Pioneering the Future – A Leadership Retreat for Life, Work and World Change

A working retreat for women creating change

Pioneering the Future is an intensive, highly personalised leadership experience for women who want to use their leadership, experience, ideas and influence to help create a better future. 

It is for women already creating change and for women who feel a strong pull towards an idea, cause, challenge or contribution they are ready to move forward. You do not need a particular title or a perfectly formed plan. What matters is that you see something that needs changing and are willing to consider your part in changing it. 

This retreat is designed for women who: 

• Are leading transformation within an organisation, industry, community or wider society. 

• Are building a business, initiative, platform, body of work or movement with the potential to make a meaningful difference. 

• Want to challenge an established way of doing things and create a more effective, inclusive or humane alternative. 

• Have an idea or ambition that has remained at the edge of their life and now needs focused attention. 

• Want to use their voice, influence, expertise or networks more boldly. 

• Are ready to connect personal sustainability with purposeful leadership and long-term impact. 

• Want to work alongside women who will challenge, encourage, advise and connect them. 

• Are willing to give as well as gain, sharing ideas, experience and contacts that may help another woman move forward. 

This is not primarily a career transition retreat, although a career or business decision may form part of your work. The larger question is not simply, “What do you want next?” It is, “What do you want to help change and how will you begin?” 

Why take this time out? 

Because concentrated time can save time. 

Pioneers often operate at speed. Important ideas are developed between meetings, responsibilities and deadlines, which can make progress fragmented or unnecessarily slow. During the retreat, you will have dedicated time to think, test, decide and plan, surrounded by women who may contribute a perspective, contact, challenge or opportunity that moves your work forward faster. 

Someone in the room may know the person, organisation, resource or approach that helps unlock your next step. You may be that person for somebody else. 

A few days away could move an idea forward by months or even years. 

Why organisations support attendance 

Forward-thinking organisations recognise that leadership development is no longer only about technical expertise or progression through a hierarchy. Leaders increasingly need to think strategically through uncertainty, challenge assumptions, influence across boundaries, create inclusive cultures and turn emerging possibilities into action. 

The Pioneer Retreat helps participants strengthen these capabilities while gaining cross-sector perspectives, wider networks and a practical action plan they can bring back into their organisation. Participants are encouraged to connect their individual leadership with the cultural, strategic and societal changes their organisation needs to navigate or lead. 

Programme 

Monday 7th December 2026 

Arrive any time after 1.00 pm. Settle in, meet the group, walk the grounds and begin to step out of the pace of everyday life. Dinner will be served at 6.00 pm, followed by an opening conversation to establish the purpose, values and “Give & Gain” spirit of our time together. 

Tuesday 8th December 2026 | LIFE: The inner resources to change things 

Pioneering change requires energy, courage, resilience, imagination and a strong relationship with ourselves. We examines how you sustain yourself for the work and contribution you feel called to make. 

We will explore the visible and invisible patterns that shape how you lead: the pressure to be strong, available or responsible for everyone; the habits that consume your attention; and the emotional and physical resources needed to hold ambition, love, laughter, purpose and joy at the same time. 

• Understand what strengthens or depletes your physical, emotional and cognitive energy. 

• Examine fear, guilt, worry, loneliness, irritation or self-doubt without allowing them to define your choices. 

• Lead your time and priorities rather than allowing urgency to determine them. 

• Create rhythms of work that support sustainable performance, health and longevity. 

• Build the inner capacity to stay courageous and resourceful when change is difficult or slow. 

• Identify what you need to stop, protect or begin in order to sustain your contribution. 

Wednesday 9th December 2026 | WORK: Your influence and platform for change 

This day focuses on how you use your work, business, expertise, voice, relationships and influence to create greater impact. We will examine the gap between what you are capable of contributing and what you are currently able or willing to do. 

For some women, this may involve stepping into greater leadership or visibility within an existing organisation. For others, it may mean building something new, developing a stronger point of view, reshaping a business or making a decision about where their energy can create the greatest value. 

• Define the change you want to create through your work, business or leadership. 

• Identify where your experience, influence and relationships could have greater impact. 

• Develop a clearer and more courageous point of view. 

• Explore whether to advance, pivot, build, scale or use your current platform differently. 

• Challenge patterns that keep your best ideas small, delayed or invisible. 

• Move from possibility to decisions, priorities and practical next steps. 

