“We’re Leadership LA, and we’re here today, to make LA a better place to stay – all my fellows in the class say Hey!”

It is with much appreciation that I stand before you today as your class speaker… your valedictorian. I am honored to have spent the last 9 months getting to know so many amazing people. The Leadership LA program has been a wonderful journey…much more than I expected.

I’d like to start off by thanking Brian Williams and the entire Southern California Leadership Network team – even the staff members we scared off, like the last Executive Director, Kevin Cottrell. (April Tam, thank you for giving us a second chance!) I’d also like to acknowledge the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce for supporting this wonderful program, thank you Gary Toebben.

I liken my experience with LLA to having a “back stage pass to a rock concert” – being given access to information, people and places that I wouldn’t normally have. Every month for the last 9 months, me and almost 60 other “groupies” traveled all over Los Angeles – going “back stage” to the most interesting places together. During those 9 months, we learned together, we laughed together, some of us got car sick together, and we made important connections and lasting friendships together.

In our very first session, back in April, we focused on the internal dynamics of leadership and civic entrepreneurship. Jody Walker from Success Alliances introduced us to the idea of developing our own personal mission statement…an exercise I found most difficult, but at the same time most rewarding. We learned that “Vision without Action is a Daydream, and Action without Vision is a Nightmare.” We even learned about stress and how it has been proven that stress creates energy for fighting or fleeing…it’s a natural reaction that helps us survive. What I personally love about stress is that the word “stressed” is actually “desserts” spelled backwards...I bet you guys didn’t know that! (I wasn’t appointed valedictorian for nothing!)

Kevin Groves from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University led us through our very own personal leadership style assessment…giving us the opportunity to continue the self-development process in a very specific and personal way.

In our second session together in May, we focused on education and workforce development. The superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, John Deasy, talked about the challenges facing LAUSD today…such as the fact that LAUSD has a 54% high school drop-out rate. He talked quite a bit about leadership…defining it as “Public acts of professional courage.” He told us that we need to remain “sober in our work”, and to “fight well, and hire for our weaknesses, not our strengths.” He also told us we need to “Identify our top performers, celebrate them, learn from them and keep them.” While Mr. Deasy’s presentation was inspiring to many, it was obvious to all of us that one person cannot address all of the issues facing our educational system alone. 

A panel of various leaders in business and education shared their perspectives on the topic as well. Adam Sonenshein, the Director of Public Affairs from LA Universal Preschool, told us that “children who enter kindergarten behind stay behind.” As sobering as the information presented to us that day was, it was a call to action for all of us. One of our own class fellows, William Bass who works as the Policy and Program Development Advisor for LAUSD said it perfectly: “Education is the silver bullet that eliminates or reduces the impacts of race or geography on individual and societal success. Our kids need our help.” What better a call to action than that!

Our third session together focused on arts and culture. We all held our breath for this session, because Kevin Groves was also coming back to give us the results of our 360 evaluation. Luis Alfaro, a Professor from the School of Theatre at USC, talked to us about the importance of arts and culture in LA. He was exciting and theatrical. He cursed a lot. (But artsy people can get away with that!) We spoke with arts leaders about how the arts are intertwined in business and education and how they play an important role in building communities and bringing about social change.  Some of us took a tour of the Music Center and Disney Concert Hall. Another awesome “back stage pass.”

Session four in July covered public and private health care in Los Angeles.  Industry leaders spoke about how national health care reform is impacting local practices and policies. We also began our journey of self-reflection, starting the process of building our own leadership portfolio. A tool we would be working on for months to come.

Our fifth session was about media and entertainment, and happened to be my favorite. We spent the day at Paramount Studios. There’s that awesome pass again! As a bonus, the popular TV show Glee was filming there so throughout the day some of the lucky ones in our class got to see glimpses of cast members here and there. In the morning, we heard from Amy Lemisch, the Executive Director of the California Film Commission. She talked about the importance of the entertainment industry to our state. It was interesting to learn that although entertainment makes up a huge portion of southern California’s economy, with 1 out of every 6 people working either directly or indirectly in the industry, that we are losing business more and more to the other states that are offering better tax credits. We enjoyed a behind the scenes tour of the studio lot where we heard a ton of great stories about so many things.

