Columbia Alumni Leaders Experience 2026 Schedule

Friday, October 9, Evening

6–7 p.m. Opening Key Note: The Conviction to Create

Lee C. Bollinger Forum, Auditorium, Second Floor
Manhattanville Campus, 3207 Broadway (between 125th and 129th Streets)

Description: The most powerful creative acts have never been accidental. Behind every film that changes the conversation, every garment that shines light on inequity, or every story that rewrites what we thought we knew — there is the intentionality of a person who decided their work would stand for something.

That choice to make something provocative and outside of the mainstream is rarely comfortable. It lives at the intersection of personal conviction and the collective moment—shaped by who the artist is, what they've witnessed, and what they refuse to leave unsaid. This conversation examines what it looks like to build a career around that kind of intentionality: the clarity it requires, the resistance it meets, and the belief that what you make can actually mean something.

The times we live in are asking for this level of conviction from all of us.

Speakers: Dede Gardner ’90CC; Shelly Xu ’13CC; Duy Linh Nguyen Tu ’99JRN; and Tom Kitt ’96CC, P: ’28CC

7:15–9 p.m. Opening Reception

Lee C. Bollinger Forum, Atrium West, First Floor
Manhattanville Campus, 3207 Broadway (between 125th and 129th Streets)

Description: Kick off the weekend with light refreshments and engaging conversation as you reconnect with fellow alumni and meet new members of the Columbia community. Build meaningful connections, exchange ideas, and set the stage for a memorable and inspiring Leaders Experience.

Speakers: Donna H. MacPhee ’89CC, P: ’17CC; Maryam K Hassan ’20CC

Saturday, October 10

9–10:15 a.m. Breakfast Keynote: We Need to Talk

Roone Arledge Auditorium, First Floor, Alfred Lerner Hall

Across institutions, industries, and borders, the space for genuine intellectual debate is shrinking due to a combination of polarization, self-censorship, and parties choosing the path of least resistance. The cost of that silence is real, and it falls on everyone.

This session doesn't offer quick and easy pathways to resolution. It offers something rarer: a room where the fractures are recognized honestly, where disagreement is an agreed-upon starting point, and where the goal isn't to eliminate conflict but to ensure we work through it together. Featuring leaders who have navigated the intersection of public life, institutional accountability, and global complexity, this is a conversation about what it takes to keep talking.

Speakers: Dean Jelani Cobb; Tamar Mitts ’13GSAS, ’15GSAS, ’17GSAS; Eric Garcetti ’92CC, ’95SIPA; and Anita Ma ’99BUS, P: ’27CC, ’29CC

10:30–11:30 a.m.: Session 1 Block

Alfred Lerner Hall

Authority is Not Enough: Restoring Trust

Institutional trust isn't eroding because people stopped paying attention. In many cases, it's eroding because they started. Decades of failed promises, visible corruption, and widening gaps between what institutions say and what they do have produced a skepticism that is, in many respects, entirely deserved. The question for today's leaders isn't how to manage that skepticism; it's how to restore confidence.

This session examines what leadership looks like when authority must be rebuilt from the ground up. How do you lead teams with genuine reasons to question the systems you represent? How do you work within a system or for a business you’re skeptical of? Featuring leaders who have operated at the intersection of public scrutiny and organizational accountability, this conversation goes beyond crisis management into the requirements of establishing lasting legitimacy.

Speakers: Beatriz Fritschler ’08SIPA; Warren Bass ’93JRN, ’96GSAS, ’98GSAS, ’02GSAS; Jika González ’13JRN; Michael A. Nutter P: ’17CC

Building Legacy: Navigating the Multi-Generational Workplace

Every generation inherits a workplace they didn't build and eventually has to reckon with another emerging workforce. These generational gaps are real, reflecting different assumptions about authority, feedback, loyalty, ambition, and what "work" is even supposed to feel like. However, cross-generational teams have the potential to create one of the most productive dynamics in any organization.

