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Meet the Team

THE TEAM

  • Staff
  • Board
  • CCIC Trustees
  • Leadership Council

Meet Our People

Every day, a dedicated team of staff and volunteers wake up with the singular purpose of supporting  our global network of local Leadership Foundations. Leadership includes our Staff, Board of Directors, CCIC Trustees, Innovation Fellows, and Leadership Council. 

STAFF

ALICIA HAMMING NAVARRETE

Latin America Regional Coordinator

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ALMA VARGAS

Youth Development Specialist at Proyecto MoLE

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AMY NEMETH

VP of Advancement

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BIANCA SINGLETON

Mentoring Network Regional Coach

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CORNELIUS WILLIAMS

Mentoring Youth for Leadership Strategic Advisor

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DAVE HILLIS

Fetzer Project Consultant

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DE LA HARPE LE ROUX

Lead Organizer, LF Africa

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EMILY HARDIN

Mentoring Youth for Leadership Program Coordinator

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Jonathan Hayden

JONATHAN HAYDEN

Director of Operations, Colangelo Carpenter Innovation Center

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KERRI FEIDER

Director of Mentoring Initiatives

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LARRY LLOYD

President

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MAGGIE MIDDLETON

Mentoring Network Regional Coach

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MARRIO JETER

Mentoring Network Regional Coach

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MELISSA MONROE

Director of Administration and Member Services

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MELODY RODRIGUEZ

Director of Proyecto MoLE

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NOAH BASKETT

VP of Operations

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WIL MCCALL

Board Training Initiative Consultant

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BOARD

ABHISHEK GIER

Founder & Executive Director at Catalyst India

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BILL MILLIKEN

Co-Founder & Vice Chairman, Communities In Schools

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BARB BEARD

Former Senior VP of Advancement, Greater Twin Cities United Way

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Barbara Marshall

BARB MARSHALL

Educator-at-Large

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CHRIS MARTIN

President, Knoxville Leadership Foundation

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DARYL GRIGSBY

Author & Former Public Works Director

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DERRICK WHEELER-SMITH

Director, Seattle Office for Civil Rights

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JACK FORTIN

Senior Fellow, Christian Center for Vocation Augsburg College

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JEFF WALKER

President, Walker Hospitality Group

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JOHN OKAMOTO

President, Okamoto Strategies

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JOHN RICHARDSON

Independent Director & Former CEO

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KELLY CHATMAN

Executive Director, Center for Leadership & Neighborhood Engagement

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LISA SLAYTON

Founding Partner & CEO, Tamim Partners LLC

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MARIO MATOS

Executive Director, Sinergia Leadership Foundation

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NATE SKOW

Wealth Management Advisor, Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc.

NEIL SHORTHOUSE

Co-Founder, Communities In Schools

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OSYRIS UQOEZWA

President, B&C International

PASCHAL ANYANWU

RANDAL DREW (CHAIR)

Chairman & CEO, PARC Entertainment, LLC

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SCOTT LEWIS

Managing Partner, 5th Element Group PBC

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SHERI PATTILLO

Co-Owner, French Connection Wines

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STAN LAZARIAN

President, Electric Service & Supply Co President, Armenian Relief and Development

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STEVEN CARROLL

CFO, Benchmark Plus Management

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W. WILSON GOODE SR. (EMERITUS)

President, Philadelphia Leadership Foundation & Amachi, Inc.

