Hope: Our Response — Ability
Hope is not just the communal promise we have made for the love of Rhode Island. It is the practice in which we must consistently engage to lead the way forward into a flourishing future for all of us.
In Rhode Island, hope is our seal—an anchor that steadies us in uncertain waters and reflects our shared civic identity. In a time when hope can be mistaken for wishful thinking or dismissed as naïve, we invite a different understanding: hope as our response-ability—a practiced capacity to face reality with courage, stay connected across difference, and choose action over withdrawal.
Like leadership, hope is relational. It lives within and between us, strengthened through conversation, connection, and shared purpose. No one person has all the answers, but together we carry forward the relationships and moments that remind us we don’t lead alone. Hope is a choice we make again and again—to ask better questions, listen deeply, stay in relationship, and use our strengths in service of something larger than ourselves.
“In Rhode Island, hope is anchored in who we are. An anchor holds because it grips ground beneath the water. Hope, like leadership, requires strong ground.”
Michelle Carr
Executive Director
Leadership Rhode Island weaves relationships across sectors, industries, generations, and communities into an impact network built on trust and belonging — two conditions essential for people to lead with courage and invest in a community’s future. Leaders who are connected to one another are more likely to invest locally, solve collectively, and stay committed to Rhode Island’s future. By intentionally cultivating these networks over decades, we reinforce the connective tissue and the civic laboratory for practicing hope at scale.
Building Our Relational Infrastructure
Trust accelerates decision-making and change. Belonging retains talent and furthers investment. Cross-sector collaborations spark innovation and drive progress.
Strengthening Rhode Island’s Civic and Economic Health
Leaders Connected Across Sectors & Industries
A statewide network connected across sectors and industries is the foundation for meaningful collaboration. When leaders know and trust one another, silos soften, solutions surface, and resilience strengthens.
Leadership in Action Projects Fostering Civic Health
Since 2010 alone, over 1,100 leaders have collaborated across difference on 160+ community projects to better Rhode Island. Together they represent our civic health capacity and problem-solving engine.
Years Strengthening Belonging and Trust Across Generations & Geographies
Belonging deepens over time. So does trust. 45 years of cohorts have built a durable network that anchors hope in practice, spanning 6 generations and 39 cities/towns.
Practicing Hope
Hope is a capability we build and practice.
In Rhode Island, hope has always meant action. It has meant stepping forward when the path was uncertain, lifting one another when burdens were heavy, and standing tall even in the smallest of places. In 2026, we claim hope as more than a motto. We claim it as our response-ability.
This is a shift. Responsibility has long implied leaders carrying the entire load alone—and with it, exhaustion and burnout. Response-ability reframes leadership: it empowers all of us—leaders, teammates, parents, neighbors—to recognize that we each have the ability to choose how we respond each moment of each day. And those responses ripple outward: to our families, our direct reports, our boards, our communities.
We stand on the shoulders of Rhode Islanders who came before us—people who endured and did hard things. And like them, we too can weather the storm. We too can rumble with volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity—and should we choose, come out stronger, together.
Gallup’s research tells us that followers most need four things from their leaders: stability, compassion, trust, and hope. Today, hope is the most urgent of these. And the CDC reminds us why: nearly one in three Rhode Island youth report feeling so sad or hopeless that it disrupts their daily lives. This is our call to leadership.
This year’s theme builds on last year’s: For the Love of Rhode Island. Rhode Island is small enough for proximity to matter and large enough for impact to ripple. Our strength has always been rooted in people who care fiercely about their communities. Hope, practiced here, means investing in the neighborhoods, institutions, and networks that make connection possible. It means strengthening civic muscle through collaboration across difference. When people feel they belong—to a place, to one another, to a shared future—they are more willing to take responsibility for that future. For the love of Rhode Island, we can each choose how we show up—every moment, every day—with others.
Core Program
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Emerging Leaders
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Alumni Engagement
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ACROSS CAREER STAGES
Individuals are equipped to leverage their strengths, resulting in higher engagement, stronger performance and a deeper sense of purpose.
ACROSS SECTOR
Organizations across sectors are building inclusive cultures while aligning strengths, increasing productivity and improving wellbeing.
ACROSS INDUSTRIES
Trainings across industries and over time, strengthen talent pipelines, improve collaboration, and increase industry resiliency.
01.
Lighting the Way Through Leadership
Illuminating today. How the voices of our community guide our work.
02.
Casting a Beacon – for Rhode Island, and the Nation
Vision of the future. How we’re amplifying our work for the love of Rhode Island and beyond.
03.
Amplifying Collective Impact
Legacy leads us forward. How our partnerships move us forward.
