DEAR FRIENDS, It’s been more than a year that I have had the pleasure of serving as CEO of Valley Leadership. A very exciting 18 months! We’re underway with the “Pivot,” working with passionate alumni and collaborative partners to make Arizona the best it can be. Today, we’re here to celebrate two amazing leaders who represent the best of Arizona: Colleen Jennings-Roggensack and John Graham, and I’m glad you’ve joined us to hear their stories. Colleen and John are shining examples of Valley Leadership’s Principles of Doing: the values that guide our “how” of leadership. They get things done. They collaborate. They lead by answering what’s the right thing to do. Sounds a lot like … the VL Pivot. Valley Leadership’s Pivot, a move toward more intentionally engaging on the big issues facing Arizona, was born and bred with our people, past and present. This strategic shift represents the ideas, passions, directives and input of our alumni. We are doing what our network asked of us: Have greater impact. As our alumni said, “The immense pool of talent, creativity, intelligence and caring that exists in the VL alumni needs to be directed toward a major community effort.” What’s made this work so rewarding over the past year and half is that our alumni were spot on! We need to be addressing the big issues. And what’s so exciting for the future is that we — our alumni, our partners, our reputation, our collective will — have the means to do that. On the one year anniversary of VL’s new strategic plan, a plan that has allowed more than $1 million in new funding, new strategic partnerships and the opportunity for alumni to get involved on big issues, I want to thank two groups: our board of directors and our alumni. You have sparked this strategic move and have now begun to power it. The Pivot may have only started recently, but it’s been 40 years in the making. Dave Brown CEO, Valley Leadership WELCOME VALLEY LEADERSHIP MAN & WOMAN OF THE YEAR | 7