This panel brings together leaders from diverse age groups for an honest conversation about what it takes to build trust across generational differences. You'll leave with frameworks for closing the expectation gap, language for navigating generational conflict without erasure, and a clearer sense of what your generation has to offer.

Speakers: Marina Saguar Urquiola ’26CS, Dr. Abigail Campbell ’14VPS, John Mullervy ’00SEAS

Our Partner, AI

The dominant narrative surrounding AI is a limited one—that technology poses a threat to our jobs and our planet. But while it closes some doors, it opens many others. The most energizing possibilities emerge when you stop bracing for AI, and start building with it.

This panel puts forward new possibilities of what it means to create with this new technology. You'll hear from leaders across industries who are using AI to reshape the world in meaningful ways, and leave with the inspiration to walk through the doors it opens for you.

Speakers: Canute Haroldson ’25SPS; Dr. Sarah Rossetti ’09NRS; Josh Browne ’11GSAS, ’15SEAS, ’16SEAS

11:45 a.m.–12:45 p.m.: Session 2 Block

Alfred Lerner Hall

Speaking Our Language: Developing Cultural Intelligence

Every room you walk into is already divided—by generation, class, faith, nationality, professional culture, or lived experience. However, most people do not recognize this. Cultural intelligence (CQ) is the capacity to read those dynamics clearly, navigate them skillfully, and build the kind of respect that relies on a variety of perspectives. It’s a leadership competency that is not widely taught.

Drawing on current research and real-world cases, this session examines what CQ looks like in practice: how it prevents misreads that derail negotiations, teams, and relationships, and how it creates the conditions for genuine collaboration across differences.

Speakers: Professor Michael Morris, Brandon Drenon ’20JRN, Avery Alpha ’03CC

The Accountability Gap

Accountability doesn’t automatically happen. It occurs when you choose your next steps. And most of us—as leaders, as colleagues, as people—are less prepared for that choice than we think.

Accountability is rarely contained to an individual. It moves through teams, affecting relationships, reputations, and lives. How you respond when a decision doesn't land, when you misjudge, or when your words diverge from your meaning is important. Are you transparent or do you deflect? Are you genuinely accountable or self-protective? These decisions shape not just your own trajectory but those of your team members and trusted collaborators.

This panel examines what real accountability looks like in practice. We’ll discuss what people need from the leaders who have failed them and what it means to build integrity that holds up under pressure. At a time when accountability is rare, this is a conversation about what we owe each other when things go wrong.

Speakers: Michael J. Schmidtberger ’82CC, ’85LAW, P: ’22SEAS, ’24CC, ’24SEAS; Anika Collier Navaroli ’13JRN; Cecilia Dones ’11GSAS; Clare Duffy ’19JRN

The Cure is Community

We hear it, we see it, and we feel it: We’re living in unprecedented times. Halfway through the current decade, many are grappling with shifts in socialization brought on by the pandemic, an often fraught geopolitical climate, and uncertainty about the future. Navigating that level of uncertainty is disorienting, and for many people, quietly isolating.

The good news is, there’s a cure. Strong, intentional communities are among the most powerful tools available to us—building resilience, sustaining mental and physical health, and maybe most importantly, human connection.

This session explores prospering communities and the people who built them. Whether you’re looking to join or build, you’ll walk away understanding the tangible benefits of community, what it takes to build something real, what we need from our communities that we’re not currently getting, and why leaning into community–including Columbia and your alumni community–is more important than ever.

Speakers: Peter Trevino ’22GS, Reid Ellison ’08SEAS, Jamie Kosmar ’05SIPA

1–3:15 p.m.: Leaders Experience Luncheon

Alfred Lerner Hall | Roone Arledge Auditorium, First Floor

This signature event brings together volunteer leaders from across the Columbia community to connect and celebrate. Join us as we honor this year’s Alumni Medalists and recognize the CAA Global Clubs of Excellence Award recipients. The luncheon will feature a conversation with President Jennifer L. Mnookin.