Session six covered law and society. Long Beach Police Chief and Leadership LA alum, Jim McDonnell, discussed law enforcement and we listened to a panel of experts talk about issues like access to legal services, and drug and immigration policy reform. We also heard perspectives from the sheriff’s department about public safety challenges facing LA. We headed over to the Men’s Central Jail for a first-hand look at the largest jail in the world…the moment we’d all be waiting for.

In October, our seventh session covered ports and airports. During this session we were introduced to the inter-workings of the Port of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles International Airport. Port and airport police chiefs discussed their roles and how they are working together to ensure public safety. The Superintendent of Operations at LAX explained how the current design of LAX is problematic and gave us an overview of the physical, environmental and political challenges at hand. Who knew a butterfly could be such a problem.

Last month, our topic was neighborhood development. We spent the day in Watts, a neighborhood in South Los Angeles. Watts is a place where many in our group had never been, a place filled with stereotypes and urban legends. As one described, this trip humanized those stories and showed us living examples of the hope and success that lies in this area. Tim Watkins, the CEO of the Watts Labor Community Action Committee, talked to us about the people, the places and the history of South Los Angeles. What an amazing community.

Our ninth and final session was just last week. We talked about water, the environment and also returned to the topic of civic leadership. We heard from Gilbert Ivey, the Assistant General Manager and Chief Administrative Officer from the Metropolitan Water District about environmental leadership and the future of water and energy in Los Angeles. Our panel discussion consisted of top leaders from Heal the Bay, Water Conservation Partners and California Greenworks. Most of our discussion was about water – our most precious natural resource. Some of us visited the Pasadena Power Plant, and the others the Water Treatment Plant. It was interesting to learn how controversial water can be. It all made sense when the Manager of the treatment plant used the expression: “Whiskey is for drinking, water is for fighting.” It was explained that there is no sense of urgency to address our water issues.

We wrapped up not only our day, but our entire nine months, returning to our leadership portfolios. The process was self-reflective, introspective and, for some of us, painful. We learned a lot about ourselves… we learned a lot from each other. Some of us made drastic changes, leaving our current jobs and moving on to other adventures. In the words of Peter Drucker, “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” This process certainly challenged each of us to do just that.

So to my fellow graduates, my fellow groupies – raise your glass high. Raise it as high as the bangs on Alex’s head. Now, join me in turning your straws…because in this moment - you are graduates. You are the hope and the future of Los Angeles.  

May you see yourself not only as a leader in Los Angeles, but as a person leading Los Angeles...that you might be filled with a spirit of conviction to fight for the cause…that you might see your experience in this phenomenal program as a call to action to make a difference.

Dare to “fight hard”...dare to “make public acts of professional courage”…dare to be a leader.

So whether or not I ever get my dog beach, I am proud to be a part of this amazing network of leaders. Thank you Southern California Leadership Network for this opportunity. Thank you class of 2011 for making this experience so much fun.

The Southern California Leadership Network is very pleased to announce the hiring of the Southern California Leadership Network’s new Executive Director and Vice President, Leadership Programs for the L.A. Area Chamber, Brian K. Williams. Williams, a graduate of Leadership Southern California 2009, has been an avid supporter of SCLN and its mission since his completion of the program.

Brian has had a distinguished career in government and public affairs in our region. He has served in a variety of key leadership positions that will serve him well in this new role, including: the Southern California Association of Governments (one of the founding organizations of SCLN), the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, and the City of Los Angeles as the Deputy Mayor for transportation, environment and infrastructure. Most recently, Brian served as principal of the Brian K. Williams Law Group, specializing in the areas of civil and criminal litigation. Read his full bio here.

