It was an honor.
I can’t thank you enough. Serving as Interim CEO of ALF Silicon Valley has felt like climbing to the lookout at Sierra Buttes. I had the opportunity to survey a landscape of 45 classes. I met dozens of new leaders and refreshed longtime relationships.
What was supposed to be a six-month gig turned into the better part of a year. So please accept my final report to you as a Senior Fellow. Next week, we’ll announce a head-turner of a new CEO. I’ve been asked to serve as board chair for a year to help with that transition.
I’ll take on that role with a more intimate understanding of the network, especially after watching Senior Fellows step up to meet one of the most challenging years any of us can recall. I’ve learned how some classes do a good job of staying in touch (book groups, hikes, pool parties, always food and drink, or maybe just drink); all classes think the curriculum needs work (we know, it does); and there’s always a debate about whether ALF should leverage the network for collective action or be the place where people can come together on their terms to become more effective leaders.
Ellen and Rosemary Kamei are one of four two-generation ALF families. They talked about being an ALF family at a donor event in March.
I’ve come to understand what previous CEOs Ann DeBusk and Ann Skeet shared with me: “The class IS the program.” The most common refrain I heard from Senior Fellows across the decades: “I loved my class.”
And I saw how many ways Suzanne St. John-Crane’s commitment to diversifying ALF’s membership made for richer spaces and changed the composition of our classes.
Caring for the network has made me an even bigger fan of our mission statement: “The American Leadership Forum joins and strengthens diverse leaders to serve the common good.” I love its clarity, its generosity, and the agency and responsibility it implies.
Class XLV on the trail to base camp in July.
WHAT WE DID (AND DIDN’T) GET DONE
In addition to tending to the daily business of a $1.9M non-profit, from following Class XLV’s progress to supporting our affinity groups, the board and I agreed on five interim priorities:
1. Put ALF Silicon Valley on solid financial footing: We are on pace for a record individual giving year—thanks to you. More than 25% of our current funders didn’t give at all last year, and we’ve increased the number of major donors ($10K+) by 50%.
2. Build the board: We brought on 10 new board members in September. A mentor taught me that organizations can almost always change more dramatically and faster than they think they can. The proof has been an infusion of absolutely inspiring energy.
3. Find a successor, build Class XLIV: It took a village, and it’s going to be the Best Class, of course.
4.Create a more sophisticated, technologically savvy ALF: We’ve systematized everything from “touches” of class candidates to fundraising strategy. I’m unnaturally excited about adding Apple Pay and Google Pay to our site. We’re using new AI tools, and we’ll be asking your advice about how to maximize them.
5. Here’s what we didn’t get done: methodically go up corporate ladders to formalize relationships with 5-8 “pillar” employers in the Valley for future classes. It’s still on our radar.
THE SINGLE, MOST IMPORTANT UNEXPECTED THING THAT HAPPENED
I heard a drumbeat—across dozens of conversations—that it was time to center ALF Silicon Valley where our founders’ “guiding principles” point us: “American Leadership Forum is a non-endorsing and nonpartisan organization. We do not subscribe to a liberal or conservative ideology.” A deep, shared commitment to that principle explains why many leaders returned as funders or increased their financial support.
STORIES OF LOVE AND LEARNING FROM THE WILDERNESS
I’m grateful for dozens of rich conversations: After a 65+ Senior Fellow luncheon (thanks, Steve Smith, for starting that group), I learned that Class IX joined hands after their wilderness solos and sang “Ave Maria.” I heard about Class III bolting down a Colorado mountainside in a torrential storm. I had my own second wilderness experience, hanging with Class XLV in July. I witnessed, through tears, the affection that poured out after the class broke the silence of their solo ritual. (By the way, the modern latrines are way better than my Class XII built—even if Ronnie Lott was our lead engineer.)
Class XLV members Erin Connor and Justin Prettyman shared their experiences with ALF’s 65+ affinity group, including Steve Smith (Class XIV) and Kathleen King (Classs XVII).
IT TAKES THE ALF VILLAGE
Thanks to former board chairs Heather Rangel and Jon Hicks for persuading me to take on the role—and to Vice-Chairs Mica Mayo, Dave Babulak, and Kim Rivera, for being fabulous partners.
Thanks to ALF’s Advisory Council and to all of the board members and Senior Fellows who volunteer time and service, especially the Network Development Committee, which helps build our classes.
My appreciation to the staff—including facilitator Byron Burkhalter—for rolling with the transactional nature of an interim period.
And thanks to my wife, Fran Smith, who understood last spring that this job would cause me to be a continent away in the Valley for a week (or more) a month: “You were never home anyway,” she said.
Please reach out to david@alfsv.org, and I look forward to seeing you at the Exemplary Leadership dinner on April 23.
David Yarnold
Class XII
