From performance topresence

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A new summit: Where expansion & clarity combine

view of retreat garden from inside barn
Circular Text PathThis is for those entering an exciting new chapter in their lives  

This is not your average summit and workshop. It’s not about optimizing or setting another goal. This is a full recalibration. A one-day summit designed to help those of you navigating a life or career transition. This pragmatic event will guide you from what got you here to how to get to the next chapter.

Our first summit it modeled on our signature retreats

Together, we explore what’s next when the cheering fades and the scoreboard disappears.

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Meet your hosts

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Richard Banfield

Entrepreneur, author, and artist. Richard is a recovering CEO who has built companies, launched 100's of products, helped teams find purpose, and now helps people design the second act of their lives with intention and creativity.

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Devon McDonald

Venture capitalist turned catalyst for connection, clarity, and courageous living. Devon brings grace, energy, and a gift for creating space where real transformation can happen. She’s raising three kids and building a life rooted in authenticity.

Together, they bring real-life experience, warmth, and wisdom to every part of this retreat. As Richard says, "Our approach is to create a classroom where everyone is the student. No gurus, nor masters, just curious minds that are open to possibility."

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Richard Banfield

For decades, I lived by the metrics of achievement: startups founded, books published, clients served. Ticking the boxes of the American Dream. And for a while, it worked, until it didn’t. Losing my wife to cancer and being forced to shut down a business soon after stripped everything down to essentials. What emerged from the smoldering mess was a remembering of what it means to build something from love, not fear. Of how creativity, relationships, and purpose can rebuild a life.

Second Harvest began as a question I needed to answer for myself: What if the second half of life could be better than the first? It’s now become my answer to that question. A living, breathing experiment in meaning-making.

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Devon McDonald

I’ve spent my life at the intersection of care and creativity—building a portfolio of startups, nurturing a community around that, raising children, navigating transitions with grace and humor. My transformation wasn’t a single moment, but a collection of them: the realization that being fully alive means being fully present. That real leadership starts with the humility to truly listen to others, and to myself.

Second Harvest is where all of that experience comes home. My work is to create environments of belonging—places where people can safely drop the masks, meet themselves again, and rediscover the joy of being seen

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Not just results—
but resilience.

Expert-led
Sessions

that blend practical habit and behavioral plans, cognitive reset, & identity work

Personal Workshops

that help you detach from performance-based identity & reconnect with purpose

Small Group &
1:1 Coaching

designed for clarity, harmony and away from cliché

Shared Experiences

with like-minded peers navigating similar transitions and building alliances and connections

What participants have experienced

"You couldn’t ask for a better guide to reinvention than Richard. He’s brilliant, curious, empathetic, and a great friend. He constantly challenges himself and those around him to do better, to be better, and anyone lucky enough to attend this retreat will leave renewed."
— Martin
"I can not express how grateful I am for that weekend. Wow I am totally blown away. I really was soooo stuck and it’s helped me see a bit of a way out. It was incredible - you really were not kidding when you said it was going to be magic. Thank you thank you!!"
— Colleen Zulich
"Thank you so much for having me on this trip. It was such an honor to be part of this journey with you. Would love to connect when you’re back and continue this journey together!"
— Mary Grace Levin
“The retreat gave me emotional clarity I didn’t know I needed. I came looking for quiet and reflection, but what I found was connection. I left with friendships and a renewed sense of courage for what comes next.”
— Suzanne Balassone
“There is something rare about being truly seen, and that’s what happened at Second Harvest. It wasn’t about performance, but presence. I left with more than memories — I left with allies.”
— Jennifer Linehan
“The biggest surprise was how much laughter and lightness accompanied the depth. I came expecting something serious and got that, but also joy, play, and the power of pausing. It was exactly what I didn’t know I needed.”
— Brad Stanton
“The retreat was a reminder that slowing down is not the same as stepping back. It’s actually moving forward with more intention. I found space to breathe, and in that space, new ideas emerged.”
— Natalie Fernandez
“We often spend our lives talking, but rarely do we spend them listening. In Austria, I was reminded that silence can be the most generous gift. Second Harvest taught me how to be present again.”
— Wouter Oudemans
“I thought I was coming for inspiration. What I received was transformation. A rare gift, not because it was flashy, but because it was simple, human, and true.”
— Nino Maisuradze
“What struck us was the intimacy of it all. Fireside chats, shared meals, quiet walks in the forest — these were not just activities, they were containers for courage and creativity to emerge. It reminded us why human proximity is the real luxury.”
— Bernhard & Kathrin
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Second Harvest Summit:
1-Day Journey to Your Next Chapter

