What We Do
We help teams and leaders become more effective…PERIOD!
How We Do It
Experiential education is at the core of the work we do. Experiential education is a philosophy that uses many methodologies in which our expert facilitators purposefully engage with learners in direct experience and focused reflection in order to increase knowledge, develop skills, clarify values, and develop people’s capacity to contribute to their organizations.
Steve Coats, Managing Partner
International Leadership Associates
Based on those challenges, we’ll work with you to develop a customized program, or series of programs, using our signature experiential learning approach to disrupt behavior patterns, accelerate relationship development among team members, and your meet program objectives. From fostering cohesive communication to developing a fledgling team or a team in transition to building organizational culture, a Venture Out! experience creates learning that lasts long after your team has gotten back to the office.
“I’ve been through other leadership trainings, but it didn’t touch the impact of this program. The cross of classroom and challenge experiences were the perfect combination to maximize learning. So effective!” – Scripps Participant
Camp Joy’s customized Adult Leadership and Training program or programs are developed for your team using outdoor experiences in a safe, nurturing natural environment to reinforce learning objectives, build positive working relationships, and create lasting impact. Post-program booster shot experiences ensure the learning sticks and keeps your team at peak performance as you grow and evolve.
Venture Out! Team & Leadership Center at Camp Joy features modern facilities designed to provide participants with a chance to experience nature in a comfortable setting. Participants enjoy the ability to disconnect in nature while still having the ability to connect when needed. The facilities offer a peaceful setting to build your team, develop your self, and share learning with colleagues.
All meeting spaces are climate controlled, equipped with audio/visual connections, wireless access, and feature custom setup for your groups learning environment.
Trust – Conflict – Commitment – Accountability – Results
- Provide a simple model to help team members’ best communicate and work together effectively by building vulnerable trust and creating healthy conflict that moves the organization forward.
- Provide tools and a model to gain commitment, hold each other accountable to reach the desired results of the organization.
- Commit to Decisions: When team members are able to offer opinions and debate ideas, they will be more likely to commit to decisions.
- Hold One Another Accountable: When everyone is committed to a clear plan of action, they will be more willing to hold one another accountable.
- Focus on Achieving Collective Results: The ultimate goal of building greater trust, conflict, commitment, and accountability is one thing: the achievement of results.
Liberate the leader in everyone.
A three-day Leadership Challenge® Workshop – a highly experiential workshop that focuses on the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership® developed from the original and proven research of best selling authors Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner.
- The Leadership Challenge® Workshop Participant Guidebook
- The Leadership Challenge textbook
- The latest Leadership Practices Inventory (assessment inventory) including all processing, scoring, and confidential feedback
- Experiential activities (including an outdoor ropes challenge course, for those who choose to participate)
- A variety of follow-on actions (e.g. Leadership articles, issue discussion, etc.)
- A truly memorable experience, with lessons that stick
Through a partnership with International Leadership Associates, Venture Out: Team and Leadership Center is the only facility offering a three-day, residential version of The Leadership Challenge® Workshop. Participants learn and embrace the practices of leadership at a much deeper level there is the perfect balance of classroom learning, hand’s-on practice, and personal reflection. Rich and extensive debriefing sessions are a part of each day, where participants anchor in the lessons and determine how they can best apply them with their daily lives.
Otis Williams – VO! Director
937.289.9137 otiswilliams@camp-joy.org
Otis Williams is the founder and President/CEO of Otis Williams Limitless, a personal development firm that teaches people how to train their fear so they can live free and share their gifts with the world. He is a highly sought-after award-winning speaker, facilitator, seminar leader, and personal growth coach. Otis has practiced—and proven—what he preaches. For over two decades, he has been educating, training, developing, and challenging people in the areas of motivation, change, leadership, and courage.
Otis was adopted and raised in a low-income single parent home. Growing up, he watched his mother as she refused to make excuses, accepted responsibility, and worked hard. It was his mother’s example that made him say, “If she can do it, I can do it!” With a burning desire to have more than what the “projects” had to offer, Otis began studying and applying proven universal laws and timeless principles that govern success and achievement.
Shortly after graduating from high school, Otis joined the U.S. Army. While serving in the Army, he decided to face and conquer his fear of heights by jumping out of perfectly good airplanes and successfully completing the rigorous training to become an Airborne Paratrooper. In less than two years, using the laws and principles he was studying, Otis was promoted from a private to a noncommissioned officer.
As a lifelong learner, with an understanding of the value of both informal and formal education, Otis (a first-generation college graduate) earned his associate’s degree while serving on active duty in the military, and both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees after re-entering civilian life.
