History of ALF

ALF is passionately committed to building diverse networks of leaders focused on personal and community transformation in order to create an inclusive and thriving Silicon Valley. Learn more about our Fellows program.

History

ALF Founder Joseph Jaworski

American Leadership Forum (ALF) was founded in 1980 in Houston, Texas by Joseph Jaworski, who left his successful law practice to address what he increasingly saw as a crisis of leadership throughout the country. He envisioned an organization dedicated to bringing together diverse leaders from multiple sectors in communities across the country to deeply explore their personal leadership capacity, build deep trust among the group to help each leader to get beyond the devaluing prejudices that we all hold, and to learn how diverse people can coalesce around issues and discover new possibilities.

After a year of meeting with leaders from across the United States, Jaworski and seventeen other prominent Americans launched American Leadership Forum. This group included John Gardner, former secretary of Health, Education and Welfare;  James MacGregor Burns, professor emeritus of Williams College; Warren Bennis, former professor at USC and a respected author; Tom Bradley, former mayor of Los Angeles; Harlan Cleveland, former ambassador to NATO and president of the World Academy of Art & Science; Rosabeth Moss Kanter, professor of business administration at Harvard Business School; and James B. Stockdale, vice admiral in the U.S. Navy.

In 1996, Joe Jaworski published a book, Synchronicity: The Inner Path of Leadership, in which he chronicles his efforts to build American Leadership Forum and explains the principles and values that ALF embodies.

There are now eight active ALF chapters across the U.S. – Charlotte, North Carolina; Houston, Texas; Modesto, California; Portland, Oregon; Sacramento, California; San Jose (Silicon Valley), California; Tacoma, Washington; and the Waccamaw Region, South Carolina. More than 4,500 ALF Fellows nationwide have completed the program, bringing a new sense of commitment, understanding, and interconnectedness to their disparate communities.

“To think that the world can ever change without changes in our mental models is folly.” – Joe Jaworski

Current Leadership

Suzanne St. John-Crane joined ALF as Chief Executive Officer after having been through both Classic Class XXV and the inaugural Urbanism Class XXXIV. St. John-Crane has worked in community media for the last twenty-four years, having served as the founding executive director for two community television stations in the Bay Area including CreaTV San Jose.

St. John-Crane is the recipient of over a dozen regional and national awards for programs she has produced and for her national work as a community media advocate. She was honored to be named one of Silicon Valley’s 100 Women of Influence in 2012 by the Business Journal. Suzanne currently serves on the boards of Downtown San Jose Rotary and is the Chair Emeritus for HomeFirst. She is a graduate of Community Leadership programs in Gilroy, San Benito County and San Jose, having served as facilitator for Leadership Gilroy for two years.

ALF has been fortunate to be served throughout its history by a strong and active board of directors, chaired by a cadre of regional leaders. Today’s board represents a remarkable and diverse array of talent.

Founding Leadership

At the invitation of Joe Jowarski, Ann Debusk founded the Silicon Valley chapter in 1988. She established a founding board led by Paul Freiman, then president and CEO of Syntex Corporation, with representatives from the private, public, and nonprofit sectors, and in 1989 she launched ALF’s first Silicon Valley class of Fellows.

Over the next decade, ALF’s Fellows program evolved, growing in quality and attracting many of Silicon Valley’s most influential leaders from all sectors. Mayors, CEOs, nonprofit executives, members of Congress and the state legislature, and other business and civic leaders have participated, strengthening their commitment to regional stewardship and collaborative problem-solving, while exploring the Inner Path of Leadership. During these years, Ann DeBusk provided the leadership, spirit and passion to keep ALF on its path to build a better Silicon Valley community. In 1999, she was recognized as a Woman of Vision by the Career Action Center.