Not goodbye, see you later KZP!

After over 7 years with Leadership Rhode Island, May 9, 2025 will be Kristin’s last day as a member of our team. As she prepares to embark upon a new journey as a member of the CVS Health philanthropy team, we asked her to reflect on her time at LRI.

Looking back on your time at LRI, what are you most proud of accomplishing?

Honestly, I am just so proud and humbled to have been a part of this team for the past seven years. I am so proud of all we’ve accomplished together. Right off the bat, I gained a reputation around here for “breaking it,” starting from having to move our two-day retreat from Alton Jones to Goat Island due to some unexpected weather-related issues. Were it not for the team around me, and the reputation and relationship that LRI had built with Alton Jones over decades, I still wonder what we would have done. The team at Alton Jones didn’t have to help us figure out what we were going to do with 76 eager Xi IIs (my GOATs!), but they did. And I think that is a HUGE testament to the type of relationships and trust we aim to build within our community – not only as an organization – but as a team and as individuals.

Adaptability is my #1 strength, and Restorative is my #5. I’m really proud to have been able to lean on those two strengths OH so much over the past 7 years…and to be trusted to pivot on a dime…or sometimes on what felt like a grain of sand! Pi IIs, am I allowed to use the word “pivot” yet? Who knew that the year we chose the theme “Come Together” would be the same year the world shut down amidst a global pandemic, just three months into the year. Those times were trying for all of us, in so many ways, but I am really proud of the ways we were able to keep bringing people together as creatively as possible. 

And I’m really proud of the relationships I’ve built over the years. This team, and this alumni network really brought me so much joy and energy. It will be hard to top that!

 

How did your experience at LRI shape your leadership style and professional growth?

I was immediately comfortable with being my authentic self at LRI, and that is a value that has grown so important to me. At the end of the day, we’re all multilayered and multifaceted humans. Once I realized that, and once WE realize that about each other, it’s like fertilizer for the best garden of people ever. That’s a very seasonal reference. Being my authentic self around here comes with metaphors and puns galore. I’m grateful to the team for dealing with them.

Professionally – I’ve grown so much at LRI. Our team and our board saw talents in me that I would have never identified in a million years. Working within a strengths-based team is so empowering. I remember when the team unlocked our full 34 for the first time, I saw how dominant my relationship building talents were overall…and that was a game changer, and what propelled me into the world of alumni engagement and development here at LRI. Being a small but nimble team allowed us to try new things often. It allows us to respond in real time as our class members and alumni were giving us feedback. I also learned that it’s not only ‘OK’ to ask for help, but that we are all better when we lean on one another.

What’s the most “KZP” moment you experienced while planning an event or leading a program?

The answer to this question could be a novel of bloopers and mishaps and awkward moments, I think! I’ve often been the embodiment of Murphy’s Law, taken with a grain of salt.

I have to say, on a serious note, the most “KZP” moment has to be the year 2020. I mentioned the theme for the year was “Come Together,” and the Leadership in Action projects were meant to address aloneness in the community. Before the surgeon general report was released, our team had been discussing reports about the health effects of social isolation. So who better than LRI to tackle it? And then the world shut down. And everyone was alone. Are. You. Kidding. 

I also mentioned my #1 Adaptability and #5 Restorative. Gallup states that “people talented in the adaptability theme prefer to go with the flow…who take things as they come and discover the future one day at a time.” Gallup states that “People talented in the Restorative theme are adept at dealing with problems.” Well. Strengths leveraged. There have been so many moments during my time at LRI where I had to adapt, or address (or predict) problems. But this? This was THE MOMENT. A moment that carried through to the 2021 and 2022 classes…but in 2020, we were ALL figuring it out together. I don’t even think it’s accurate to say we were “figuring it out” – for many of us, we were riding the biggest, scariest wave of our lives. We experienced so much together as a team, and with our classes who were going through their own individual journeys of pain, loss, and of dealing with the literal unknown…but wow…am I glad to have been a part of this team at that time. And speaking of waves, we figured out how to host the Pi II graduation on the beach. That’s very KZP if you ask me.

How do you hope the LRI alumni community will continue to evolve?

My goodness – there is so much power in this vast web of people. I hope the team can continue to build upon how we might harness these powers for the good that our community needs. We see this happen organically, as class members step up to support one another, but imagine what could happen if this support system was amplified and leveraged? Our programs now directly serve leaders from early-career to retirement and beyond. The more LRI continues to mix and mingle the program cohorts and engage them as alumni, the better it will be for our community. I hope our alumni will continue to lean in. LRI, and our community, need you now more than ever!

What excites you most about your new role at CVS Health, and how do you see it connecting to your journey with LRI?

My new role will be focused on employee engagement and volunteerism for CVS Health’s teams across the country. I am really excited to dive in to find opportunities for these teams to make a difference in their communities. One of my favorite things about working at Leadership Rhode Island was the continuous learning about what is happening across our community here in RI, and how people might engage to help. I get to do that across the country now?! It is a little scary for me to think about what a huge task this could be, but I am up for the challenge!!