Shifting Waters Leadership Institute (SWLI) is bringing a new kind of leadership experience to Old Town Alexandria and DMV area this fall. On November 19 and 20, 2026, the organization will host its inaugural November Leadership Incubator Weekend at COWO & Crèche, a two-day, application-based program built for leaders who are ready to do more than perform their roles well. They are ready to be formed.
The incubator is led by Grace Adofoli, Founder and CEO of SWLI, a leadership development practitioner, executive coach, and 2026 Alexandria Chamber of Commerce 40 Under 40 honoree who has worked across leaders in more than thirty countries over the past decade. Her background spans global public health, disaster relief, and community development, including field work in the Philippines, Ethiopia, and Cambodia, alongside service with AmeriCorps and in underserved communities across the United States. She holds an ACC credential through the International Coaching Federation and degrees in public health and social work from the University of Michigan.
Unlike most leadership programs, which focus on sharpening performance, this incubator is built around restoration. Grounded in Adofoli's federally copyrighted Formidable 8 framework, the weekend guides participants from awareness to action across four dimensions of leadership: mind, body, soul, and spirit. The model asks leaders to look honestly at the patterns they carry into their work and relationships, rather than simply adding new skills on top of old wounds.
The program is intentionally small. Between twenty and thirty leaders will gather in a single room configured for circle seating, with small group breakouts built into the two days. There is no stage and no keynote format. The room itself is part of the design, meant to create the kind of honesty that a traditional conference setting rarely allows.
Over the course of the weekend, participants can expect a mix of guided reflection, group dialogue, and individual assessment. Each day builds toward a specific outcome: awareness on day one, and a clear, practical path toward action on day two. Participants leave with a completed leadership assessment, language for patterns they may have carried for years without naming, and a direct coaching relationship with Adofoli that continues beyond the two days.
Registration for the incubator is application-based rather than first come, first served. Every application is reviewed individually, and selected participants will be notified by October 30. The program is open to leaders both inside and outside formal organizational roles, including early career professionals still finding their footing, founders and entrepreneurs building something of their own, senior executives responsible for the growth of others, and individuals leading in their communities, families, or faith spaces without a formal title at all.
The two day investment is five hundred dollars, all inclusive. That covers both full days of programming, lunch each day, group activities built around the Formidable 8, a personal leadership assessment, and a small group coaching session directly with Adofoli.
The incubator will take place at COWO & Crèche in Old Town Alexandria, a coworking and community space that is partnering with SWLI to host the weekend. The partnership reflects a broader goal behind the event: building leadership development that is rooted in a specific community rather than delivered as a one size fits all national program.
Adofoli describes the incubator as a response to a pattern she has seen repeatedly across her years of coaching and facilitation. Too many leaders, she says, are polished on the outside while quietly struggling on the inside, and continue leading from that broken place because no one has given them permission, or a process, to do otherwise. The Formidable 8 was built to offer both permission and process, in a setting small enough for it to actually take hold.
Applications are open now for the November 19 and 20 weekend. Leaders interested in applying can find the application and full program details through Shifting Waters Leadership Institute.
About Shifting Waters Leadership Institute
Shifting Waters Leadership Institute is a leadership formation organization founded by Grace Adofoli. SWLI works with leaders and organizations to build leadership development rooted in restoration rather than performance, using the Formidable 8 framework to address the whole person: mind, body, soul, and spirit. Learn more at swli.org.