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WIL MCCALL

President, Dallas Leadership Foundation

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WILNA DE BEER

CEO, Tshwane Leadership Foundation

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YUKI IGARASHI

Financial Advisor, Edward Jones

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CCIC LEADERSHIP

INNOVATION CENTER TRUSTEE COUNCIL

Anne Snyder Brooks
Editor-in-Chief, Comment Magazine

Ann Holladay
Educational Consultant

Carlos Austin
President, Pan-African Ventures

Colin Brooks
Vice President, Morgan Stanley

Cynthia Marshall
Founder & Former Executive Director, CIS of Charlotte

Dale Jones
CEO, Diversified Search

Jack Fortin
Senior Fellow, Christian Center for Vocation at Augsburg College

Jeff Smith
Managing Director, Generosity NY

Jim Shelton
Chief Investment & Impact Officer, Blue Meridian Partners

Kyle Coolbroth
Co-Founder & CEO, Fueled Collective

Linda LeSourd Lader
President, Renaissance Institute

Patrick Grace
President & CEO, Grace Institute Foundation

Dr. Paul Pribbenow
President, Augsburg University

Scott Carpenter
Managing Director, Jigsaw

Scott Lewis
Managing Director, 5th Element Group PBC

SENIOR INNOVATION FELLOWS

Bill Milliken 
Co-Founder & Vice Chairman, Communities In Schools 

Cornelius Williams
President, Resurgence Leadership Foundation

Rev. Dr. Dale Irvin 
Former President, New York Theological Seminary

 Grady Powell
Founder & CEO, OpenFields

Jack Fortin     

Senior Fellow, Christian Center for Vocation at Augsburg College

James “Jimmy” McGee III
President & CEO, Impact Movement 

Jeff Bailey 
Director of Strategy & Senior Consultant, OpenFields 

Lisa Slayton
Founding Partner & CEO, Tamim Partners LLC

Lou Packett
Hands & Feet United, Baltimore, MD

Neil Shorthouse 
Co-Founder, Communities In Schools; Partners In Change 

Noah Baskett
VP of Operations, Leadership Foundations

Noel Castellanos 
Former President, Christian Community Development Association

Roy Craft 
President, Group Space Management, LLC; Partners In Change

Sheila Drummond Camm 
Former National Trainer & Staff Member, Communities In Schools

Stephan Leeds
Executive Director, Springboard Communities

LEADERSHIP COUNCIL

Adam Taylor
President, Sojourners
Washington, D.C.

Angie Winn
President, Winn Executive Development
Windermere, FL

Betsy McCormack
Professional Tennis Star; Women’s Tennis Coach, State College of Florida
Bradenton, FL

Dale Irvin
President Emeritus, New York Theological Seminary
NYC, NY

David Turpin 
Educator, Heritage School & Momentum Camp
Fredericksburg, TX

Erik Strom
Director Government & Community Relations, Russell Investments
Seattle, WA

Gail Obenour
Executive Director of Philanthropy, Christianity Today
NYC, NY

H. Spees
Director Strategic Initiatives, Office of Mayor- City of Fresno
Fresno, CA

Jean Milliken 
LFLC Co-Chair; Episcopalian Priest & Pastoral Psychotherapist
Alexandria, VA

Jerry Colangelo
Chairman, USA Basketball; Board of Governors, Basketball Hall of Fame
Phoenix, AZ

Julia Fogg
Professor of Religion, California Lutheran University
Thousand Oaks, CA

Kn Moy
Founder, DXM Institute for Changemaking Innovation
Bainbridge Island, WA

Lisa Warren
Director of Community Engagement, Thrivent
Minneapolis, MN

 

Mark Rodgers
Principal, The Clapham Group
Washington, D.C.

 

Nadja Fidelia
Founding Member, Eland Capital: Division of The Williams Capital Group, L.P.
Memphis, TN

Nate Skow 
Wealth Management Advisor, Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc.
Seattle, WA

Nicholas Sensley
Founder & CEO, Institute for American Police Reform
Nashville, TN

Nick Bellas
Vice President, HSBC
NYC, NY

Rachel McPherson
Chief Relationship Architect, Mutuality
NYC, NY

Ralph Veerman
President & CEO, Veerman & Associates
Orlando, F

Reid Carpenter
Founder, Leadership Foundations
Immokalee, FL

Sara Fortin
Associate Director, Young Life’s Centurion Project
Minneapolis, MN

Scott Zuffelato 
VP of Philanthropy, Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
Springfield, MA

Susan Patschak
CEO, Florida Specialty Holdings
Bradenton, FL

Terry McGonigal
Dean of Spiritual Life, Whitworth University, Retired

Tod Bolsinger
Associate Professor of Leadership Formation, Fuller Theological Seminary
Pasadena, CA

Wilt Feider
Engineer, Retired
White Bear Lake, MN

Alma Vargas

Youth Development Specialist, Proyecto MoLE

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What inspires/excites you most about Leadership Foundations?  