Location: deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum

Date: May 2026

This summit is designed for:

Anyone that is currently experiencing or planning a significant transformation. This is for those entering an exciting new chapter in their lives, whether that's personal or professional change.

Community, family, and business leaders stepping out of their current roles into new roles. These can also be creative or personal journeys.

Executives and individual contributors in mid- or late-career transitions seeking more than status in their lives. They are seeking deeper meaning, not just new goals.

Before the Retreat: Intake & Reflection

Participants receive a short but thoughtful intake form designed to spark pre-day introspection:

Sample Questions:

  • What do you feel you’re walking away from?
  • What do you feel drawn toward?
  • Where do you feel stuck?

This isn’t just intake—it’s a starting point for the transformation.

Morning Session: Ground, Move, & Reframe

  • 9:30am: Arrival & Welcome
    Delicious coffee or tea, introductions, and context-setting. Arrive with an open mind.
  • 10:00am: Keynote
  • New Beginnings: Hacking Reality and Escaping Average
  • 10:30am: Release and Reset
    A full-body and cognitive warm-up to open the nervous system, awaken attention, and prime our bodies for deeper engagement. Part physical reset, part mind tune-up.
  • 11:15am - 12:15pm: Personal Story and Identity Workshop
    Reflecting on what stories got you here and shaping the next chapter through conscious narrative building and practical habit forming.
  • 12:15pm: Lunch
    Over a delicious lunch we split into small groups to discuss identity detachment. We explore what happens when the labels we've carried no longer apply—and why that’s not a loss, but a beginning.

Afternoon Session: Integrate, Experiment, & Align

  • 1:15pm: Refocus time. Take a walk around the sculpture park, or sit out in the fresh air and clear your minds.
  • 1:40pm: Thin Slice Experiments Workshop
    Readiness isn’t a guess. We can take action on our ideas immediately if we know how to break things into manageable slices and test them. In this session we'll learn how to break big goals and ideas into small bite-sized experiments. Using design thinking and cohort-based alliances, you'll learn a life skill you'll use over and over again.
  • 3:30pm: Testing Your Experiments
    Your thin slice experiments can give you answers to your questions and generate new questions worth interrogating. We'll teach you quick and simple ways to test your experiments and find what you're looking for.
  • 5pm: Optional Small Group Coaching Sessions
    Everyone needs a team around them. Exploring the support and alliances you build around you, creating a powerful and trusting advisory board that aligns with your purpose and journey. We'll lead facilitated conversation with focused groups to uncover purpose, define values, and explore personal frameworks for what’s next.
  • 6pm: Wrap-up
    Closing remarks followed by casual conversation with other participants. We hope you use this time to deepen the connections you've made and consider some of the cohort based workgroups that Second Harvest offers to it's participants.

Evening Session: VIP Dinner

  • 7:00pm: Dinner
    Good food, real talk. An intimate meal where participants reflect on their day, create alliances, deepen connections, and begin to articulate what they’re building next.

“Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world.”

— Joel Arthur Barker Ratcliffe

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Reserve your place in Lincoln, MA

Applications are open now. Due to the exceptional nature of the venue, we will have limited space for participants. Once we receive your application, we’ll reach out and provide you with a payment link.

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Lincoln 2026

FAQs

Can I bring a spouse or partner?

Yes, but know that everyone attending the retreat will be expected to participate. This helps us ensure everyone is aligned with the experience. This retreat is designed to be immersive and distraction-free. Discounted rates for doubles are available.

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