Innovation Blog

Additional Author 1: Stephen J. Reifenberg

Steve Reifenberg (KNFP 13), Regional Office Director of Harvard University’s David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, Santiago, Chile.

This article originally appeared in the August 2008 issue of the KFLA Newsletter.

Steve Reifenberg Steve Reifenberg has worked for nearly 20 years on international education, negotiation, and development issues with Harvard University. Since 2002, he and his family have lived in Santiago, Chile, where Steve promotes and facilitates projects for Harvard students and faculty in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru.

Says Steve, ”I love working in an international setting, dealing with people from different cultures, and trying to learn and contribute to making positive change, especially in the area of education.”

In his early 20s, Steve spent two years working at a small orphanage in Santiago during a time of severe repression in Chile. While there, he witnessed the early stages of public protests that eventually ousted the repressive military government and led to the return of democracy. Steve recently published his first book, Santiago’s Children: What I Learned about Life at an Orphanage in Chile, about his profound experiences engaging with the children and their country’s struggles. (Visit www.santiagoschildren.com to learn more.) Nearly 25 years later, he continues to be involved with the orphanage and several of the children (now adults) he once lived with.

One of Steve’s current projects is ”to take some of the best lessons from Chile and internationally for child development, including from the Head Start and Early Head Start Program in the U.S., and apply them to educational settings in Chile.” He explains, ”We currently are running a series of demonstration sites and hope to demonstrate empirically the impact these interventions can have on the lives of poor children, and ideally replicate these programs on a national scale.”

Steve is also working closely with local communities in a conservation initiative in the Chilean Patagonia to preserve and develop land in sustainable ways.

”In the fields such as education and conservation, I think you have to be an optimist. You have to believe that positive change is possible,” he says.

In his approach to life and work Steve taps into the opposing tensions of driving an agenda and finding beauty in the moment. He says, ”If I am honest, I probably operate with two different, and even competing, measurements for success. First, I have a classic type-A personality. I like results, measurable results. I feel success in checking things off my to-do list. At the same time, I am convinced that there is real wisdom in how the Dalai Lama talks about success in life: What is success? To be happy…. The word he uses over and over is compassion, concern for others. He also focuses on being attentive to the moment.

”Therefore, competing with my type-A personality, I think consciously, ’Breathe. Be present now.’ And then I think, ’Don’t delay happiness.’ Even though not everything is perfect, even though there are still tons of things yet to do on my to-do list, appreciate this moment now, with my wife, son or daughters, my friends, my colleagues, and be aware of the many, many blessings I have in my life.” 

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Written by Kellogg Fellows Leadership Alliance

Additional Author 1: Regan Thomas

J. Regan Thomas (KNFP 7), Chair of the Otolaryngology Department, University of Illinois-Chicago.

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

Dr. Regan Thomas is one of the country’s foremost specialists in the area of cosmetic and reconstructive surgical procedures of the face, head, and neck. As the endowed chair of the University of Illinois’s Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, he is pursuing his passion of medical education and training young physicians in both national and international settings.

Selected in 2008 by his peers as among the 50 Best Doctors in America, Regan’s distinguished career has led him to serve in numerous leadership positions in his field. Among the professional organizations he has presided over are the American Board of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and the American Academy of Otolaryngology. He is also an officer of IMPAC, the Illinois State Medical Society Political Action Committee, playing a role in the legislative process in support of the medical profession.

”A lot of the skills that we began to appreciate and hone in our Kellogg Fellowships have been useful to me,” he says, reflecting on his call to lead.

Regan also credits his Kellogg Fellowship for his pursuit of international teaching opportunities. He has been to countries on every continent to perform surgery and to share knowledge with other physicians.

”My colleagues often ask me how I can take so much time away from my day-to-day activities,” he says. ”I feel that with my international work I’m making a broader impact, and am gaining many new friends.”

The feedback Regan gets from individuals across the globe who have learned from him and are able to improve patients’ outcomes is largely what drives him in his professional pursuits.

”When people write and tell me that they’re using the techniques I showed them for facial reconstruction in India or Mexico, that’s a real measure of success,” he says.

Twelve years ago, Regan and his wife established a recognition award, the Davalos International Teaching Fund. Named for its first recipient, Dr. Efrain Davalos, of Morelia, Mexico, the award is given every four years to a non-American teacher in this specialty who is making a great impact worldwide. Regan first met Dr. Davalos on a trip to Mexico during his Kellogg Fellowship and he became a mentor to Regan while he was a young physician.

Regan has also just launched the Now Hear This Foundation to raise funds to help in the research of and treatment for hearing loss. Actress Marlee Matlin is co-chair of the foundation’s board.

