American Leadership Forum

What American Leadership Forum does

American Leadership Forum is a Houston-headquartered nonprofit founded in 1980 by Joseph Jaworski that operates a network of eight regional chapters across the United States (Houston/Gulf Coast, Silicon Valley, Mountain Valley/Sacramento, Great Valley/Modesto, Oregon, Tacoma/Pierce County, Charlotte Region, and Waccamaw). Its core product is the ALF Fellows Program, a year-long leadership development experience that convenes 20-30 senior-level cross-sector leaders per class for monthly seminars on dialogue, conflict management, ethics, and systems change, anchored by a weeklong outdoor wilderness retreat designed to build trust across political, ethnic, gender, and sector lines. Graduates join the Senior Fellows Network, which has grown to approximately 5,000 alumni nationwide since 1980, and remain engaged through continuing education, regional and national leadership awards (including the Joseph Jaworski, John W. Gardner, and ALF Public Service awards), and the ALF Connect community platform available on web, iOS, and Android.

ALF generates revenue through a hybrid nonprofit model with no single dominant stream: each of the 8 active chapters pays $5,000 in annual national dues for brand licensing, setup assistance, and peer-CEO support; Fellows pay tuition set independently by each chapter; individual donors contribute via one-time gifts ($100-$5,000 presets), monthly recurring gifts ($10-$100 presets), and stock; and Senior Fellows contribute to alumni giving campaigns. Distribution is delivered locally through 8 chapters with curriculum templates and brand standards provided by ALF National, while top-of-funnel awareness is driven by content marketing (blog, annual report, the 'Everything We Know About Leadership' book), referral-based nominations through the existing Senior Fellows community, and events such as the National Advanced Leadership Retreat.

The organization is governed by a Board of Trustees and is currently led by Suzanne St. John-Crane, who serves as Interim Executive Director of ALF National while remaining CEO of ALF Silicon Valley. Revenue is not publicly disclosed and ALF is not a venture-backed, private-equity-held, or publicly traded entity; it is structured as an independent 501(c)-style nonprofit federation with no parent company or subsidiaries.

Name

American Leadership Forum

Legal name

American Leadership Forum - National

Website

https://alfnational.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1980

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

American Leadership Forum is a nonprofit operating eight US chapters that delivers a year-long fellowship for senior cross-sector leaders, engaging over 5,000 Senior Fellows alumni through continuing education, leadership awards, and the ALF Connect community platform.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Leadership Development Programs

NAICS

Professional Organizations (813920), Civic and Social Organizations (813410)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Training, Enablement & Talent Development Summits (THAHAMAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Executive Leadership Summits (C-Suite, Board, Strategy Offsites) (THAHAMAA), Alumni, Peer & Community Networking Programs (EDAMAKAM)

Keywords

• Leadership development programs
• Executive fellowship programs
• Cross-sector collaboration
• Nonprofit civic engagement
• Community leadership training

Headquarters

HQ city

Myrtle Beach

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices9 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: Individual donors contribute one-time or monthly recurring donations to support ALF National operations and programs. Options include one-time credit card donations at preset amounts ($5,000, $2,500, $1,000, $500, $250, $100) or custom amounts, and monthly recurring gifts ($100, $50, $25, $10 or custom). ALF also accepts stock donations.
2. Chapter Dues: New ALF chapters pay annual dues of $5,000 per year for brand use, pro bono setup assistance, brand templates, technical assistance, and access to peer support network of existing Chapter CEOs.
3. Fellows Program Tuition: Each chapter sets its own tuition for the Fellows Program. Nominees who are invited to become Fellows pay tuition set by the individual chapter. Start-up costs for running one class per year vary by city, with estimated minimum of $185,000 for creating a new program offered by an existing organization, partially offset by tuition revenue.
4. Senior Fellow Membership: Graduates become Senior Fellows and may pay annual dues or contribute to alumni giving campaigns that support ongoing chapter programs and activities.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

American Leadership Forum operates a year-long ALF Fellows Program for cohorts of 15-25 senior-level leaders drawn from corporate, government, nonprofit, faith, and labor sectors, combining monthly seminars with a weeklong wilderness experience. Graduates join the nationwide Senior Fellows Network of 5,000+ leaders, engage through the ALF Connect online community, and participate in continuing education, leadership awards, and community transformation initiatives delivered through 8 regional chapters.

