Programs
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.
Fellows are selected each year, drawing from the arts, nonprofits, corporations, government and politics, media, education, the professions, philanthropy and religion.
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 officer, 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.
Community Development Program
Participants are drawn from a broad definition of "community development", including leaders in two contiguous neighborhoods impacted by the growth of Houston’s downtown: 5th Ward and East End. Participants are drawn from business, investors, government, local chambers of commerce and entities such as TIRZ and CDCs, various community-based organizations, and some highly involved individuals.
Workforce Development Program
The Workforce Development Program, launched in April of 2016, is designed to join and strengthen diverse leaders involved in all aspects of workforce development from across the Greater Houston community. The intent of the class is to engage a thoughtfully constituted Workforce Development cohort of individuals from corporations, educational institutions, social service agencies, government agencies and many other organizations in the time proven ALF curriculum.
Community Education Program
This class is intended to join and strengthen diverse leaders who have a stake in and a passion for significantly improving the future of education across the Greater Houston region. The intent of this class is to bring together a group of leaders who have the potential to create a needed connection and synergy across education, health care, social services, criminal justice and government.
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 will host a community dialogue with a format and topic of the group's choosing. In addition to creating impact in the community, the community dialogues 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.
