2024 Fellows & Pathfinders Convene Across the Country
Throughout the summer, 2024 Fellows and Pathfinders from around the US gathered with their regional cohorts for a half-day of learning and connecting. With four coast-to-coast meetings, this year’s program participants had the opportunity to convener in smaller, more local groups: Northeast/Mid-Atlantic (New York City), South (Atlanta), Midwest (Chicago), and West (San Francisco).
Each meeting comprised two interactive, expert-led sessions — from workshops to fireside chats — and concluded with a networking happy hour with local LCLD Alumni.
NEW YORK CITY | Northeast & Mid-Atlantic
On July 11, over 100 Fellows and Pathfinders in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions met at Debevoise & Plimpton’s New York City office. Attendees enjoyed Debevoise’s views of Hudson Yards and the Hudson River through two interconnected sessions: “Effective Dialogue Through Active Listening” with Sartaj Narang, Operator and Leadership Advisor, and “When Culture Speakers Louder Than Words” with MaLora McCullough, Consultant at VallotKarp Consulting.
Sartaj kicked off the event, leading attendees in several exercises designed to reveal how mindset impacts dialogue — and how that dialogue ultimately affects relationships. Attendees explored the “Iceberg Model” and a framework for building trust-based relationships, finishing the session with a toolbox of tactics for increasing trust and strengthening relationships.
In MaLora’s session, the group took these concepts a step further. Using a series of real-world scenarios, attendees explored just how significantly our interactions are shaped by our cultural perspectives and intersecting identities. The small-group discussions reinforced the importance of self-awareness, empathy, curiosity, and humility in cross-cultural interactions. Attendees left the session with strategies for becoming more culturally adaptive in day-to-day interactions, enhancing their effectiveness as communicators, and increasing interpersonal trust.
ATLANTA | South
Just a few days later on July 15, South region Fellows and Pathfinders met at Alston & Bird’s Atlanta office for a communication-focused workshop and a fireside chat with the Honorable Sonja N. Brown.
Kori Carew, Founder and Chief Catalyst Officer at Bridge 68 LLC, led the first session, “You Say Tohmahtoh, I Say Tomaydoh.” This popular LCLD workshop returned with a twist: attendees focused on how cultural fluency impacts communication and, ultimately, one’s effectiveness as a leader. Kori’s interactive session reinforced not only the role of culture in shaping what one hears, sees, values, and understands, but also its impact on one’s actions, motivations, and approaches to personal success.
The Honorable Sonja N. Brown, who became a Cobb County Superior Court Judge in 2023, sat down with 2018 Fellow Lisa Collins, Partner at BakerHostetler, to share her journey to leadership with the group. From the Special Victims Unit to the bench, Judge Brown’s history of service and passion for justice inspired all who attended. She discussed a range of leadership topics such as executive presence, making difficult decisions, communication, and well-being. She also fielded questions from the audience and stayed to mingle with attendees afterwards.
CHICAGO | Midwest
The next month on August 6, Jenner & Block hosted Midwest region Fellows and Pathfinders at their Chicago office. This meeting combined sessions from each of the previous two meetings: Sartaj’s workshop on effective dialogue and Kori’s session on cultural fluency. From the 45th floor overlooking the city and Lake Michigan, attendees were treated to a highly interactive afternoon designed to bring them together in learning and in-depth leadership development.
SAN FRANCISCO | West
The final 2024 Fellows & Pathfinder Regional Meeting took place on August 8 at Hanson Bridgett’s San Francisco office. Kori returned to share her thought-provoking cultural communication workshop with the West region cohorts, and Heather Denniston, Founder of Well Fit and Fed, led attendees in a session focused on wellbeing and burnout.
Heather’s session, “The Personal and Professional Cost of Unknowingly Leaking Your Energy,” provided attendees with practical tools to identify and patch up energy leakages, enhance bandwidth, and get back to the things that truly matter.
Thank you to our speakers, our generous hosts, and all those who helped make the 2024 Regional Meeting series a success.