Alf's The Dialogue

Recorded live during our March 24th event, Revolutionary Love in a Time of Rage with Valarie Kaur. Featuring Valarie Kaur, founder of the Revolutionary Love Project and author of See No Stranger, a Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love. Moderated by LaDoris Cordell (ALF Class VIII), Retired Superior Court Judge and author of the forthcoming memoir, Her Honor: A Judge’s Candid Look At Our Legal System. Listen to Valarie and LaDoris engage in dialogue about how we can lead with love for truth and reconciliation in this time of division and fear in our country and communities.

Dog Whistle Politics, Racism, and the Housing Crisis: recorded live during our February 24th virtual event featuring Ian Haney López, Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Public Law at U.C. Berkeley and author of Dog Whistle Politics: How Coded Racial Appeals Have Reinvented Racism and Wrecked the Middle Class. Ian Haney López joined our network to discuss how dog-whistle politics contribute to the ongoing housing crisis and generate further division in our community.

With this episode, we're launching the first in an ongoing series of podcasts where we offer a glimpse into the personal and professional journeys of some of our most remarkable Senior Fellows. We're calling it Senior Fellow Spotlight. We begin this new "spotlight" series with Silicon Valley pioneer Ken Coleman of ALF Class III. Ken talks about his early life in a small town in southern Illinois, lessons learned from serving as a Second Lieutenant in the US Air Force, and his eventual move to the Bay Area, where he began a storied career starting with HP in 1972. In 1999, Ken was named one of the ten most influential African Americans in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 2001, he was named one of the top 25 Black executives in technology by Black Enterprise magazine. He is also the recipient of numerous honors, including our very own Exemplary Leader Award; the Ohio State University Distinguished Service Award; the National Alliance of Black School Educators Living Legend Award; the One Hundred Black Men of Si

In this special episode, CEO Suzanne St. John-Crane is joined by ALF Lead Facilitator Laura Weaver for the first time on the podcast. We learn about Laura's very own leadership journey, including her work in the education field and the story of how she spent time working in the Ecuadorian rainforest. Laura is an author, non-profit director, leadership consultant, and group facilitator with twenty-five years of experience in non-profit and social change work, leadership, education, health and writing. She currently serves as the Director of Transformative Learning at the PassageWorks Institute—a non-profit dedicated to creating meaningful, inclusive and engaging school cultures based on the integration of Social and Emotional Learning, Mindfulness, Equity, and a Whole Systems Approach to change.

Recorded during ALF's We The People with Eric Ward event on December 3, 2020. Eric K. Ward, Civil Rights Leader and Executive Director, Western States Center in conversation with Muhammed Chaudry (XXVI), Managing Partner, MAC Capital Partners, and ALF-SV Board Member. Eric K. Ward is a national expert on the relationship between hate violence and preserving democratic institutions, governance, and inclusive societies, and has nearly 30 years of expertise in community organizing and philanthropy.

On November 16, ALF Silicon Valley and ALF National hosted a virtual dialogue with the award-winning author of the bestselling book Decolonizing Wealth, Edgar Villanueva! In this episode, we're sharing our conversation with Edgar, where he and ALF-SV CEO/ALF National Board Chair Suzanne St. John-Crane discuss the role of wealth and philanthropy in moving the needle towards equity.

ALF-SV CEO Suzanne St. John-Crane sat down in June (via Zoom) with key players in the emergence of a cross-sector systems change over the last decade in the approach to housing and homelessness in Santa Clara County. Joining Suzanne in this episode are: Jen Loving, ALF Class XXV, Destination: Home CEO Ky Ly, ALF Class XXXV, Santa Clara County Deputy County Executive, Jacky Morales-Ferrand, ALF Class XXXIV, City of San Jose Interim Director of Housing Erin Connor, Public Benefit Investment Program Manager at Cisco Foundation

In 2016 a group of non-profit CEOs came together to explore how to put equity at the center of their organizations and how to navigate the sometimes challenging conversations that accompany significant cultural change. ALF was invited in to facilitate this CEO Diversity Inclusion Equity Liberation affinity group, whose journey has been transformative for the members and their organizations. Joining host Suzanne St. John-Crane is the group's founding members, Senior Fellows Shiloh Ballard Executive Director of Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition, Poncho Guevara Executive Director of Sacred Heart Community Service, and Chris Wilder CEO of the Valley Medical Center Foundation. Each graciously shares their origin story, impact to date, and their hopes for scaling what they've learned.

In the past few years, Silicon Valley’s economy has reached new levels of employment, income, innovation, and investments as major companies are fundamentally altering the character and evolution of innovation in the region. While there are certainly many positives attributed to this boom, we cannot ignore its attributed problems and the disparity it has created. Established in 1993, Joint Venture brings together Silicon Valley’s established and emerging leaders from different sectors to have focus on issues and work toward innovative solutions. Russ Hancock (Class XX), President and CEO of Joint Venture Silicon Valley shares with us his thoughts and observations of Silicon Valley; the changes that this valley has seen through the past few decades, the ups-downs, the innovations in tech and other sectors, and possible solutions to this growing disparity we are experiencing.