After receiving an honorable discharge, Otis began a career in banking, with no previous banking or finance experience. By continuing to apply the laws and principles he had been studying, in less than 18 months, he was promoted from loan collector to assistant branch manager. Shortly after getting promoted, Otis decided to work on his communication and leadership skills by joining Toastmasters International.
After emerging victorious from among more than 10,000 speakers worldwide to capture the coveted title of “World Champion of Public Speaking” for Toastmasters International, Otis was convinced that “This stuff works!” With a true passion to help people be, do, have, and give more, he founded Otis Williams Limitless, a personal development company that teaches people how to identify and use the proven universal laws and principles that govern success and achievement so they can live their dreams!
Kelly Kessler – VO! Program Coordinator/Adjunct Facilitator
937.289.2031 kellykessler@camp-joy.org
After graduating from Ohio State, Kelly spent several years facilitating groups with identified Middle and High School students throughout Franklin County. She moved to Cincinnati in 1996 and started working with the Alcohol and Chemical Abuse Council in Butler County, where she continued to work with young people in a variety of settings. In 2012, after spending some time at home with her 3 children, she found Camp Joy, where she could combine her love of experiential learning and the outdoors. She is currently enjoying working with the VO! team as a Program Coordinator and Adjunct Facilitator.
Joel Morris – VO! Client Account Manager
937.289.9147 joelmorris@camp-joy.org
Joel Morris grew up fairly close to Camp Joy in the small town of Leesburg Ohio. It was there that he developed his love for the outdoors, and adventure. Joel attended Hocking College in Nelsonville, Ohio and obtained a degree in Ecotourism and Adventure Travel. Upon completion of his studies, he sought out employment at Camp Joy with the Outdoor School Program as an educator in 2008. Starting off as an educator for almost three years, Joel then took on the role of the Outdoor School Program coordinator. After three years as a coordinator, he left Joy to start a family, but couldn’t stay away too long. 5 years later, he returned to his previous role. In 2018 Joel transitioned into his current role with Venture Out!. His passions in life include raising his children and spending time outdoors, especially if it’s on the golf course.
VO! Clients
Client Feedback
“Camp Joy was the perfect place for our Leadership Team to get away from our normal work environment, build stronger relationships in the beautiful camp setting, and concentrate on fun challenges to solve together. The facilitation was excellent. Now, a year later, we still talk about the challenges we met, but mostly we talk about what we would do differently in the one activity where we failed. We hope to go back to Camp Joy to continue our leadership development journey.”
Peter Feil, VP/General Manager, Stober Drives
Team & Leadership Development Menu
Video Testimonials
Amy Thompson
Cincinnati Regional Chamber of Commerce
Stephanie Broaders, GE Aviation
Peter Feil, Stober Drives
Dave Klotter, TSC Apparel
Testimonials
It’s been tough at times, and spending time with colleagues at Camp Joy really provided me with an opportunity to open up, talk, and listen to others as they offered advice and encouragement. And in many cases, I was able to return the gift. I totally get why you take us into the woods. If you think about it, when was the last time you camped, in a cabin, with a group of giggly people sleeping in bunk beds, playing? For most people, it was when we were children. And Camp Joy re-creates that child-like atmosphere – the atmosphere where we as humans are most receptive to learning. I thought that was brilliant. So, I returned to work Monday re-energized and ready to be the best leader I can be for my team here at KTNV. I’m not tired anymore, at least not right now.
Camp Joy helped me face a lot of fears, whether they be physically challenging or mentally. It helped me to step out of my comfort zone and be braver than I ever knew I could be. It helped me realize being a leader is exactly what I want to do, it’s what I was born to do, and I was and still am striving to help people push through their own fears and reach those goals that at one time may have felt unreachable. It was an invaluable experience.
Few people know that Camp Joy has been the venue for The Leadership Challenge Workshop for thirty years. Acclaimed around the world as one of the very best leadership development programs, The Leadership Challenge was designed to include the kind of purposeful and impactful experiential learning activities at which Joy excels. Jim Kouzes, co-author of the award winning best-seller, The Leadership Challenge, was twice on campus in 1987 to co-facilitate the first sessions. There is no other place on the planet that offers this program, the way Joy does. It has been a pleasure partnering with Camp Joy for three decades to bring this powerful leadership message to thousands of people from around the world.
Camp Joy introduced me to the importance of engagement with nature and fellow human beings. Joy helped me figure out what kind of things, both inside and outside of the workplace, nurtured me. I learned what I love doing: helping others, and interacting with peers and colleagues in a learning environment. That was huge for me and has enabled me to work in roles I love that allow me to sleep at night. That means a lot!