The LF vision to transform cities into places that are safe and enjoyable to live in by all and its mission to make it happen by supporting those that are already doing the job.  LF makes it clear that it is not a one-person job but rather a whole village and everyone’s contributions count.   

What book, movie, quote, or tv show has most shaped your understanding of leadership or the city?  

A quote of great significance to my understanding of leadership is from Dolores Huerta, “We must use our lives to make the world a better place to live, not just to acquire things. That is what we are put on the earth for.”  It reminds me that although everyone has a different purpose in life, that purpose should ultimately add value to this world.   

Bianca Singleton

Mentoring Network Regional Coach

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What book, movie, quote, or tv show has most shaped your understanding of leadership or the city?  

“Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.” Leadership is truly about building great people who can create even better teams (organizations).  

Tell me about a relationship that has shaped who you are today.  
One of the greatest relationships was that of my own adult mentor, Cornelius Williams. Nearly a decade ago he saw something in me that I had yet to discover. My initial words to him were “I want a seat at the table.” From there he assisted me in not only climbing the ladder of my own personal success but pushing me to reach back and bring others up with me. Above all, our friendship and love for God is the foundation that has kept everything solid in our relationship.  

Cornelius Williams

Propel Project Lead

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What inspires you most about Leadership Foundations?  

Being able to learn and serve alongside other Christian entrepreneurs that are utilizing the Wheel Of Change. Also, I love the opportunity to cultivate other people of color and women through the Propel Project with the CCIC.  

What book, movie, quote, or tv show has most shaped your understanding of leadership or the city?  

The book of Nehemiah in the Old Testament: A civic leader is brokenhearted by the plight of his community, seeks the Lord, leverages his network to gather resources to mobilize indigenous leaders to rebuild their community and implement spiritual reforms. 

Dave HIllis

Fetzer Project Consultant

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What inspires you most about Leadership Foundations? 

G.K Chesterton defined romance as a mixture of wonder and welcome. This is Leadership Foundations in a nutshell. It provides the wonder of believing that cities and communities are in the process of becoming God’s playground. It provides welcome through committed, authentic, forgiving and humorous relationships that understand that any kind of transformation of cities can only take place to the degree that we love each other. 

Tell me about a relationship that has shaped who you are today.  

Two relationships immediately come to mind. The first is Tom Skinner. Tom was an African American man who entered my life in 1979 and gave me my first sense of what the gospel could look like in an urban, multiethnic, pluralistic reality. The second is Reid Carpenter who founded LF. He covers the waterfront of what I believe is the essence of being a person of faith: a deeply intimate relationship with Jesus, radically committed to others and outrageously humorous. 

De la Harpe le Roux

Lead Organizer, LF Africa

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What inspires you most about Leadership Foundations? 

A network like Leadership Foundations, is nothing without the people who are part of it.  I have met the most amazing, passionate and stunning leaders in the Leadership Foundation network. They have all in one way or another strengthened and bolstered my own passion for the city and God’s people. 

Tell me about a relationship that has shaped who you are today.  

My father not only believed in Christ, but also believed in me. He lived out his belief in his roles as my father, head of our family and my pastor.  His work ethic has influenced me to the core of my being and formed me in the way I try to do ministry up to this day.  His unwillingness to compromise with that which was wrong, but also taking responsibility for his faults, has given me a model I continuously try to emulate. 

Emily Hardin

Mentoring Youth for Leadership Program Coordinator

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What inspires/excites you most about Leadership Foundations?

The opportunity to partner with believers around the world who love God with both head and heart, with both word and deed. I long for the watching world to see Christ’s followers working together and allowing what they believe to direct their life rhythms for the glory of God and the good of God’s image-bearers.

What book, movie, quote, or tv show has most shaped your understanding of leadership or the city?

I have felt a pull to the city since I was young. Reading “Let Justice Roll Down” by Dr. Perkins was the first beautiful demonstration of Jesus-like,  incarnational ministry I witnessed, and it has changed me forever

Jonathan Hayden

Jonathan Hayden

Director of Operations
Colangelo Carpenter Innovation Center

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What inspires you most about Leadership Foundations? 