From an early age, ALF Senior Fellow Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins (Class XVI) has taken on leadership roles that catapulted her to the center of creating a more just, equitable and inclusive world. Her eclectic career path has lead her to running the South Bay Labor Council - representing more than 110,000 union members, to expanding universal healthcare for kids, engaging negatively impacted communities in environmental justice policies, to working with pop sensation Prince in reclaiming ownership of his music catalog. Her latest venture, Promise, is a "decarceration" startup that uses technology to reduce recidivism, minimize costs and promote public safety.

In November of 2018, ALF Silicon Valley hosted Leading with Purpose, a live event featuring Ellen Grace O’Brian, Author and Spiritual Director of the Center for Spiritual Enlightenment, and Ela Gandhi, Founder of the Gandhi Development Trust in South Africa. Ellen and Ela were joined by surprise special guest Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farmworkers Movement and renowned nonviolence leader in her own right. The three women had never met before, and we at ALF couldn’t resist the opportunity to host an impromptu dialogue facilitated by Santa Clara County Supervisor Dave Cortese (ALF Class XXXIII), on what keeps them leading with purpose in tireless pursuit of a non-violent world.

In November of 2016, Santa Clara County voters approved a $950 Million affordable housing bond projected to fund 120 new affordable housing developments over ten years, including 4800 new units for extremely low income and very low income individuals. In October of 2018, Supervisor Cindy Chavez (Class XII) – an architect of Measure A - and San Jose City Councilman Raul Peralez (Class XXXI) spoke with ALF CEO Suzanne St. John-Crane at a San Jose Rotary Club meeting about Measure A funded developments in progress, in the pipeline, or struggling to get through a sometimes contentious public process.

In April of 2018, SCC Supervisor Dave Cortese’s office hosted a firearms and safety summit where over 300 community members came together to talk about – guns. He enlisted ALF’s help in facilitating a participatory dialogue. In the liberal bubble of Northern California, the right conditions for dialogue brought together a surprisingly diverse cross section of gun enthusiasts, NRA supporters, as well as gun reform advocates and antigun activists. The goal? For attendees to leave understanding – and perhaps even building community – with those who had opposing views. Featured Guests, L-R: Supervisor Dave Cortese (Class XXXIII) Walter Wilson, Facilitator and Community Activist Rayna Ritchie, Summit Attendee For more information about ALF's Fellows Experience and Facilitation Services: alfsv@alfsv.org

In 2016, a report on philanthropy in Silicon Valley revealed a major disconnect between donors and the local community. The report found that 90% of philanthropic dollars leave the region and of the dollars that stay, the vast majority are given to hospitals and universities. The good news, and the opportunity, is that the report revealed that our booming Silicon Valley community houses more than 76,000 millionaires and billionaires. American Leadership Forum Silicon Valley CEO Suzanne St. John-Crane speaks with ALF Senior Fellows Carol Larson, CEO of the Packard Foundation, and Rick Williams, CEO of the Sobrato Family Foundation at a San Jose Rotary Club meeting on how we as a community must play a role in creating a “give where you live” culture.

Four unlikely partners were brought together through ALFSV's Urban Innovation Network. What happened as a result changed the conversation - and policy - around the City of San Jose's event permitting process. Guests: Blage Zelalich, Downtown Manager, City of San Jose Ryan Sebastian, Principal, Movable Feast Demone Carter, Program Manager, School of Arts & Culture Jim Reber, Executive Director, San Jose Parks Foundation

Through a series of intersections and dialogues brought about by American Leadership Forum’s Education Innovation Network, ALF Senior Fellows Chris Funk, Superintendent of East Side Union High School District and Siobhan Kenney of Applied Materials are joined by Katey Kennedy of the 1440 Foundation to talk about their journey of seeding, and scaling, a mindfulness program in schools.

Senior Fellow Dr. Robbie Pearl (Class XVII), recent CEO of the Permanente Medical Group, discusses his second book, Mistreated: Why We Think We're Getting Good Healthcare (and Why We're Usually Wrong) which hit #7 on the bestseller list. Dr. Pearl adamantly stresses that while fixing health insurance is critical, we need to focus as much on the way that medical care is technologically enabled, organized and delivered - for the good of the patient in all of us. Dr. Pearl is donating all book proceeds to charity.

These ALF Faith Leader Affinity Group members talk at a very personal level about race, bigotry and the power of listening. These unlikely allies came together to support one another, and in the process, envisioned a stategy to heal the fracture of perceived difference in our community.

Why are Silicon Valley community-based organizations struggling to meet demand in one of the wealthiest and most sophisticated regions in the world? Why aren’t more Silicon Valley philanthropists directing their dollars toward local organizations and issues, in addition to national or global causes? Senior Fellows Alexa Cortés Culwell and Heather McLeod Grant, co founders of Open Impact, set out to answer these questions in their recently released report, The Giving Code: Silicon Valley Nonprofits and Philanthropy. In this podcast, Heather shares a bit about their findings and what steps can be taken to bridge the giving gap.

Consultant/Coach and ALF Senior Fellow Amari Romero-Thomas (Class XVI)guides you to let go of what no longer serves you and turn your focus to the ONE thing. A perfect follow up to ALF's Taking Stock retreat.