The Dialogue Podcast
American Leadership Forum Silicon Valley presents The Dialogue Podcast, an ongoing series of conversations and insights from the ALF network.
Featured Episode
Best Of | Senior Fellow Spotlight: Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins
Suzanne St. John-Crane, ALF Silicon Valley CEO and The Dialogue Podcast Executive Producer, sat down with Phaedra in 2019 to discuss the leadership roles that catapulted her to the work of creating a more just, equitable, and inclusive world.
Phaedra’s eclectic career path included leading the South Bay Labor Council, representing more than 110,000 union members, working to expand universal healthcare for children, to working with 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.
Recent Episodes
Senior Fellow Spotlight: Cynthia Bright
Cynthia shares the story of what led her to accept the invitation to the fellows program, and how the experience evolved her view of her own leadership. She also gives us insight into how the bond between classmates fueled a strong spirit of collaboration that has led to countless joint efforts since even before the group completed their year-long journey.
AAPI Voices: Usha Srinivasan
In this episode of the dialogue podcast, we’re featuring ALF Senior Fellow Usha Srinivasan of Class XLII.
Usha shares a reading of her contribution to Making Waves – AAPI Voices, a project of ALF Silicon Valley’s AAPI Caucus. Through this project, the group hopes to share the experiences of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders with the ALF network and broader community.
Usha Srinivasan is the Founding CEO and President of Mosaic America, a nonprofit organization that aims to strengthen diverse communities through collaborative multicultural arts.
Usha is a trained Bharatanatyam (Classical Indian) dancer who is passionate about using the arts to strengthen the community. She is a Knight Foundation Creative Community Fellow (2016-17) and a member of the Multicultural Arts Leadership Institute (MALI) Cohort (2015-16) in San Jose. She has served on the boards of World Arts West, Wildlife Rescue Palo Alto, and the City of Santa Clara’s Cultural Commission.
Usha holds a master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY, and an MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.
Radical Belonging with Ben McBride
Ben posits that radical belonging means looking at our implicit biases, faulty understandings of power, and how we “other”—or “same”—people. Sometimes, it even means troubling the waters—speaking hard truths in situations that appear calm but that cloak injustice.
Rev. Ben McBride is an internationally recognized faith leader, activist, and sought-after speaker who has spoken to large audiences in the US, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the Middle East. McBride is the founder of the Empower Initiative and the Bring the HEAT campaign, and he served as director of PICO California.
AAPI Voices: Vandana Kumar
For Senior Fellow Vandana Kumar (Class XXXIX), storytelling is integral to life. From the stories told to her by her maternal grandmother about protecting their property under the British Raj to her mother’s telling of the non-violent resistance formed in her grandfather’s house, inspiration came early. With the confidence and valuable life lessons sparked by these two women, Vandana came to the U.S. to embark on her own journey of storytelling.
Today, Vandana Kumar is a publishing executive with a 35-year track record in the industry. She leads the India Currents Foundation as President and CEO. As a new immigrant, she co-founded India Currents magazine in 1987 and published an award-winning print magazine from April 1987 to Dec 2017. Fully digital today, India Currents has the largest following among Indians in the United States and recently won the California News Publishers Association award for General Excellence in Digital Publishing.
In this episode of The Dialogue Podcast, Vandana shares a reading of a piece she wrote for Making Waves – AAPI Voices, a project of ALF Silicon Valley’s AAPI Caucus. Through this project, the group looks to share the experiences of Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) with the ALF network and broader community.
Finding Strength in the Wilderness
Carin and Eureka discuss their experience going into the Fellows Program, reflecting on their fears, apprehensions, and ultimate takeaways from their weeklong wilderness trip, a central part of the annual Fellows Program experience.
Carin is the Chief Diversity Officer at Workday and has global responsibility for the development and execution of Workday’s inclusion and diversity strategy.
Eureka is the Director of Custody Health & Custody Behavioral Healthcare for the Santa Clara Valley Health & Hospital System.
Senior Fellow Spotlight: Eddie García
Our guest in this episode of The Dialogue is author, entrepreneur, public servant, retired executive, and ALF Class XVIII Senior Fellow, Eddie García.
Eddie’s new book, Summer In The Waiting Room: Faith, Hope, Love, tells the incredible story of his journey to overcome his fear of failure, his drive to succeed, and the sudden heart attack that left him clinging to life in the ICU.
