LRI ‘Lights the Way’ for the Nation’s community leaders

Imagine: Waterplace Park’s twenty-two basin braziers ablaze on a beautifully mild August evening, the smell of campfire permeating the air, the smiling faces of those bearing ceremonial WaterFire torches, the flames creating a mystical orange glow, the “oohs and aahs” of hundreds of out-of-towners as they sit on the steps, their eyes fixed on the water and fire in front of them.

That’s how Leadership Rhode Island welcomed attendees on the first day of the national conference of the Association of Leadership Programs (ALP).

The procession of flaming torches was led by Barnaby Evans, 1995 Omicron, the creator of WaterFire, Lura Hammond, executive director of ALP, and Michelle Carr, 2014 Kappa II, LRI’s executive director, all literally lighting the way for the next three days of connection, networking and shared learning.

Earlier in the day, conference participants gathered at the Omni Hotel for the conference’s opening session, emceed by Chachi Carvalho, 2020 Pi II, which featured a fireside chat with Evans and Ting Barnard, 2015 Lambda II, an LRI board member, about the importance of pride-in-place, how inclusive community gatherings strengthen social bonds, and how visionary projects, like WaterFire, bolster a community’s self-image.

Then it was off to the headquarters of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of RI, where guests enjoyed some of Rhode Island’s most popular culinary treats, from Del’s Lemonade and pizza strips to clamcakes and chowder, while listening to Big Lux playing hip-hop on the violin.

Just before sunset, guests were ushered to Waterplace Park for a picture perfect WaterFire.

The evening of serenity gave way to two conference days jam packed with workshops and a third day for closing events.

As emcee for the remainder of the conference, Sterling Clinton-Spellman, 2019 Omicron II, greeted participants at breakfast with cheerful “good mornings,” kept everyone in high spirits during breaks, and focused when it was time for speakers to take the podium.

The months of planning by LRI staff, in consultation with ALP, resulted in a virtual smorgasbord of topics for attendees eager to learn something new, enjoy some shared learning, or discover the best way to get an organizational task done.

Perhaps the biggest challenge for attendees was deciding which six workshops — out of 36 options — they most wanted to attend over the two-day period. They could take as wide or as narrow a focus to their learning as they wished, concentrating on a single category or exploring several categories, such as Civil Discourse; Diversity, Equity, Inclusion plus Belonging; Capacity Building, and Personal Growth, to name a few.

Reginald Lewis, executive director of the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership, delivered the opening keynote address. Mike Ritz, 2007 Gamma II, LRI’s former executive director, now with Gallup, and Jim Harter, Gallup’s chief scientist of workplace management and wellbeing, gave the closing keynote.

The ALP conference in Providence, hosted by LRI, drew a record high attendance of 291 participants, representing 135 Community Leadership Programs located in 36 states. In past years, attendance has been in the neighborhood of 215, with the highest, until this year, of 240 at the conference in Huntsville, Al in 2015.

The increase in 2024 can be attributed, in part, to the decision, long advocated by Carr, to open the annual conference to the alumni of CLPs for the first time.

In all, 23 alumni, 18 from LRI and 5 from other states, registered for the conference.

David Pellegrino, who graduated from LRI’s core program in 2015, said he signed up for the conference because he was confident that LRI would offer strong content with universal relevance, information just as helpful to his work and community board service as it was for CLP staff members. Pellegrino, vice president of compliance for the Navigant Credit Union, also saw the conference as an opportunity to reconnect with other LRI alumni, especially some of his Lambda II classmates.

LRI alumni in attendance also offered an extra boost of Rhode Island hospitality by suggesting non-conference activities, and inviting out-of-state groups to socialize over dinner at local restaurants. Suzy Alba, 2004 CLRI, director of civic education at the Rhode Island Department of State and Billy Leiva, 2022 Sigma II, a tech at Capitol TV, provided visitors with impromptu tours of the State House.

An alumna of the Greater Des Moines Leadership Institute in Iowa, Meredith Jinks, was among the five out-of-state alumni to attend.

“As a mom and businesswoman, the experience was especially meaningful. It reminded me of how crucial it is to surround ourselves with those invested in the future of others. Whether in our homes, workplaces, or broader communities, the people we connect with and the programs we champion play a pivotal role in shaping the next generation of leaders,” she emailed after returning to the West Coast.

“Having 23 alumni in attendance was a great start,” Carr says. Their presence, she adds, prompted the leaders of other CLP’s to say they were going to reach out to their alumni in time for the 2025 conference.

In 2025, the conference will move from The Ocean State to the City of Cowboys and Culture – Fort Worth, Texas.