Values-Based Leadership in Action

What begins as deep personal transformation becomes global change. Through our Fellows’ leadership, AGLN catalyzes impact that addresses humanity’s greatest challenges.

Driving Positive Change

Our Fellows — spanning 62 countries and 30+ sectors — transform their fellowship experiences into action that addresses humanity’s most pressing challenges.

Whether launching groundbreaking ventures, transforming established institutions from within, or catalyzing systems-level change, these leaders demonstrate what becomes possible when moral imagination meets practical action. 

Impact Stories

These stories represent just a glimpse of how Fellows are putting values-based leadership into practice, creating ripple effects that extend far beyond their immediate work. All have been awarded the John P. McNulty Prize for their bold leadership on some of the world’s most intractable problems. 

Manoj Kumar

Addressing Poverty in India Through Market-Based Solutions

Working alongside the Araku Valley community in India, Manoj Kumar (Kamalynayan Bajaj Fellowship) built one of the world’s largest organic coffee cooperatives, lifting 25,000+ farming families out of poverty through sustainable enterprise. Today, 13K+ entrepreneur farmers across 500+ villages supply the company and flagship store in Paris.

Kelsey Wirth

Mobilizing Mothers for Climate Justice 

Kelsey Wirth (Henry Crown Fellowship) co-founded Mothers Out Front, a grassroots movement that transforms climate grief into collective action. By “chunking” the overwhelming challenge of climate change into local wins, she’s built a community of 32K+ supporters who together have halted fossil fuel projects and secured renewable energy increases in dozens of communities across the US. 

Merhdad Baghai

Inoculating Young People Against Hate

Drawing from his childhood experience of religious persecution in Iran, Mehrdad Baghai (Henry Crown Fellowship) co-founded High Resolves to “immunize” young people against prejudice through transformational learning experiences. His citizenship education program has reached 200K+ students across 350+ schools, using simulation-based workshops to challenge existing beliefs and build the core competencies of global citizenship.

Rejane Woodroffe

Championing Community-Led Development

Leaving finance to live in a remote South African village without electricity or water, Réjane Woodroffe co-founded the Bulungula Incubator with a radical philosophy: “Poverty is about people not knowing or owning their choices.” Through deep respect for community leadership, she’s brought running water to every household in four villages while creating holistic education, health, and entrepreneurship programs that preserve cultural traditions.

Bulungula Incubator

Impact Archetypes

Fellows create impact through multiple pathways, often moving between roles as their leadership journey evolves. They show up as:

Jessica Rolph

Entrepreneurs

Fellows who launch new ventures, organizations, or social enterprises to address critical needs. They create innovative solutions from the ground up, establishing new models that challenge conventional approaches.

Megan Jones Bell

Intrapreneurs

Fellows who drive change from within existing institutions and organizations. They transform established systems through innovation, policy shifts, and cultural change, leveraging existing resources for maximum impact.

Rodney Williams

Change Agents

Fellows who work across sectors to transform entire systems. Through policy influence, community organizing, movement building, and narrative change, they address root causes and reshape the environments in which challenges exist.

Our Impact Model

A Lifelong Journey of Leadership Transformation

The AGLN’s approach to leadership development isn’t a linear path but a lifelong journey with multiple dimensions that build upon one another. Our model, validated by two decades of measurable outcomes, recognizes that meaningful impact emerges when leaders experience transformation across four interconnected domains:

Personal Transformation

At the heart of our work is the profound inner journey that changes how Fellows see themselves and their capacity to lead. Through seminar dialogues, personal reflection, and community engagement, Fellows develop heightened self-awareness, clearer alignment with personal values, and stronger purpose-driven leadership, fundamentally changing how they approach their leadership roles.


Fellowship Community

The AGLN creates a trusted space where unlikely allies form bonds that transcend differences. This community provides both support and accountability, with Fellows reporting that these relationships become instrumental confidants and advisors in their leadership evolution. These connections often last decades, becoming a crucial resource throughout their leadership journey.


Courageous Leadership

Fellowship experiences catalyze bold approaches to leadership that Fellows acknowledge they would not have attempted otherwise. This increased willingness to take meaningful risks translates directly to how they lead their organizations and communities.