• Ask for the introductions, advice, expertise or support that could accelerate progress. 

Thursday 10th December 2026 | WORLD: The future you want to help shape 

Many leadership programmes ask how women can succeed within existing systems. We ask a different question: what systems need to change, and what role will you play in changing them? 

Together we will explore the issues, causes and possibilities that matter most to you and translate that concern into credible, thoughtful action. The day moves through three questions: 

• What is actually happening? Truth. 

• What could be possible? Vision. 

• What can you do about it? Agency. 

You will identify the contribution you are ready to make, the people or organisations you may need around you and the first practical actions that will carry the work beyond the retreat. 

• Challenge norms and ask better, braver questions. 

• Develop a credible platform of influence and a clearer public or organisational point of view. 

• Connect individual leadership with cultural and systemic change. 

• Identify potential allies, collaborators, resources and routes to influence. 

• Define what contribution and legacy mean for you now. 

• Complete a practical 2027 action plan with clear commitments and next steps. 

Evening celebration drinks and food at Cafe Habana in Malibu. The cost of this final dinner is not included in the registration fee. 

Friday 11th December 2026 

Breakfast at Paradise Cove Cafe (not included in retreat fee), final conversations and time to enjoy the grounds before departure by 1.00 pm. You will leave with greater clarity, stronger relationships and a practical sense of what happens next. 

What to expect:

This is a working retreat, not a spa holiday. The surroundings are beautiful, but the accommodation is simple, the meals are basic and the days will be full. There is no yoga programme, detox regime or luxury hospitality experience. 

There will be laughter, walks, honest conversation, quiet reflection and time to enjoy one another’s company. We may even manage a bottle or two of wine. The purpose, however, is not passive relaxation. It is to help you think more boldly, connect more usefully and move your ideas forward. 

The programme will combine coaching, facilitated dialogue, reflective exercises, practical tools, visualisation and action planning. There will be no long lectures or PowerPoint-heavy sessions. A detailed pre-retreat questionnaire will allow the experience to be tailored around the participants and the issues they bring. 

Location 

Serra Retreat is located at 3401 Serra Road, Malibu, California 90265, USA. Set within 26 acres between the Santa Monica Mountains and the Pacific Ocean, it offers a quiet environment for perspective, reflection and purposeful conversation. The centre was founded and is operated by Catholic Franciscan Friars and welcomes individuals and groups of all faiths and spiritual backgrounds. 

Investment and what is included 

GBP £3,990 (US $5350) per participant. All payments are processed in pounds sterling. 

The registration fee includes: 

• The full facilitated retreat programme. 

• Four nights of accommodation in a private bedroom, with a bathroom shared with one adjacent room. 

• Meals and tea or coffee during the retreat. 

• Pre-retreat questionnaire and personalised programme design. 

• Coaching, group facilitation, practical tools and action planning. 

The fee does not include flights, travel to and from Serra Retreat, excursions, closing drinks at Cafe Habana or breakfast on final day at Paradise Cover cafe. 

Basic vegetarian options are available. Other dietary requirements cannot be catered for by the venue. Participants may bring and store their own food if needed. Wi-Fi is available, although mobile reception is limited. 

Funding and payment options 

Invoices are available where an organisation is funding attendance. Participants who are self-funding may request an instalment arrangement by contacting team@drsamcollins.com. 

Accessibility 

The venue has a wheelchair-accessible entrance, accessible parking, paths and walkways, accommodation and meeting space. Please contact the team before booking to discuss any specific access requirements and confirm that the arrangements will meet your needs. 

Travel 

The closest airports are Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and Hollywood Burbank Airport. Travel to the venue is not included and should be arranged separately by taxi, rideshare, private transfer or hire car. Free parking is available at Serra Retreat. 

Serra Retreat is not open to guests on Sunday evening. If arriving on Sunday 6 December or earlier, book a local hotel or Airbnb in Malibu, or stay near LAX and travel to Malibu on Monday morning. For recommendations, contact team@drsamcollins.com. 

International participants are responsible for confirming and securing the appropriate visa or travel authorisation. Do not book flights until your retreat place has been confirmed. 

Final invitation 

The final question is not simply, “Is this retreat right for me?”

It is: “What might become possible if I gave my most important ideas undistracted time and placed them in a room full of women willing to help?”

There is one chair still open around the table. Does it have your name on it?