We are very excited to welcome Brian to his new role, beginning Oct. 19. We are confident that he brings SCLN the expertise on key leadership and policy issues shaping Los Angeles, the Southern California region and the state that will help advance our growing array of cutting-edge leadership programs.

The Southern California Leadership Network (SCLN) announces that Kevin Cottrell will be stepping down as SCLN executive director at the end of September  to take on a new role as director of Transatlantic Leadership Initiatives with the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF). He will take his skills of building and administering cutting-edge leadership programs to an international level, working with leaders in both the U.S. and Europe. Kevin will be relocating to Washington, D.C., for this new position, but he will maintain a close relationship with SCLN as the organization serves as GMF’s regional partner in Southern California. Read the announcement from GMF.

Please click here for the job description for the positions of Executive Director, SCLN and Vice President of Leadership Programs, L.A. Area Chamber. We hope you can assist us in the search by forwarding on to your colleagues and wider networks.  

Please join us in congratulating Kevin for his nearly six years of successful work with SCLN and the L.A. Area Chamber at a no-host happy hour on Aug. 31.

Thank you!

Sincerely,

We are pleased to highlight four insightful Key Perspectives posts, written exclusively for SCLN's new Issues Forum. The thought pieces feature our region's top leaders discussing important Southern California issues that matter to them on the topics of law and society; Southern California's global connections; and healthy communities. Share your own thoughts on these topics by commenting in the Issues Forum:

• Law & Society - When Empathy Just Isn't Enough
  "Staggering statistic: one in five children in the United States lives in poverty. Grim reality: our measure of the federal poverty line is outdated and no longer relevant," writes Gisselle Acevedo, President & CEO of Para Los Niños.
  Read more >
  

• Global Connections - Diversity as Our Strength
  "The future well-being of our region depends on immigrants and their children successfully integrating into the mainstream of civic life and the economy," writes Antonia Hernandez, President & CEO of The California Community Foundation.
  Read more >

• Healthy Communities - The Healthy World I Dream Of
  "The work of most of us in the nonprofit world can be boiled down to one essential:  we are striving to improve the health of our communities. That’s our ultimate goal, whether we’re literally providing health and human services, working to save the environment, or fighting for social justice," writes Lorri Jean (LLA '96), CEO of the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center.
  Read more >

• Healthy Communities - Understading Where Health Happens
  "Tell me your ZIP code and I’ll tell how long you’re going to live," writes Dr. Robert Ross, President & CEO of The California Endowment.
  Read more >

As a kid, I remember the letdowns I had when returning to school after summer camp. I missed my new friends, fun adventures and new routines. Well, that feeling, that “post-summer camp” letdown is what I’ve experienced since returning from my spring American Marshall Memorial Fellowship (AMMF) organized by The German Marshall Fund of the United States. I miss the amazing friends and experiences that I shared with 15 other Americans as we travelled for nearly a month across Europe, February 24-March 20.

I’m embarrassed to admit, but it was my first time traveling to Europe. It sounds trite, but it truly was a trip of a lifetime, a life-changing experience. Participating in meetings with ambassadors and section heads at NATO headquarters during the early stages of the crisis in Libya was surreal. Meeting with the gregarious Giorgos Pavlou Papanikolaou (pictured below, at right)—a member of the European Parliament and a European Marshall Memorial alum—within the modern EU Parliament building (pictured at left) was another eye-opener during the first stage of our trip in Brussels. And of course we had our share of fun, including a memorable day-trip to the beautiful city of Bruges (pictured above, at right) and spent our last night in Belgium celebrating a colleague’s birthday at the world famous Delirium pub in the heart of Brussels.