I spent a decade working in academia and think tanks and while there are brilliant ideas developed, they are too often far removed from the communities they hope to impact. What excites me about LF is the world class leaders who are developing innovative solutions to the most difficult issues in their cities and actually getting to put them into action.  

What book, movie, quote, or tv show has most shaped your understanding of leadership or the city?  

We are pretty committed to the idea that transformative change in a city relies on relationships. It is the key to effective leadership. So, I am going with one of my favorite books/movies Lonesome Dove because of the friendship between Gus and Call. Much like Jonathan and David before them, they are “bound together in close friendship” so much so that Gus askes Call to haul his corpse all the way to Texas as a favor, not to him but to Call–“it’s the kind of job you was made for, that nobody else could do or even try.”   What good things come of total commitment to others.  

 

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Kerri Feider

Communications Director

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What has most shaped my understanding of leadership or the city

“I saw paradise in the dust of the streets.” —Denise Levertov, City Psalm 
Denise Levertov vividly captures the city, holding its beauty and pain together. While acknowledging its difficult and sharp edges, she paints the city as a playground- a place filled with beauty and hope. 

A relationship that has shaped who I am today

I had the good fortune of meeting Sister Peg Murphy, a Dominican nun and Founder of Catherine Place, during my first year with the Leadership Foundations network. Over the past decade she has deeply shaped my understanding of faith, justice, and leadership – all while making sure time for a cup of tea, a good story, and a laugh isn’t overlooked. 

Larry Lloyd

Vice President of Network Impact

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What inspires you most about Leadership Foundations?  

LF’s long time commitment to incarnational ministry and incarnational community within the network. We deeply care for one another and our cities. 

What book, movie, quote, or tv show has most shaped your understanding of leadership or the city?  

To me, it would be hard to beat Robert Greenleaf’s Servant Leadership.  I’ve seen so many ministries over the years in the heart of cities favor top down leadership. Servant leadership is anything but that. 

Maggie Middleton

Mentoring Network Regional Coach

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What book, movie, quote, or tv show has most shaped your understanding of leadership or the city?  

Friday Night Lights (TV show) taught me many things about what a leader is, the brokenness that each of us lives with, and how a community can be a place of healing for the wounds that many of us carry on a daily basis. The show, which centers around a small-town high school football team, showed me a lot about what mentoring and healing looks like, and that it often resembles a spiritual and emotional family.  

Tell me about a relationship that has shaped who you are today.  

I was deeply impacted by my grandma, Evelyn Middleton. I spent extended summers with her in southern Alabama, and she was a mother in the faith to me, and a spiritual mentor to me. She was no-nonsense and amazingly tender at the same time. She faithfully prayed for me daily until she passed away, and she played a very large role in my faith story teaching me invaluable lessons about commitment, integrity, love, faith, the person of Jesus Christ, and living out one’s faith in daily life.  

Melissa Monroe

Special Assistant to the President | Administrative Manager

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What book, movie, quote, or tv show has most shaped your understanding of leadership or the city?  

Flannery O’Connor is the storyteller who has taught me most about the city, to say nothing of life. Flannery’s notion that grace so often exists in the places that we least expect and may be difficult to see – the hard, the jagged, the hurt – has broken open my perspective on where God dwells: in the cracks of the broken. 

Tell me about a relationship that has shaped who you are today.  

The philosopher, mystic, and activist Simone Weil wrote that “There are only two things that pierce the human heart. One is beauty. The other is affliction.” For me, this is a core tenant of work, life, and faith, and no one has been a more effective model of this than my dad – the way he wrestled with his challenges, celebrated life through humor, loved fiercely, and personified joie de vivre (“joy of living). 

Melody Rodriguez

Director of Proyecto MoLE

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What inspires you most about Leadership Foundations?  

“It starts with a leader, a man or woman with a passion, plan and the ability to bring others along in making it happen.” This simple sentence that answers the question, “How do you transform a city?” It reminds me that leadership isn’t just about power, education, position and influence. 

