Thoughts from my four month Sabbatical…

At the end of 2023, a decade after founding City Surf Project, I took a four month sabbatical.

I am incredibly grateful to lead an organization that allowed me to take this time away. My aim was twofold: to give myself an extended break from the daily grind to envision what this beloved organization can become over the next ten years, and to explore other cultures and coastlines around the world. 

During this time I was able to reflect, connect, and reset.  As I settle back into my role as executive director, I want to share some of the key takeaways that have made an impact on me as a leader, colleague, and partner. 

Before the trip, I made an intention to be gracious with myself; to fully indulge in the experience.  I needed to withhold any guilt for taking this time away, while my staff was back at the office continuing to grow the organization. Although I didn’t know it at the time, my absence was beneficial for the entire organization because it empowered the staff to step out of their comfort zones and further develop their own leadership skills. 

Meeting new people all over the world from different cultures and walks of life,  I realized that all people, no matter their life circumstances or geographic location,  share core common human qualities. Whether you are a shopkeeper, a fisher, or a professional who surfs on the weekends, we all have similar hopes and dreams for our lives.  One brand new restaurant owner in Tokyo shared with us that, although the ramen she made was delicious, she was anxious because she didn’t have the food background that most people had in her field – she has imposter syndrome.  This insight into the universality of the human experience made me feel more at ease with my own anxieties, knowing other people were going through the same things as I was.  I came back feeling more secure and more comfortable with my own deficiencies and strengths, which will help me be a better leader and partner. 

City Surf Project started with a small group of students as a way to give access to the ocean and surfing for youth who had historically been underrepresented in the sport.  A priority for this trip was to observe how the coastline dynamics in other places compared to ours.  I wanted to see how these coastal regions might inspire the work that we are doing back home. 

I appreciated engaging with new communities and taking the time to understand their heritage vis a vis the coast and ocean, to understand the role surfing plays in their daily lives and social relationships. I observed a common theme around the world: coastline communities faced systemic barriers to access that excluded certain individuals from enjoying the ocean and engaging with the sport of surfing. No matter what country we were exploring, the coastline, the ocean, and surfing held an exclusionary aspect.  I wasn’t naive to this prior to the trip, but the experience reaffirmed this notion while also offering different perspectives on coastal access.

I returned from my time away with a renewed sense of determination about our mission at City Surf Project: to create a more inclusive space. The barriers to access felt in California are not just a local issue, but a worldwide challenge that is much more complex and dynamic than I realized.  Here at home, we must push toward a more harmonious and multicultural coastline. With this new perspective, I will strive to use the feats we accomplish at home to work toward a larger vision for the world–one where all youth, no matter their background, have access to surfing, an appreciation for nature, and the necessary skills to become happy, healthy adults.

Here’s to changing more lives through surfing in 2024!

Johnny Irwin, Executive Director