In a historic first, two classes, comprising 40 "Fellows" of the Aspen Global Leadership Network (AGLN) came together, fittingly, for a seminar on globalization and values-based leadership. The inaugural class of the India Leadership Initiative (ILI) joined forces with the "Seriti" class of the Africa Leadership Initiative (ALI)’s South Africa Fellows from September 9–14 in Aspen for a seminar entitled "Leadership in an Era of Globalization," the third of four multi-day seminars that all AGLN Fellows attend throughout their two-year fellowships.

Both classes had convened twice before in their home countries of India and South Africa for the seminars "The Challenge of Leadership" and "In Search of the Good Society," in which they explored the meaning of values-based leadership and their vision of what constitutes a "good society," respectively. In this third meeting, the two groups — at times mixed together and at other times with their own classmates — probed the leadership challenges presented by globalization and discussed ways to both overcome those obstacles and capitalize on them to improve the societies in which they live.

Guided by longtime Institute moderators Skip Battle, Stace Lindsay, and Institute EVP Peter Reiling; co-moderator Syeda Imam of India and ALI South Africa alums Watanan Petersik and Heather Sonn; and a reading packet replete with articles from news sources around the world, ALI and ILI Fellows analyzed and discussed globalization's impacts on economics, health care and disease treatment, culture and national identity, human rights and international law, government policy, and political stability around the world, among other topics. They addressed how they can stay true to their core values and continue to lead for positive change despite these outside pressures, and they brainstormed ways that they each, in their daily lives and regions, can contribute to the solutions to problems such as global warming and human rights violations.

On Tuesday, September 11, as a part of the seminar, the Institute welcomed the general public to a panel discussion on contemporary South Africa featuring four ALI Fellows: Bongi Kunene, Head of the Private Office for the Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa; Mondli Makhanya, editor of South Africa’s Sunday Times; Heather Sonn, former deputy CEO of the financial services company Wipcapital; and South African composer and musician Neo Muyanga — all of whom spoke optimistically about democracy, development, and future prospects for South Africa.

Likewise, on Thursday, September 13, four ILI Fellows — Karti Chidambaram, member of the All India Congress Committee; Sudha Iyer, chairperson and managing director of Haritas Health Services; Ravi Krishnan, managing director and CFO of Goldman Sachs Services Pvt. Ltd.; and Shivinder Mohan Singh, managing director of Fortis Healthcare Limited and Escorts Heart Institute & Research Centre — spoke on a similar public panel about progress and challenges in India in this era of globalization.

Over the course of the five days, all of the Fellows presented proposals on their individual leadership projects, a central component of their AGLN Fellowships, and worked in small groups to review and revise them. At their next and final seminar in early 2008, the Fellows will report on how they are executing their projects and, in turn, how their projects will make a lasting positive impact on their countries and society.

Founded in 2001, The Africa Leadership Initiative (ALI) is a collaborative venture of the Aspen Institute, TechnoServe, Databank Foundation (Ghana), Infotech Investments (Tanzania), LEAP Africa (Nigeria), Letsema Foundation (South Africa), and CETA Construction & Services (Mozambique).

The India Leadership Initiative (ILI) is a collaborative venture between the Aspen Institute, the Aspen Institute India, and the Global Markets Institute of Goldman Sachs with the first class convened in October of 2006.