When I reflect on, “a man or woman with a passion, plan and the ability to bring others along in making it happen,” it gives me hope for the future of our cities across the world because it reminds me to look beyond those who are in the traditional “leadership” positions within my community. Leadership is not about having a title or being elected, it’s about the individuals in our cities who often work on behalf of forgotten or most vulnerable within our neighborhoods. Their actions and heart for those they serve inspire others to think beyond themselves and to consider what would it take for everyone in our city to have what they need to be safe, healthy, valued and thrive.  

Tell me about a relationship that has shaped who you are today.  

If it weren’t for my father, I would not be the person that I am today. When I finished my undergraduate degree and started working at a community based non-profit, most of my family pushed me to find a better paying job and would focus on their concern for my safety because I was working with “at-risk” youth. My father was the one person who seemed to know that I was where I was supposed to be even when I had my doubts. Throughout the 13 years that I was with that organization, my father supported me, my programs and mentored my students. During those 13 years I moved from the lowest paying entry level position to the acting Executive Director. Because of his support and encouragement, I’ve spent the last twenty-seven years waking up knowing what it feels like to love what I do and to see how it contributes to the City of Tacoma. 

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Noah Baskett

Director of Global Advancement

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What book, movie, quote, or tv show has most shaped your understanding of leadership or the city?  

“The Flag of the World” by G.K. Chesterton [excerpt from Orthodoxy]—Classic G.K.—equal parts humor and insight with a clear understanding of how loving a place has the power to transform it: “My acceptance of the universe is not optimism, it is more like patriotism. It is a matter of primary loyalty. The world is not a lodging-house at Brighton, which we are to leave because it is miserable. It is the fortress of our family, with the flag flying on the turret, and the more miserable it is the less we should leave it. The point is not that this world is too sad to love or too glad not to love; the point is that when you do love a thing, its gladness is a reason for loving it, and its sadness a reason for loving it more.” 

Tell me about a relationship that has shaped who you are today.  

I’ve enjoyed the great gift of meeting my favorite theologian, James Alison a handful of times. More than anyone I know, James has helped shift my thinking around the life of faith from just a bunch of boring morals to that of an anthropological adventure—a Eucharistic journey! And he’s got a gift for metaphor (i.e. describing the Church as a “portal and half-way house”). 

Wil McCall

Board Training Initiative Consultant

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What inspires you most about Leadership Foundations?   

Leadership Foundations’ ability to operationalize a process that organically builds relationships that point others to the love of Jesus while bringing tangible benefit to cities across the globe.  Building leadership systems through grassroots leaders is an innovative and effective way to serve diverse communities. 

Tell me about a relationship that has shaped who you are today.  


My relationship with my Father.  As a Christian leader I saw his ability to stay relevant over several decades, be cross-cultural without losing his own culture, build an organization that continued to bring benefit after he retired, and keep his family together. All my aspirations. 

Abhishek Gier

Executive Director, Catalyst Leadership Foundation

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What inspires you most about Leadership Foundations?

Seeing the city as a living breathing organism which has a personality, character and voice. The discipline to hear her voice and turning battle grounds into play grounds.   

Bill Milliken

Co-Founder & Vice Chairman, Communities In Schools

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What inspires you most about Leadership Foundations?   

Leadership Foundations has a steadfast focus on staying faithful to its roots of serving the least, the last, the lost, and the left out. I love that it keeps front and center what we all hunger for – caring relationships and caring communities.   

Barb Beard

Former Senior VP of Advancement, Greater Twin Cities United Way

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What inspires you most about Leadership Foundations?   

I feel a sense of awe as I watch LF’s response to our cities, especially as we navigate today’s upside-down world. As Dave Hillis says, we live in “The Radical Middle” providing what Henry Nouwen so eloquently describes as LF’s work “And love is stronger than fear, life stronger than death, hope stronger than despair. We have to trust that the risk of loving is always worth taking” I’m grateful to sit at the “Extended Table, seeking common ground across stark lines of differences.” 

Barbara Marshall

Barb Marshall

Educator-at-Large

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What inspires you most about Leadership Foundations?   

Leadership Foundations consistently attracts a caliber of leadership that is diverse yet shares a love for the city and an ability to bring together various coalitions in support of those who are most vulnerable.  The various expressions of this from Delhi, India to Dallas, Texas and all of the cities in between continue to inspire me in my support of the work globally.   Investing in leaders at the local level who are engaged in transforming their cities is, to me, the most significant thing we do at Leadership Foundations.  

