The American Leadership Forum Celebrates 35 Years of Collaborative Leadership in Houston

HOUSTON: “For 35 years, the American Leadership Forum (ALF) has been a significant driving force in creating the vibrant Houston region we embrace today”, said Randy Sim, the newly elected Chair of the ALF Board of Trustees.  “We salute those before us and look confidently into the future knowing that ALF supports leaders in our community to tackle the tough issues we face, together,” he continued.  ALF offered its first class in 1982 to create a regional network of diverse senior-level leaders across private, public and nonprofit sectors. 

The nonprofit organization, whose mission is to join and strengthen diverse leaders to serve the common good, has served more than 3,500 nationwide and 1,300 in Houston.  Senior Fellows use collaborative leadership skills to identify and deal with complex regional issues, model servant leadership, and create opportunities to work together in ways that make a significant difference to Houston and its surrounding communities.  ALF has worked very intentionally to bring together a mix of diverse leaders from virtually every sector of the Houston community — not to debate, but to co-create new possibilities. Characterized by a strong belief in the human capacity for collective intelligence, the ALF program focuses on the principles of a different kind of leadership to… empower Fellows to envision effective solutions and take coordinated action to address the community’s pressing issues.

At their recent annual meeting, eight new members were elected to the Board of Trustees of the Houston/Gulf Coast Chapter.  The newly elected members of the Board of Trustees are Cathy Brock, Partner, Allen Austin, Art Chavez, Senior Principal, Page, Sara Cronin, Director, Corporate Communications/Government Affairs, TPC Group, Kaye DeWalt, Assistant Superintendent and General Counsel, Designee, Aldine ISD, Tyra Metoyer, Manager, External Mobilization, American Petroleum Institute, Anne Neeson, Executive Vice President & Chief Executive Officer, Memorial Hermann Foundation, Roxann Neumann, Senior VP- Corp. Affairs, Silver Eagle Distributors, and Robert Wimpelberg, Executive Director, All Kids Alliance / University of Houston. 

Continuing Trustees include Jagdip Ahluwalia, Executive Director, Indo-American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston, Donald Bowers, Vice President, Houston Branch – Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Jo Ann Burbridge, President, Jones-Burbridge Consulting, Jo Carcedo, Vice President for Grants, Episcopal Health Foundation, Gina Carroll, Partner, Inspired Wordsmith, Eric Evans, Senior Vice President of Strategic Planning, HCA Gulf Coast Division, Gayle Fallon, Retired – President, Houston Federation of Teachers, Linda Flores Olson, President and CEO, Wesley Community Center, Jerome Gray, Vice President & Senior Press Officer, METRO, George Greanias, Managing Director, Berkeley Research Group, LLC, Jay Guerrero, Regional Director-SE Texas, Office of US Senator John Cornyn, John Hernandez, SVP, Diverse Markets Banking, Amegy Bank of Texas, Richard Jennings, Principal, JRJ Consulting, LLC, Kimberly Johnston, VP Tax, CenterPoint Energy, David Kim, Executive Director, Urban Land Institute, Terry Morales, Senior Vice President, Amegy Bank, Sharon Murphy, Partner, McConnell Jones Lanier & Murphy LLP, Leisa Holland-Nelson, Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Astoundz, Leslie Nelson, CFO, Society for the Performing Arts-Houston, Judson Robinson, President & CEO, Houston Area Urban League, Inc., Ravi Sandill, Judge 127th District Court, Harris County, Randy Sim, President, Satsun Corporation, Rhonda Smith, Deputy Director/CFO, Houston Police Department, Michael Stewart, VP – Finance and Chief Administrative Officer, United Way of Greater Houston, Mustafa Tameez, Founder & Managing Director, Outreach Strategists, LLC, Hoang Vu, Partner, Corporate Finance, Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP and John Watson, Community Volunteer.  In addition, Daniel W. Snare serves as President of the organization, and Dee Dee Dochen, President, DDD Marketing Communications, and Reagan Flowers, CEO, CSTEM Teacher and Student Support Services, Inc., serve as Representatives to the National ALF Board of Directors.

ALF brings leaders together through a yearlong Fellows Program in which they can engage in dialogue, explore differences, and build relationships.  ALF strengthens Fellows’ capacity to address public issues collaboratively and builds a strong leadership network to work for positive change in our community. 

For more information, please visit www.alfhouston.org.