James Baldwin's 1963 essay, Down At The Cross: Letters From A Region In My Mind, one of two pieces in his slim yet powerful volume The Fire Next Time, ends with a warning so prescient and bombastic it feels like the lyrics of a political rap song even though they predate the genre by several decades.

Melissa Cerezo is an urban planner by training and bridge builder by heart. In her current role as Transit-Oriented Communities Principal Planner for The Valley Transportation Agency (VTA), Melissa helps to implement the organization's vision for thriving, equitable, prosperous, and well-connected communities. Melissa Cerezo is also an ALF Senior Fellow from Class XXXVIII and Co-Facilitator for ALF's AAPI affinity group. Melissa is an ALF Insights faculty member who was instrumental in forming ALFI's latest strategic plan.

The Town of Los Gatos contracted ALFI to lead a process of discovery, speaking with 27 different individuals from the business, education, faith, and other community groups to hear their thoughts on the JEDI work. Following that process, ALFI was contracted to dive deeper through the facilitation of a community advisory group that would provide input on the Town's proposed JEDI plan and strategies for implementation.

This all started at the onset of the pandemic. A time of uncertainty, if there ever was one. Like all of us, I was confronted by the grim reality of a public health emergency and how it would affect me, my loved ones, and my community. The COVID-19 crisis also triggered a professional panic of sorts. As an American Leadership Forum Senior Fellow and lead facilitator, my work has been to convene diverse, cross-sector leaders, putting them in the right relationship with each other so that they can achieve deep impact together.

Jenny Niklaus is a longtime Silicon Valley non-profit leader, ALF Senior Fellow, and currently the primary ALF Insgiths facilitator for impact groups on race equity, housing, climate change, and philanthropy. Jenny shares her reflections on The Four Pivots: Reimagining Justice, Reimagining Ourselves by Dr. Shawn A. Ginwright.

Pastor Jason Reynolds wears many hats in the realm of leadership. In addition to being an educator and leading congregants of Emmanuel Baptist Church in San Jose, CA, Jason is an American Leadership Forum Silicon Valley Senior Fellow and faculty member for ALF Insights. I spoke to Pastor Jason via Zoom about his leadership journey and how his faith informs the work he does with ALFI.

Citing the "brokenness" between the organizations anchoring institutional Jewish life in the area, ALF Senior Fellow and former Executive Director of the Jewish Community Relations Council, Diane Fisher (Class XXXVII), reached out to ALF Insights seeking support. "It was kind of a desperate situation; we really needed to do something transformative. It was a set of relationships that had deteriorated over the years, with a lack of leadership to do something different," she remarked.