Chris Martin

President, Knoxville Leadership Foundation

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What inspires you most about Leadership Foundations?   

I believe there is no other local organization better positioned to bring the necessary individuals, groups and systems in a city together to address the greatest needs our city’s deal with. Leadership Foundations as a collection of local Leadership Foundation is truly inspiring to watch as they each work with people of faith and people of good will, to see true transformation in individuals, structures and whole cities take place. It’s in this intersection that we find God’s Shalom and become instruments of His peace! 

David Ward

COO, (qp) global family offices

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What inspires you most about Leadership Foundations?   

Because of the way it’s built, each Local Leadership Foundation has their own authentic identity based on the needs and personality of the people and city they serve, yet all are strengthened and lifted up by the core values and requirements of the Leadership Foundations network. I think the future is limitless. With Local Leadership Foundations continuing to prove their unique value as facilitators, connectors and convenors, the leverage they create and leaders they develop are changing neighborhoods now and whole cities over time. All of this is possible and sustainable by being part of the Leadership Foundation Global Network – mentoring, training, funding, and global access

Jack Fortin

Senior Fellow, Christian Center for Vocation, Augsburg College

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What inspires you most about Leadership Foundations?

Seeing our vision to see cities as playgrounds and not battlegrounds demonstrated so concretely in the LLFs across the world. The quality and dedication of our staff and the fiscal integrity by which we do our work is impressive. I cannot think of a better place in which to give my time, resources and energy!   

John Okamoto

President, Okamoto Strategies

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What inspires you most about Leadership Foundations?   

Leadership Foundations is unique in engaging leaders at the grassroots level, knitting together communities while transcending historical boundaries and finding common ground to work on some of our cities toughest challenges- all with the vision to transform our cities from battlegrounds to playgrounds.  Leadership Foundations throughout the world have cultivated deep trusted relationships out of hard till soil.  In a time of polarization, Leadership Foundations work is needed more than ever. 

John Richardson

Independent Director & Former CEO

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What inspires you most about Leadership Foundations?   

 

Lisa Slayton

Founding Partner & CEO, Tamim Partners LLC

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What inspires you most about Leadership Foundations?   

Our long relational history with many partners, locally and globally uniquely positions LF to be a catalyst and critical partner for cultural and spiritual renewal in our cities and communities.  

My own journey with LF spans over 15 years and I believe that we are first and foremost an ecosystem of thick relationships of high trust. This will be our ‘secret sauce’ as we move into this next season of our work together. I am energized by what lies ahead, daunting and complex as it seems. We are uniquely poised to be a force for good and change in the world as we live into our 40+ year calling of making cities playgrounds, not battlegrounds! 

Mario Matos

Executive Director, Sinergia Leadership Foundation

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What inspires you most about Leadership Foundations?   

I love LF’s focus and strong commitment to the formation of leaders. While LF’s work is to seek the shalom of cities worldwide, LF understand that it takes leadership to bring about lasting and sustainable change. I’m honored to be a part of this learning community. It is through my journey with Leadership Foundations that I have learned about what is called a theology of place, that has shaped my love for the city and my love for city transformation. 

Nate Skow

Wealth Management Advisor, Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc.

What inspires you most about Leadership Foundations?   

In a world that is desperate for effective leadership, I’m encouraged every day when I see what Leadership Foundations affiliates are doing around the globe.  I’m also grateful for each of the LF staff members who work tirelessly to encourage and equip leaders of good faith and good will in all the cities we serve.  

Neil Shorthouse

Co-Founder, Communities In Schools

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What inspires you most about Leadership Foundations?   

Leadership Foundations’ team members’ devotion to serving others goes unmatched.  The legitimacy and work of Leadership Foundations and its Local Leadership Foundations affiliates’ resolve to build the kingdom of God, in spite of challenges, creates a compelling spiritual force that attracts, unifies and uplifts others throughout the world.

Osyris Uqoezwa

President, B&C International

What inspires you most about Leadership Foundations?   