These amazing, shared experiences helped our group to bond, but they also laid the groundwork for several overlapping themes during our travels:

• North-South and East-West societal, cultural and wealth disparities in Europe
• Federalization and/or increasing domination of the EU across the continent
• Widespread government corruption in southern and eastern Europe
• Immigration, and its impacts on the south, particularly Italy and Greece
• Human trafficking in the east
• Religion and veiled religious intolerance

These broad themes continually came to the fore in meetings with elected officials, policy makers, business leaders and NGOs during our first five days in Brussels, and then during my travels to Freiburg, Germany; Athens, Greece; Tirana, Albania and Bucharest, Romania.   

While I could go on for hours, if not days, about these amazing meetings and experiences—celebrating the start of spring and the beginning of Lent at a centuries old traditional street festival in a small town in the German Black Forest, watching the sun rise over the Acropolis after a rare spring snowstorm in Athens, drinking coffee in the “George W. Bush Café” (pictured below, at left) on the outskirts of Tirana where the former president is revered, or meeting with religious leaders in an Albanian mosque—I’m reassured that we have a tremendous network of Marshall Memorial Alumni here in Southern California. While it’s been challenging to get back into the “groove” of things upon returning to my normal life, I’ve been fortunate to share these stories over lunch and chance encounters with fellow alumni over the past few weeks. I’ve also been able to relate our transatlantic experiences via Facebook, where I posted several hundred pictures of my Fellowship, and via e-mail where my fellow AMMFs and I recently exchanged views on a recent Washington Times article on the French ban on covering Islamic veils in public.

This new French law was discussed several times on our recent trip. In fact one of the GMF staff members from Paris (who was briefly with our group in Tirana, Albania) defended the French law, expressing the view that immigration policy had not succeeded with assimilating Muslim immigrants from northern Africa in France, Germany and other Western European countries. As I referenced earlier, immigration and religion were continual themes on our travels across the continent. And, just like here in America, there were divergent views on these subjects, which generally depended upon whether the perspective was being expressed from the northern or southern portion of the continent. 

While in Athens, we heard about the troubles of the Greek economy, which could be partially blamed on government corruption and inefficiencies, the lack of a robust private sector and challenges from immigration (out of a total national population of 11.5 million, roughly 10 percent or 1.5 million residents are immigrants). However, Greece’s long-time rival on the other side of the Adriatic, Turkey, is prospering. In fact, this is leading to a brain-drain of Greece’s best and brightest, where 40 percent of their most talented young engineers and other professionals have left the country—many to Istanbul—in search of better opportunities. But despite Turkey’s relative success, and long-term positive outlook, Turkey has not been granted entry into the EU, while Greece is a full member. Perhaps it was an over-simplistic view, but a wise expatriate from England now living in Athens put this spin on the simmering controversy: referring to the old Christian empire, he compared German and French resistance to Turkey’s admission to the EU as the “new Charlemagnia,” where western Europeans were loath to formally integrate with a majority Muslim country.   

While my fellow American fellows and I were surprised to hear of this new French law, I think that we were more surprised to hear the near universal support for the measure expressed in our conversations with western Europeans. These discussions put American religious intolerance into a little better perspective for me. Despite recent controversies such as the placement of a mosque next to the World Trade Center or the mosque planned in Temecula, our First Amendment fundamentally guarantees the freedom of religious expression. And perhaps it was this fundamental perspective that has led to the United States’ continued support across several presidential administrations for the inclusion of Turkey into the EU.

This is but one, and there are countless other examples where experiences gleaned during my Marshall Memorial Fellowship have led to a more nuanced and greater insight for American-European cultural, economic and diplomatic relations. While time moves forward, and the exuberance of my Fellowship wanes, I am comforted that the tremendous network of emerging American leaders and my new, amazing friends will continue to provide wisdom and insights that will benefit me well into the future. 

Thanks to the Marshall Memorial Fellowship and to the Southern California Leadership Network for an amazing experience that will pay dividends for me well into the future!

David Roberts is Associate Director, Local Government Relations at the University of Southern California and Graduate, Leadership L.A. '99.

SCLN is the official partner in Southern California for the American Marshall Memorial Fellowship, which is now accepting nominations for the 2012 Fellowship! Get more info and download the nomination form now.