Eddie joins ALF Marketing & Communications Director Richard Ángel Vega via Zoom to give a first-hand account of his health crisis and describes how the love of his family and a journey of faith led him to share his story.
Eddie García is the former Vice President of Local Government Affairs for Comcast of California, Founder of the Latino Leadership Alliance Leadership Academy, past Board Trustee for the East Side Union High School District, and Founder of García Strategies Leadership Development.
Best Of | Senior Fellow Spotlight: Ken Coleman
We’re working on all-new episodes of ALF’s The Dialogue Podcast, including new installments of our popular Senior Fellow Spotlight series, where we offer a glimpse into the personal and professional journeys of some of our most remarkable Senior Fellows. To get us ready for the upcoming season, we’re taking you back to April 2020 and our first-ever Senior Fellow Spotlight episode 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 Silicon Valley Lifetime Achievement Award; and the Silicon Valley Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame.
Ken has served as a member of the Boards of Directors of City National Bank, MIPS Technologies, and United Online. He is currently Chairman at EIS Group Ltd.
This episode was originally published in April 2020.
Public Safety: What are the roles for community & police?
This ALF National event was moderated by ALF Silicon Valley Fellows Program Co-Facilitator, Rick Williams (Class XXXIII), and featured local and national leaders in law enforcement and civil rights from California, North Carolina, Texas, and Washington.
School of Arts & Culture: Jessica Paz-Cedillos & Vanessa Shieh
In this episode, we are joined by Jessica Paz-Cedillos (ALF Class XLI) and Vanessa Shieh, Co-Executive Directors at the School of Arts and Culture at the Mexican Heritage Plaza in East San José.
During the pandemic, the Mexican Heritage Plaza became a community hub for essential resources and information, feeding over 50,000 residents, testing 15,000 individuals, and vaccinating 25,000 people.We talk to Jessica and Vanessa about their work at the Mexican Heritage Plaza over the last several years, their ability to pivot during the pandemic, and their unique journeys to their current leadership roles. We also learn about the Fellows Program dialogue exercise that had a significant impact on Jessica during a critical time in her life.
Senior Fellow Spotlight: Linda C. Lawrence
In this episode, we’re bringing you another Senior Fellows Spotlight where we offer a glimpse into the personal and professional journeys of some of the most remarkable leaders in the ALF network.
Listen as we hear from veteran business leader and ALF Senior Fellow Linda C. Lawrence (Class XIII) about her work in the early days of global technology firms like Netscape and Apple. She offers us insight into how she navigated being the only woman at the table and how she worked to establish her place in the male-dominated international executive space. She also shares how she learned the value of service at an early age and how those values have shaped her personal and professional trajectory.
A Conversation with Judge LaDoris Cordell
Recorded live during our Jan. 13 event featuring Judge LaDoris Hazzard Cordell, ALF Senior Fellow (Class VIII) and author of Her Honor: My Life on the Bench… What Works, What’s Broken, and How to Change It.
A Conversation with Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation
ALF Senior Fellows, Fellows, and guests heard from Darren Walker in dialogue with ALF CEO Suzanne St. John-Crane. The two discussed reparations and what we, as leaders in our community, can do to repair and heal our communities and democracy.
ALF Board Chair and Senior Fellow Jon Hicks (Class XXXI) opened the session, followed by ALF Senior Fellow Carol Larson (Class XV), who introduced Mr. Walker.
Climate Action and Sustainability
Jayne and Mark are members of ALF’s Climate Action and Sustainability Affinity Group, which aims to bring together a diverse group of leaders to consider cross-sector solutions to accelerate carbon reduction locally.
And be sure to check out the supplemental reading list, curated by Jayne and Mark, for additional resources on climate action and reducing our footprint on the planet.
Best Of | Leading with Purpose: Ela Gandhi, Dolores Huerta and Ellen Grace O’Brian
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.
This episode was originally published in November 2018.
Extraordinary People. Transformative Year.
When Toni Vanwinkle, Senior Director of Digital Workplace Experience at Adobe, and Miguel Marquez, Chief Operating Officer for the County of Santa Clara, accepted the invitation to participate in Class XXXIX, they had no idea just how transformative – and challenging – the experience would be.
