Leadership Partner Testimonials

“There’s an aura around Manito-wish. It has awesome facilities with an awesome feel, and the setting is spectacular. And that setting is used to great effect: Towering pines for a challenge course, quiet fields for experiential exercises, and the whole region for wilderness travel, where groups go out into nature, way out of their comfort zone, and use those skills they’ve learned at Manito-wish. And every year, I see them being more confident and more comfortable using a collaborative leadership model to accomplish things.”

“Manito-wish Leadership sets the right stage for success in high school, in college, really for the rest of their lives. It truly is a transformative experience; this is a very different place, and it really pushes these young people out of their comfort zone, and you can see significant changes, both as individuals and as a group. This is where they get to know each other, where they learn to work together, collaborate … and they always discover things about themselves as a results of the experiences they have at Manito-wish.” Stephanie Oettinger, North Chicago CHS School Director

“We’ve had a number of students who have been part of our experience here, who have actually come back to serve as counselors and facilitators, and the fact that they would want to come back here in their professional lives to work, and be the type of people that had worked with them when they were students here, is the best testament you could ever get. When someone wants to imitate and do what they’ve seen you do, what better compliment is there?”

“My first experience with Camp Manito-wish was as a participant of NTC’s Leadership Retreat for staff and faculty.  Since that time, I have been bringing college age students (12 years with international scholars and now 7 years with medical students, in cohorts that range from 15-80 participants) to Camp each year. I have built annual retreats into my leadership and team building at Camp Manito-wish YMCA because they have consistently provided exceptional and affordable programming, regardless of the backgrounds of adult learners.  I have found that they have always successfully adapted camp programming to our audience/cohort needs and interpersonal dynamics, regardless of who is leading our campers.  Ultimately, camp retreats in both my previous and current jobs are a highlight for my college students.  They find their experience at Camp Manito-wish to be energizing and significantly improves teamwork and working relationships.”