Summing up his approach for making a difference, Regan says, ”The Kellogg Fellowship helped reinforce in us the need and desire to go beyond our own specific activities and branch out. I’m very proud to be able to make a difference in what I think of as Kellogg’s philosophical approach, to use one’s own skills to help affect change in the community.”

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Written by Kellogg Fellows Leadership Alliance

Additional Author 1: William C. Richardson

William Richardson (KIFP H), President and CEO, W. K Kellogg Foundation, Battle Creek, Michigan.

This article originally appeared in the September 2005 issue of the KFLA Newsletter.

Bill Richardson has been at the helm of the Kellogg Foundation for 10 years and will retire in December. His productive career essentially began, and now ends, with the Kellogg Foundation, while devoting three decades in between to working in health care research and higher education.

While a doctoral student at the University of Chicago, Bill was named a Kellogg Fellow starting in 1964.

”My whole life was changed by the experience,” he says. ”I was headed down one path, but with the mentoring of my Kellogg Fellow Program Director, Andy Pattullo, I began looking into health care for low-income people and went on to explore how institutions respond to disadvantaged populations.”

In leadership roles at the University of Washington, Pennsylvania State University, and as president of Johns Hopkins University and the Kellogg Foundation, Bill has been instrumental in defining critical issues to address in ways that draw people together.

”The issues must be framed in a way that people can find common cause,” he says. For example, ”In health care, you want to de-emphasize discussing Medicare for all versus a private health care system. You start by determining what are the elements of the system we wish to have. And then, lay out ways we can pay for the system and work toward establishing that system.”

Bill has been called upon to lead through a number of crises over the years. He advises:
-”Be completely honest in what is going on;
- Do not put off addressing the issue;
- Put together a team that will be the most effective in solving the issue; and
- To the degree it is appropriate, explain why what seems like a crisis today is actually going to turn out to be an advantage in the years ahead.‚”

His advice to aspiring leaders is: ”Think at least 10 years out and envision what the area you are working in ought to look like. Imagine what structural and interpersonal relationships need to be accomplished to get there. Next, determine where are the greatest points of leverage and do what you can do to make a difference. Then,” he says, ”test what you do in terms of whether you are making headway toward your vision.” 

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Written by Kellogg Fellows Leadership Alliance

Additional Author 1: Octaviana V. Trujillo

Octaviana Trujillo (KNFP 13), Chair, Department of Applied Indigenous Studies, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona.

This article originally appeared in the September 2005 issue of the KFLA Newsletter.

Octaviana TrujilloOctaviana Trujillo is a leader in educational program development for Native American populations. After serving as director of the American Indian Graduate Center at Arizona State University, she was recruited three years ago to chair the new department of Applied Indigenous Studies at Northern Arizona University (NAU), where more than 10 percent of the university’s 12,000 students are Native American.

Says Octaviana, ”Through consultations with tribal leaders in Arizona, we designed an inter-disciplinary degree that addresses the importance of producing graduates who can return to their communities, reservation-based or urban, to help with nation building and provide leadership to insure true self-determination.”

The inclusion of traditional knowledge, often relayed through elders who teach alongside faculty members, is one of the program’s unique elements. Another is a required, year-long capstone course for seniors, taught by Octaviana, that examines contemporary issues in tribal nations and features an array of guest speakers who describe their effective strategies in resolving pressing issues. Another graduation requirement is a student internship. Octaviana’s role is to cultivate mentors across the country, in national organizations, senators’ offices, science labs, and more, who can provide students with meaningful, on-the-ground experience in their chosen areas of emphasis.

Octaviana knows from personal experience the immense challenges facing aspiring Native American leaders and is intent on fortifying her students with sound thinking and astute nation-building strategies. As former chair of the Pascua Yaqui tribe of Arizona, she was compelled to advance policy issues at the state and federal level. ”I had to become a professional in many areas, health service, environmental issues, economic development,” she says. ”I negotiated the first gaming contract in Arizona with a governor who didn’t want to come to the table.”

She continues, ”As a tribe, the Pascua Yaqui have no natural resources, but we have human capital. We need to development our human resources for our own destiny.” By raising money through grants and supplemental federal funding, Octaviana was able to create a Department of Education within her tribal government to establish programs for teaching native language, community literacy, improving connections between public schools and the tribal villages, and much more.

Octaviana is determined to prepare her students to face their leadership challenges. She stresses, ”The graduates really have to be trained in nation building, not just academic training, because our issues need to be addressed yesterday.”

She escorts groups of students to the state capitol to observe how other tribal leaders interact with the governor and state legislators. She has invited media professionals into the classroom to help students develop ”sound bites” in order to deliver their message and advance their agenda in a small amount of time.