Societal Impact

Fellows translate their personal transformation into tangible change through their ventures, organizations, and spheres of influence. Whether as entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, or systems-level change agents, they address society’s most pressing challenges with both moral imagination and practical action. Moreover, Fellows not only mobilize their own resources toward positive change but also influence broader policies and practices in their communities.

Key Insights Guiding Our Approach

Our work is informed by fundamental observations about effective leadership development:

  • Leadership starts within: Deep personal reflection and introspection are essential foundations for authentic leadership.
  • Community amplifies courage: With the support of trusted peers, Fellows take on challenges they would otherwise avoid.
  • Impact ripples outward: Fellows’ influence extends beyond their direct work to shape systems, policies, and other leaders.
  • Leadership evolves over time: Fellows’ impact journeys include pivots, expansions, and new directions as they respond to emerging needs.

This model has proven effective across cultures, sectors, and challenges—creating a multiplier effect as Fellows apply these principles throughout their lifelong leadership journey.

Our Impact

Explore the groundbreaking work and progress our Fellows have achieved over the years, powered by a dynamic, collaborative network that enhances decision-making and accelerates solutions. Our annual reports illuminate how Fellows lead as intrapreneurs, entrepreneurs, change agents, and movement builders—driving meaningful impact in communities worldwide. Take a glimpse at transformative moments that have catalyzed measurable and lasting change, while tracing each Fellow’s journey from career success to personal transformation, and ultimately to legacy-building impact.

AI x Power Action Roundtable at the 2024 Action Forum
Blog Posts

AI governance requires trustworthy, values-driven leadership

What does values-driven leadership look like in the world of artificial intelligence (AI)? And what responsibilities do AI consumers have?

Joe Waring and Justin Habash
Blog Posts

Values in Action: How the Medal of Honor Center is Redefining Leadership Development

The National Medal of Honor Center for Leadership is transforming how we understand and teach values-based leadership. In this Behind the Impact interview, we speak with Joe Waring (Liberty Fellow) who serves on the Center’s board, and Dr. Justin Habash, the Center’s Senior Vice President of Leadership Programs and Chief Learning Officer. Together, they share insights on how Medal of Honor values translate to everyday leadership decisions, the power of moral courage, and why this approach to leadership development is especially relevant in today’s rapidly changing world.

Conflict and Civil Discourse Action Roundtable
Blog Posts

If factions are a feature — not a bug — of a society, creative conflict helps us design new ways forward.

How do we listen even when we are the most hurt? How do we disagree without disappearing? At the Resnick Aspen Action Forum, changemakers explored what it means — and what it takes — to stay at the table during the most difficult moments. This conversation turns toward clues in history, reminding us that the institutions of today were once the result of creative innovation. Taking inspiration from youth and the artistic community as sources of “research and development,” this conversation invites us to wrestle with tension rather than treating conflict as failure, allowing us to remain in relationship through our differences. Whether operating in small towns in a single U.S. state like South Carolina, or across multiple nations in the Middle East, panelists discussed the conditions that we can create in ourselves and in our communities to design new ways forward.

Three roman pillars behind the word "Act" making the Act III logo.
Blog Posts

Announcing the Act III: Leadership and Legacy Laureates Initiative

From success, to significance, to consequence.

Blog Posts

Beyond Individual Solutions: Understanding the Power of System Catalysts

Lasting change doesn’t come from a single solution—it emerges when system catalysts connect people, resources, and ideas to reimagine entire systems. Through the System Catalysts podcast and global partnerships, we spotlight individuals and organizations driving collaborative impact on challenges like healthcare access and climate change. True transformation happens not through individual efforts, but through orchestrated collaboration that amplifies collective impact.

Blog Posts

Dar Vanderbeck, Vice President, AGLN on this Moment and the 2025 Program

Letter from AGLN Vice President Dar Vanderbeck on this Moment and the 2025 Resnick Aspen Action Program

Blog Posts

Unlocking Potential: Amy Barch’s 13 Year Journey Working Alongside Incarcerated Individuals to Reduce Recidivism

Learn about Amy Barch’s approach to reducing recidivism and the leadership lessons she learned along the way including a new approach to measuring impact and the importance of proximity.

Laela Sturdy Headshot
Blog Posts

Navigating Growth, Change, and Impact: Insights from Laela Sturdy, Managing Partner at CapitalG

Hear from Laela Sturdy on scaling global tech giants like Stripe and Duolingo to redefining leadership in venture capital.

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