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Written by David Castro

Additional Author 1: Craig J. Calhoun

Craig Calhoun, KNFP-3 President, Social Science Research Council

This article was published in the February 2003 issue of the KFLA Newsletter.

Craig Calhoun Quick Fact: Craig Calhoun was named President of the Social Science Research Council in 1999. Prior to joining the Council, he served as Chair of the Sociology Department at New York University, where he remains Professor of Sociology and History. Calhoun has written or edited more than a dozen books and authored over eighty scholarly articles, including the prize-winning book Neither Gods Nor Emperors: Students and the Struggle for Democracy in China (California, 1994). His topics range from nationalism and democracy to the Chinese student movement, information technology, public communication, and September 11.

 What sustains you in your practice of leadership and your commitment to change?

I'm tempted to answer: "coffee." But seriously, I can't imagine not wanting to work as hard as possible on important social issues. I'm moved by the belief that we really can't make the progress we should in practical action without working hard to improve our understanding of the issues involved. And I'm sustained by the sense that understanding does grow. It's a joy each time I feel a sense that my picture of how social life works has come into clearer focus.

What do you consciously say to yourself or do that helps you stay on track with your goals? 

You can't do everything. Of course, saying this and acting on it are two different things. One of my strengths is seeing the importance and interconnection of many different concerns. But accomplishing anything means setting priorities, deciding to focus on certain things and not others. It also means recognizing that on many tasks others wilt be able to do a better job.

What is your passion?

In general, my passion is the idea that better understanding enables us to choose more of how we live together rather than just have it happen to us. In particular, at this moment, it‚'s the global challenge of HIV-AIDS. In parts of Africa 30% of people are infected. The pandemic is now striking women more than men--and also orphaning a generation of children. Its costs mount, not only in human life and economic resources but in family structure, cultural continuity, and political stability. And this is not just about Africa, but about the whole world, as Infection rates are beginning to explode in Russia, India, and China, and not just among so-called "high risk groups". There are two problems with the global response. One is that there isn't enough of it. The US and other countries made big promises with the launch of the Global Fund, but their contributions have been small. The Gates Foundation has shown impressive leadership, but most of the philanthropic community has failed in its responsibility to lead. The second problem is equally important but more complicated. The responses have almost all focused on prevention or cure--both of which are extremely important. But it is a fantasy to think that the disease will be eliminated--or even greatly reduced--in the next few years. Even if a vaccine is found tomorrow, it will be at least a generation before it can reach all who need it--and that assumes no further mutations of an already multi-stranded disease. This means that there needs to be much more work on the social conditions that shape life and death in the era of AIDS. Poor nutrition hastens the onset of symptoms. Health care systems are overwhelmed (and the situation is worse because of years of cutbacks in public funding). Women bear a disproportionate burden of care for AIDS victims, and this takes them out of the workforce and education. School systems are destroyed because with traditional approaches teachers can't be trained fast enough to replace those who die I'll stop myself from going on, but the simple point is that many of the actions that would save the most lives, and do most to save economies and families and the social fabric in general, are neither medical nor matters of promoting safe sex and other forms of prevention They are efforts to strengthen social institutions that help people cope and end conflicts that not only spread the disease but prevent effective responses to it I'm passionate not only because the need is so acute but because people who should be doing something aren't And here I include my own community of social scientists, which is just waking up to the fact that this is one of the most important issues in the world and yet left on the margins of most academic disciplines.

How do you practice good self-care?

I'm not sure I do. I always mean to exercise more, eat better and spend more time with my family. But doing work I really believe in is a kind of self-care too.

How do you measure success?

In action generated, which in my world means new ideas and thus the research and thinking that keep improving them, the educational work that ensures regeneration, and the broader public conversations that both test the best ideas in debate and bring them to policymakers and citizens.

If you had to give an aspiring leader one piece of advice, what would it be?

Do it now, don't spend forever getting ready, but keep learning while you do it.

Are you a better leader than you were five years ago? How do you know?

Maybe, but I really don't know. I have some new skills. But I'm also more conscious of some of my weaknesses. Besides, just to say 'yes' would sound even more pompous than I probably already do in this interview!

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Written by Kellogg Fellows Leadership Alliance

For more than 20 years, Ed DeJesus, a Bronx native, has committed his life to working with youth who need options beyond the street.

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Written by Edward DeJesus

Additional Author 1: Bliss W. Browne

Bliss Browne, KNFP-9 President, Imagine Chicago Bliss Browne

This article was originally published in the January 2003 issue of the KFLA Newsletter. 

Quick Fact: Author of Possibility Handbook: Imagine Chicago: Ten Years of Imagination in Action, a conceptual framework for imagination as a social movement.

How have you, though your leadership, made a difference in one of your communities?

Imagine Chicago, the organization I founded in 1992, has pioneered an intergenerational and intercultural process of cultivating hope and civic engagement, which has now been copied all over the world. It has generated many meaningful opportunities and enabled those not previously involved as civic actors to bring their considerable gifts to the communities where they live.

What sustains you in your practice of leadership and your commitment to change?

Unbounded energy, an expansive vision of what is possible (which has emerged out of my Christian faith), a wondrous and ever-growing set of friends, the enthusaism for life my children manifest, and constantly witnessing what ordinary people are capable of dreaming and accomplishing.

What is your passion?

To create an economy in which nothing and no one is wasted-- especially by liberating and connecting the imagination of individuals and institutions in a way that inspires inclusive, hopeful community building.

How do you practice good self-care?

I try to sleep every day, laugh often, exercise, spend time with friends and family, and do creative work that I love.

How do you measure success?

By how many caterpillars turn into butterflies.

If you had to give an aspiring leader one piece of advice, what would it be?