At the same time, Octaviana points out, ”The values tied to [Native American] leadership are very different from mainstream leadership. We need to be very humble. In our community of work there needs to be a lot patience, it’s a different type of leadership altogether.” 

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Written by Kellogg Fellows Leadership Alliance

Additional Author 1: Joline Godfrey

Joline Godfrey (KNFP 10), Chief Executive Officer, Independent Means, Inc., Santa Barbara, California. 

This article originally appeared in the January 2006 issue of the KFLA Newsletter.

Joline Godfrey is providing financial education to young people as a way to ensure their ”economic self-defense.” Through her Santa Barbara-based company, Independent Means, Inc. (IMI), she offers workshops and summer programs for youth, along with training and publications for youth workers and parents, that make the process of financial education fun and engaging.

Joline explains, ”Children at all levels of the economic and class spectrum are targeted to consume 24/7. I create programs that help kids be more than ’what I wear,’ ’what I drive,’ or ’what toys I possess.’”

Her book, No More Frogs to Kiss: 99 Ways to Give Economic Power to Girls, helped the major girls organizations rethink the importance of connecting empowerment and independence with basic financial skills. Additionally, IMI trainers are now offering financial education to girls in the criminal justice system.

Joline’s new book, No More Dragons to Slay, addresses money and gender issues faced by boys, and is due out this year.

In the last year, IMI’s reach has grown beyond domestic borders. Joline sees the company’s progress not as an event, but as a process: ”I think the important perspective on progress is that it is not linear, but messily chaotic and demanding!”

To stay on track with her goals, Joline admits, ”I have a payroll to meet and clients who count on me. These are powerful responsibilities and compelling reasons to stay focused!” Then she adds, ”I love my work. I think that deep engagement in one’s work is crucial. If you‚’re not working on something that’s a vehicle for realizing some larger purpose, it’s easy to be distracted.”

She measures success by ”the power and well-being of my team, and by the extent to which the company transcends me.” She explains, ”Long-term, if the company cannot survive without me, it will be a sign that I’ve not built a self-sustaining organization.”

Her advice to aspiring leaders: ”Embrace your weirdness. It’s often that part of ourselves we think of as not fitting, different, or alien; that we reject or try to hide. Yet, that’s the unique gift that, when nurtured, makes us special. One’s weirdness is the fingerprint of the soul, our particular aspect of humanity.” 

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Written by Kellogg Fellows Leadership Alliance

Additional Author 1: Stephanie J. Clohesy

Stephanie Clohesy (KNFP 4), Consultant, Clohesy Consulting, Cedar Falls, Iowa.

This article was originally published in the January 2006 issue of the KFLA Newsletter.

Stephanie Clohesy focuses her work on the ”intersections” in equality and social justice issues. Through her consulting firm based in Cedar Falls, Iowa, she helps make social change by assisting organizations in becoming more effective at achieving their mission.

For example, Stephanie describes, ”When a new philanthropist creating a new foundation successfully discovers a mission that connects his or her own inner passion with the great needs in our world, then I know I have unleashed long-term change. When well-established foundations or nonprofit clients find their way through a thorny landscape of challenges, then I know I am contributing to more effective social change work by that organization.”

Her approach is ”to have deep and loving relationships with each client-organization so that my learning, and theirs, is maximized, and our willingness to change and grow through our work is maximized.”

Consulting has been an effective way for Stephanie to make a significant leadership contribution. She says, ”Not that many of us have visible positional roles for most of our lives. We are, instead, working deep within systems, consulting, teaching, mentoring, contributing to social change, but usually not leading the charge. I have done both in my life. But mostly, I have accomplished good things by being behind the scenes.”

She points out, ”I think the Fellowship took me off the path of positional leadership. I find that rather paradoxical.”

Her Kellogg Fellowship also gave her a new approach to problem-solving. ”Through the opportunities of the Fellowship I discovered how the interdisciplinary nature of problems has to change every solution we construct.”

Recently, Stephanie has begun to look for new ways to approach her work. She explains, ”I’m at a crossroads. I’m thinking about how to scale-up the impact of my knowledge and skills from client-by-client success to broader impact.”

Stephanie is also redefining how she practices self-care. ”My mother claims that my first sentence was, ’I’ll help Mommy!’ and I have been defined by wanting to help ever since. Like most women, I’ll put others’ needs before my own. However,” she says, ”I think aging may be the one experience that shifts my thinking and priorities. I find myself seeking more time every day to take care of mind-body-spirit.” 

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Written by Kellogg Fellows Leadership Alliance