marked a turning point in how SWANA engages and equips its chapter leaders. What had previously felt compliance-driven and content-heavy became a dynamic, peer-powered leadership experience grounded in clarity, accountability, and shared ownership.

Leaders didn’t just consume information, they examined real challenges, surfaced experience gaps, articulated their purpose, and identified practical improvements tailored to their local contexts. The session reframed chapter leadership as both a strategic responsibility and a cultural one: aligning national standards with local innovation while keeping member experience at the center.

Equally important, the documented insights and After Action Review provided SWANA with a clear roadmap for refining and expanding future chapter programming. Chapter Connect is now positioned not as a standalone session, but as an ongoing leadership development platform that can evolve alongside the organization’s needs.

By combining instructional design, structured facilitation, and measurable follow-through, Event Garde helped SWANA move beyond hosting a meeting and toward building a stronger, more aligned chapter network across North America.

View more Case Studies:

Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA)

Reimagining Chapter Leadership: Engaging Chapters in Purpose & Practical Governance

Education Strategy & Learning Design

National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG)

Event Garde Strengthens NCPG’s National Conference with Strategic Insight & Operational Excellence

Education Strategy & Learning Design, Meeting/Event Design & Management

Texas Society of CPAs (TXCPA)

TXCPA Leadership Day Redesign Boosts Clarity, Connection & Volunteer Confidence

Education Strategy & Learning Design