I am most inspired by the resilience of the LF team in moving beyond barriers to fulfill God’s calling for this organization. It takes a lot of fortitude and creativity to navigate today’s terrain, yet the LF team remains steadfast in doing meaningful work, as the faithful servants that they are. 

Randal Drew

Chairman & CEO, PARC Entertainment, LLC

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What inspires you most about Leadership Foundations?   

LF’s commitment to transformational leadership in relationship with the most vulnerable in our communities.  Jesus instructed that what we do for the least, we do as unto Him.  When we seek to serve all, we see and include all.  When we enter into relationship and live in community with all, we see the majesty of God’s creation in each person.  Seeing our cities through the eyes of the least among us transforms us.  The aspirational vision of our cities as playgrounds where we laugh together, learn and grow old together all in love and without division is the product of transformational leadership.

Scott Lewis

Managing Partner, 5th Element Group PBC

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What inspires you most about Leadership Foundations?   

Leadership Foundations embodies the understanding that no one entity or organization has all of the expertise, capital (financial or relational), or breadth of influence to address the challenges and complexities that negatively impact our cities. LF’s global community is part of a movement that understands that we are simply better together than working in silos. Our commitment to The Wheel Of Change points to working collaboratively with others. This imperative brings together the faith community, government, and the business sectors, who bring their skill and expertise to address significant challenges in cities.

LF’s work aligns with each of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) launched in 2016. The overarching principle to implement these goals is SDG #17, “Partnership for the Goals.”  Leadership Foundations executes this every day through gifted women and men in 40+ local Leadership Foundations worldwide. 

Sheri Patillo

Co-Owner, French Connection Wines

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What inspires you most about Leadership Foundations?   

Leadership Foundations’ willingness to provide a large table for divergent thinking and open conversation, along with a welcoming spirit, inspires me to live my life the same way. This refreshing radical hospitality demonstrated in local leadership foundations across the globe sets forth a tenor of cooperation, which facilitates transformation of our cities.  

Stan Lazarian

President, Electric Service & Supply Co President, Armenian Relief and Development

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What inspires you most about Leadership Foundations?   

Our world desperately needs transformation. Our cities are both broken but, at the same time, full of possibilities. The Leadership Foundations’ commitment to seeing our cities move from battlegrounds to playgrounds through incarnational leadership is what draws me to be a part of this amazing organization. When Jesus looked at Jerusalem, he was heart-broken but He also gave us a roadmap for healing and change. Leadership Foundations empowers ministries in the US and around the World to make a radical difference in their communities.

Steven Carroll

CFO, Benchmark Plus Management

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What inspires you most about Leadership Foundations?   

 

Wil McCall

President, Dallas Leadership Foundation

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What inspires you most about Leadership Foundations?   

Leadership Foundations’ ability to operationalize a process that organically builds relationships that point others to the love of Jesus while bringing tangible benefit to cities across the globe.  Building leadership systems through grassroots leaders is an innovative and effective way to serve diverse communities. 

Wilna de Beer

CEO, Tshwane Leadership Foundation

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What inspires you most about Leadership Foundations?   

I am inspired by the way in which Leadership Foundations strive to be a catalyst for change, and does not position itself as the primary agent, but rather, facilitates through our Wheel of Change, involving key stakeholders in collaboration and joint initiatives. I believe in the power of networking and strong relationships. When agents of change work together there is synergy and the opportunity for creativity

Yuki Igarashi

Financial Advisor, Edward Jones

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What inspires you most about Leadership Foundations?   

Leadership can be messy, abstract, challenging, yet absolutely pivotal to transforming cities and lives. Leadership Foundations is uniquely positioned to elevate and multiply the impact on the ground to create systemic and sustained change for generations to come.

Celia Vigil

Communications Associate

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What book, movie, quote, or tv show has most shaped your understanding of leadership or the city?   

A quote that has shaped my understanding of leadership and the city is, “Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly now, love mercy now, walk humbly now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.”

While the amount of work there is to do to transform cities is great, this quote reminds me that we are freed from having to complete it all, though our obligation to continue remains. We may never see a huge transformation in our lifetime. The work stretches far beyond us. However, this does not make our acts of faithfulness in the day to day less significant, no matter how small they may seem.