A year-end message from our Faculty Chair Meredith Rosenthal
To our ALI community,
With the holidays approaching, I’d like to express my gratitude for the ALI community as a source of support, inspiration, and collaborative engagement. This has been an extraordinarily challenging year around the world. Many have suffered devastating losses, and the shortcomings in our healthcare, economic, and political systems—including the effects of systemic racism—were laid bare. Yet in response to this hardship and injustice, we saw new leaders, coalitions, and ideas gain momentum with a fierce commitment to change. The pandemic forced us to confront systemic failures, innovate, and collaborate in new ways that will help us tackle the challenges ahead.
At ALI, our 2020 Cohort exemplified resilience. They adapted quickly to the all-virtual curriculum and the constraints of social distancing. They even developed innovative new projects to connect and engage the group: founding the ALI Social Impact Review, developing an Anti-Racism Toolkit for social impact projects, leading eight interest groups, and hosting all-important Zoom happy hours. Many redesigned their ALI projects to address pandemic-related challenges.
The ALI team responded by strengthening collaboration both within and beyond the ALI community. Programming for the Coalition quadrupled, fueled by the urgency of the issues at hand and the ease of connecting virtually. We supported Coalition members in catalyzing new collaborations, including mobilizing pandemic support for 20 communities through the National Student Response Network. Within Harvard, we spotlighted the pandemic response work of ALI Faculty Board members and students. Off-campus, we catalyzed new connections and partnered with the Executive Leadership Council to expand ALI recruitment of senior leaders of color.
As we look ahead, we are guided by ALI’s refreshed vision of “unleashing the power of experienced leaders to solve society’s most pressing challenges.” We have committed to prioritize diversity and racial justice in ALI’s programming and operations, to embrace innovation and collaboration with both on and off-campus partners, and to develop new ways of supporting social impact leaders through expanded virtual programs and thought leadership. We are already making exciting progress—in the coming weeks, we will announce the most diverse cohort in ALI history that will join us in January 2021.
On a more personal note, this month marks the end of my second year as ALI’s Faculty Chair and the start of my transition to a long-awaited sabbatical in 2021. Working with all of you, the ALI staff, and faculty colleagues around the university to write ALI’s second chapter has been both an education and a great pleasure. On my sabbatical, I hope to do as many of our fellows have done with a year on Harvard’s campus: step back, engage with new ideas and let go of some long-held ones, and renew my sense of purpose.
While I will be mostly focused on scholarly pursuits, I will stay involved with ALI as needed to continue our strategic forward motion. I am eternally grateful that Professor Jim Honan has agreed to support Managing Director Lisa Dreier and the team as ALI’s Faculty Advisor and also to lead the ALI Core Seminar from January through December 2021. I look forward to resuming my role as ALI’s Faculty Chair in 2022.
Best wishes for the health of you and your family during this holiday season, and a peaceful new year,
Meredith Rosenthal
C. Boyden Gray Professor of Health Economics and Policy
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health;
Faculty Chair, Harvard’s Advanced Leadership Initiative