AEE Accreditation Council 2026 Eagle Rock Retreat
AEE Accreditation Council 2026 Eagle Rock Retreat
The AEE Accreditation Council convenes annually for its in-person meeting at the Eagle Rock School and Professional Development Center each June. Situated near Estes Park, Colorado, the school provides an ideal venue for our annual retreat. Its mission, in part, is to prepare the next generation of leaders to challenge unjust systems.
This year’s meeting was presided over by Accreditation Council Chair Aaron Funnell. Members of the Accreditation Council who attended this year’s meeting include Aaron Funnell, Kim Sacksteder, Aaron Leonard, Manjul Prateeti, Jose Gonzalez, Katelyn BeVard, Maurie Lung, Paul Wolf, Tony Dixon, Amy Smallwood, and Katie Nelson.
During the meeting, we reviewed an early draft of the 9th edition of the accreditation standards, the newly consolidated Council Handbook and Program Manual, discussed new Council member recruitment and onboarding, and the status of our programs that have applied for initial accreditation. We currently have twelve applicants for accreditation. The Governance, Standards, and Education Committees convened and outlined the work they will undertake over the next year.
At the conclusion of the meeting, the Council expressed gratitude to Aaron Funnell for his successful tenure as Chair and extended a warm welcome to the new Director of Accreditation and Certification, Kim Sacksteder. Steve Pace has assumed the position of Emeritus Director and will provide support to Kim until AEE’s International Conference in November.
It was a pleasure to engage in face-to-face discussions with the council members. Members of the council hail from diverse backgrounds and geographical locations, each contributing a distinct perspective to our collaborative efforts. There was unanimous agreement that this group of experts is an invaluable asset to our work. Diverse viewpoints are embraced and articulated, members feel supported by one another, and genuinely derive satisfaction from achieving our shared objective of establishing standards of practice, providing educational resources in pursuit of our purpose, and evaluating organizations for quality assurance.