Listen, live passionately from a stance of abundance, love questions more than answers, welcome life‚'s mystery, renounce cynicism, focus on learning rather than success.

How are you different or what do you do differently as a result of your experience as a Kellogg Fellow? Why?

As a Fellow, I developed my learning plan on spirituality and leadership. I was a banker at the time, as well as a priest and mother. The combination began to make me really think hard about faith, imagination and public life, so I threw a conference on that topic in 1991 with the remainder of my fellowship funds. Out of that emerged the animating vision that has guided my life and work for the past ten years. I quit my banking job four days later to begin what became Imagine Chicago. The rest, as they say, is history. Imagine projects are now on six continents. I‚'ve just gotten back from a world speaking tour doing almost 200 events in seven weeks. My children see life as infinitely possible, which is the greatest legacy I can imagine.

Can leadership be invisible? How and why have you practiced invisible leadership?

The best leader in my view is the one that leaves people saying "We did it ourselves". But good luck explaining that to funders!

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Written by Kellogg Fellows Leadership Alliance

Additional Author 1: Beverly G. Sheftall

Beverly Guy-Sheftall (KNFP 8) Anna Julia Cooper Professor of Women's Studies and English and Founding Director, Women's Research & Resource Center, Atlanta.

This article was originally published in the January 2009 issue of the KFLA Newsletter.

From the early '70s, Beverly Sheftall has been a leader in the field of women's studies, particularly as they relate to African American women. Beverly began her career as a professor of English at Spelman College, her alma mater, and there she went on to become the Anna Julia Cooper Professor of Women's Studies, as well as the founding director the Women's Research and Resource Center at the college. Her decades of scholarship have yielded a number of texts, including the first anthology of African American women's writing, Sturdy Black Bridges: Visions of Black Women in Literature. Her most recent book, co-authored with Johnnetta Betsch Cole, is Gender Talk: The Struggle for Women's Equality in African American Communities. Beverly believes she has found the perfect match between exploring her passions for reading, writing and teaching, and an environment where she taps into these areas daily.

"I have a very broad interest in women's issues and the connections between race, gender, class, and sexuality in cultural contexts," she says. "I'm interested in how Native American women are doing with health issues on the reservations; how women in South Africa are coping with HIV-AIDS; and I'm able to pursue these interests through teaching, publishing, and the work of the Women's Center."

"Through the years, Beverly has steered the Women's Research and Resource Center into the areas of curriculum development in women's studies, research on women of African descent, and community outreach, including forming coalitions with women's organizations outside the U.S. Among its many areas of exploration, the center recently embarked on a focus in women's health internationally, particularly women and HIV-AIDS.

Beverly describes her calling as "politicizing young African American college students and helping them to see an urgency in the need for change." She emphasizes, "In these anti-liberal, anti-progressive times, it's important for people to remain radical and to not let anyone convince them that it's a bad thing to be. Remember, radical people changed the world, not people that were satisfied with the status quo."

Beverly measures success by the extent to which she is able to reach people. This can happen in both small and sizeable ways, she says, adding that sometimes a small gesture can have very significant results.

She recounts, "In one case, I had only known someone for about an hour. I made some observations and took a risk, I gave that person some advice. Some years later she ended up coming to Spelman as a colleague. I hadn‚'t thought about that afternoon very much since, but she told me it had been a life-changing event. It‚'s a kind of risk-taking that sometimes pays off."

While she is now starting to grapple with succession planning, Beverly continues to have a lot of fight left in her.

She says, "I realize how much work needs to be done and what bad shape the world is in. I feel it's important to hook up with people who have the same sense of urgency. That's what keeps me going."

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Written by Kellogg Fellows Leadership Alliance

Additional Author 1: Duane Perry

Duane Perry, KILP-02, Executive Director, The Food Trust, Philadelphia.

This article was originally published in the July 2005 issue of the KFLA Newsletter.

Philadelphia schools have the strongest healthy beverage policy in the country, due in large part to Duane Perry and The Food Trust. Duane founded The Food Trust, a nonprofi t organization, in 1992 to promote nutrition education in schools and increase the availability of affordable, nutritious food in communities. Now, The Food Trust is working to take the healthy beverage policy statewide, giving students a choice of 100-percent fruit juice, milk, or water. The Food Trust also works on-the-ground in schools. It developed the School Market Program, creating student-led farmer's markets to give students some experience in marketing and selling, and to offer students and staff nutritious food choices in their own school. "The school markets teach students about the importance of healthy food as they attempt to persuade their fellow students to buy their products," explains Duane. The Food Trust has developed a curriculum on the School Market Program for teachers, and hopes to expand the program nationally. (This curriculum may be downloaded from www. TheFoodTrust.org.) Before creating The Food Trust, Duane worked at Reading Terminal Market, a year-round, fresh-produce market in downtown Philadelphia. When the market was threatened by a redevelopment project, Duane helped foment a tremendous outpouring of community support that convinced city planners of the value of the market, both from an economic development and a nutritional standpoint. Now, The Food Trust works to secure funding from the state's economic-stimulus program to attract fresh food markets in underserved communities. The strategy is to promote healthy eating and create new jobs by locating supermarkets and farmer's markets in urban and rural areas with few stores and high unemployment rates. To date, The Food Trust has leveraged $140 million for the Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative. Says Duane, "We've worked to convince the legislators that providing vital food resources and amenities can help revitalize these communities." Duane's advice to others working in his field is: Create a great vision that is both clear and understandable, and just out of reach. "People can grasp our vision, which is about creating affordable sources of good, nutritious food," he says. "They can get behind that." He comments, "The great thing about this field is it's so easy to build bridges around food. We all eat; we all like food. It's something we can all share in. That makes it easy to find common ground. It's work that can cross many fields and bring us together." 

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Written by Kellogg Fellows Leadership Alliance