“All of us have a light – one that illuminates our very human beingness. A light that is entirely unique and individual – A flame that is worth honoring and protecting.”
MICHELLE CARR
Executive Director
ILLUMINATING TODAY
Lighting the Way Through Leadership
In 2024, we continued our work of nurturing civic, cultural, and economic vitality. The 2024 Upsilon II class explored wellbeing. We reimagined our workforce development efforts to meet the evolving needs of young leaders. Our Senior Fellows partnered with local organizations to advance healthy aging. And connections across our community thrived through education, events, and authentic conversation.
Developing Leaders
leaders graduated
across 3 programs
Training & Consulting
individuals trained through
132 strengths-based trainings
at 40+ organizations
Activate Our Network
attendees at 34 events
Leadership Development
One Plus Two
is More than Three
As the needs of our unique communities change, we lean on our network to illuminate the path of most impact.
“Leadership exists within relationships. Listening and leaning into others, while sharing of ourselves, leads to greater impact, deeper joy, and stronger communities.”
TERESA DEFLITCH
Director of Leadership Development
Early Career
92% of 2024 CLRI graduates enhanced their ability to engage & collaborate with peers toward a shared vision.
100% enhanced their ability to understand their personal qualities and leadership style.
100% enhanced their ability to be invested in the future of RI.
Core
86.3% of Upsilon II graduates think more critically about the most promising opportunities and most pressing challenges in RI.
82.3% of Upsilon II graduates say the LIA project allowed them to engage in community service in an impactful way.
Senior Fellows
100% of 2024 Senior Fellows understand how to make meaningful civic contributions as an older adult in RI
Alumni Engagement
Building a Longer Table
As conveners, LRI’s work brings leaders together in a variety of ways. Whether an intimate dinner of ten, or a nationwide gathering of 300, the focus on connection is always the same.
attendees at ALP Conference
Training & Consulting
Not What You Do,
How You Do It
A decade into the work, LRI’s strengths-based development team continues to find new ways to help organizations meet their mission.
Community Engagement
Time, Talent, Treasure
How can we maximize Rhode Island’s resources to make sustainable change? LRI’s community engagement team helps forge thoughtful partnerships to uplift individuals, communities, and organizations.
Community Engagement
Scavenger Hunt teams
from all 5 counties
Transform RI Scholars
orgs helped us move the TRIS
visions forward this year
Board Matchmaking
people connected
with 100+ RI nonprofits
“The longer I live, the more deeply I learn that love – whether we call it friendship or family or romance – is the work of mirroring and magnifying each other’s light.”
JAMES BALDWIN, “Nothing Personal”
VISION OF THE FUTURE
Casting a Beacon – for Rhode Island, and the Nation
As LRI enters its 45th year, opportunities to amplify our work grow brighter, guided by our strategic plan. We continue to develop customized strengths-based trainings to meet the needs of our partners. Through the National Leadership Network, we are partnering with the Association of Leadership Programs and Civity to launch a pilot program aimed at advancing a culture of engaging in relationships across difference. And in the works? LRI’s Civic Activation Network, a hub of expertise, made up of and in collaboration with our biggest asset – our people.
45 Years In Service to Rhode Island
Since 1981, Leadership Rhode Island has grown from a single leadership program into a dynamic organization fostering civic engagement, professional development, and community impact. Through dynamic programming and training services, LRI has empowered thousands of leaders to drive positive change statewide.
Our people are our purpose. Our network of more than 3100 alumni ignite, fuel, and sustain the work that we do.
This year, we graduate our 45th Core Program class, the 2025 Phi IIs.
We celebrate the commitment of our sponsors, our partners, our volunteers, and our donors. Without our community, our work would not be possible.
LEGACY LEADS US FORWARD
Amplifying
Collective Impact
Your support for LRI ensures that we can continue to foster multigenerational leadership, develop essential community partnerships, and offer transformative experiences to individuals, organizations, and communities alike. Help us build a brighter, more connected future.
Alumni
How might you show up for Leadership Rhode Island?
Donors
How might you invest in Leadership Rhode Island?
Partners
How might you make your team stronger?
Deepening Networks:
The Evolution of Connection
Core Program participants report on the level in which they know each member of their cohort, both at the start of the program and again halfway through. In just five months, new connections form and existing connections deepen.
Communicating
704 Connections
Regularly communicating with one another, but maintaining separate resources and responsibilities.
Collaborating
532 Connections
Coordinating individual efforts together to advance shared goals.
Coordinating
201 Connections
Working in partnership to advance shared goals (by combining resources, making shared decisions, or creating something together).
45 Companies and Organizations Trained
