Programs

"ALF was a great laboratory in how to bring together a group of incredibly talented people with many different views. This is what is needed in a corporation and in our community. We collectively must enable the talent in our world."
-- Stacy Methvin, Class XXI

Every year, some of the Houston/Gulf Coast's most effective leaders become American Leadership Forum Fellows. Boundaries are crossed. Communities are built. Lives are changed.

Core Program Fellows are selected each year, drawing from the arts, nonprofits, corporations, government and politics, media, education, the professions, philanthropy and religion.

Single Sector Fellows are selected to represent the broad range of perspectives that exist within a single sector.

Criminal Justice Community Program
Class members are drawn from the many roles in our community involved in criminal justice, including District Attorney, defense attorney, judge, probation officer, correctional oficer, law enforcement officer, alternative school administrator, nonprofit leader working to reduce recidivism, policy advocate, academician, chaplain, and mental health professional.  

Medical Community Program
Participants are drawn from a broad definition of "medical community", including representatives from among the following organizations: hospitals and clinics including private/public/for profit; schools including medical, nursing, public health, community college; public health departments; insurance companies; corporate health care purchasers; pharmaceutical or medical equipment suppliers; foundations and mental health providers. The individuals represent all functions (physician, administrator, development, nurse, public health and board member).

Public Education Community Program
Participants are drawn from a broad definition of "education community", including representatives from among the following organizations: schools including multiple school districts, charter schools, early education and college; business and government representatives; foundations; nonprofit organizations supporting schools; and other community partners. The individuals represent all functions, including board members.

The intense year-long program includes a five- or six-day wilderness experience in the mountains during which extremely powerful bonds are forged. In the local area, monthly sessions are held on such topics as dialogue, group emotional intelligence, appreciative inquiry, consensus building, and ethics.

Each class of Fellows also implements a leadership initiative of the group's choosing. Whether or not the projects themselves create impact in the community, they provide a tremendous learning experience about the nature of community leadership, as well as the challenges and rewards of collaboration.

New coalitions are created to build a more effective community from diverse segments. Deep connections are made across all kinds of lines, inspiring leaders to a lifetime of active public engagement.

Characterized by its focus on the human capacity for collective intelligence, the ALF program begins a process of uncovering the principles of a different kind of leadership. When people who represent high achievement in different spheres of influence come together to learn and think, their creative and problem-solving power as a group can lead to highly effective coordinated action.

Senior Fellows Programs

Program graduates, Senior Fellows, are empowered to serve as catalysts in their communities, bringing stakeholders from other sectors together to collaboratively address the most urgent public concerns.  Through its Senior Fellow programs, ALF leverages the talent, commitment and connections that have been developed to create unique opportunities for leaders from different spheres to work together for a better community. These programs include issues dialogues and the Collaborative for Public Education, as well as social events.