Leading with Empathy

July 20, 2023

Twenty three Houston leaders — elected officials, nonprofit executives, corporate CEOs, funders, deans and college presidents — gathered in the Colorado mountains for a week of intensive, transformational inner work and bridge-building during their American Leadership Forum Wilderness experience. For the first time, The Jung Center was a partner in this work, as Executive Director Sean Fitzpatrick joined former Jung Center trustee Mel Taylor, ALF President Nory Angel, ALF Lead Facilitator Judy Le, and ALF Fellows Program Coordinator Shaina Holm as a co-facilitator of ALF Class 59. As with all Fellows classes, this group reflects Houston’s racial, cultural, religious, and ideological complexity.

At a time when fear and animosity have reached alarming levels, ALF does difficult work: creating and deepening relationships that work against the polarization and isolation of our time. Rather than teaching new management techniques, ALF challenges our leaders to develop the disciplines of introspection and empathy, so they can discover what matters most in their lives and for our communities. The effect can be materially visible and potent; after her Fellows year, Jung Center President Lisa Helfman founded Brighter Bites, a national nonprofit that delivers fresh fruits and vegetables directly into families’ hands. The ALF experience makes much more possible in our community, in less dramatic but no less powerful ways. The Jung Center is in a unique position to deepen this ongoing, vital work, and we are honored to support ALF.

ALF Houston website: https://www.alfhouston.com/

by Sean Fitzpatrick, Executive Director | sfitz@junghouston.org