Product overview

American Leadership Forum is a nonprofit organization that operates a network of eight regional chapters across the United States, offering a year-long ALF Fellows Program as its core product. The program brings together diverse senior-level leaders for monthly seminars and a weeklong wilderness experience focused on dialogue skills, trust-building, and collaborative leadership. Graduates become Senior Fellows and join the nationwide Senior Fellows Network, which continues through ALF Connect (an online community platform), continuing education programs, and leadership awards. The organization focuses on cross-sector collaboration, diversity, equity, inclusion, and civic engagement to strengthen communities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ALF Fellows Program A year-long leadership development experience that brings together 15-25 diverse senior-level leaders from all sectors for monthly seminars on dialogue, conflict management, ethics, and systems change, plus a weeklong outdoor wilderness experience to build community and trust.
• Senior Fellows Network A nationwide network of over 5,000 graduates of the Fellows Program who continue to engage in ongoing education, dialogues on community issues, and collaborative work for the common good across eight chapter communities.
• ALF Connect An online community platform accessible via web and mobile app (iOS/Android) that enables Senior Fellows to interact with classmates, search for other members, participate in private groups, register for events, and engage in online conversations.
• Leadership Awards Regional and national recognition programs including the Mountain Valley Exemplary Leader Award, Silicon Valley Exemplary Leader Celebration, John W. Gardner Leadership Award, Joseph Jaworski Leadership Award, and ALF Public Service Award.
• Continuing Education Ongoing educational offerings for Senior Fellows including structured programs, periodic dialogues on timely issues, and opportunities to practice ALF dialogue skills in their networks.

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Aspen Institute: Nonprofit convening established leaders across sectors for dialogue-based leadership development, including the Aspen Global Leadership Network and Henry Crown Fellowship. Closest analog to ALF in mission (cross-sector convening), format (fellowship cohorts), and audience (senior executives and civic leaders).
• Young Presidents' Organization (YPO): Global membership organization of chief executives under 50 (with YPO Gold for those over 50) running peer-learning chapters, leadership forums, and intensive experiential programs. Competes directly with ALF for the same senior-executive cohort and relies on chapter-based delivery and member dues.
• Presidential Leadership Scholars: Cross-sector leadership fellowship for mid-to-senior leaders built around intensive multi-day seminars and a capstone project, hosted by the presidential libraries of Bush, Clinton, Johnson, and Lincoln. Directly comparable cohort-based, dialogue-driven executive development program.
• Coro Foundation: Nonprofit leadership training organization running year-long city-based fellowship programs that immerse cohorts in public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Same year-long, cross-sector, fellowship-format model as ALF Fellows Program, with similar civic-leadership positioning.
• International Leadership Association (ILA): Global membership association for leadership practitioners and researchers, offering conferences, continuing education, and a member network. Comparable as a dues-supported, member-driven leadership professional association, though more academic/practitioner-oriented than ALF.
• Vistage Worldwide: CEO peer-advisory membership organization running local groups of 12-16 executives with monthly facilitated meetings, executive coaching, and speaker events. Strong analog on the chapter-based, dues-driven, senior-executive engagement model, with a more operational peer-advisory focus.

Broad incumbents

• World Economic Forum (Young Global Leaders / YGL): WEF's YGL program selects and convenes high-potential leaders under 38 from business, government, academia, and civil society for multi-year peer engagement. Comparable cross-sector convening and dialogue-driven executive development at a much larger global scale and brand footprint.
• Fortune Most Powerful Women (MPW): Fortune's MPW Summit and community convenes senior women executives across sectors for invitation-only summits, dinners, and a year-round leadership network. Comparable in audience (C-suite), invitation-only format, and cross-sector convening model, with a major media brand behind it.
• Brookings Executive Education: Senior-fellow and executive program arm of the Brookings Institution offering multi-day seminars on leadership, policy, and governance for executives and senior public-sector leaders. Adjacent offering targeting the same senior-leadership audience with a more academic/policy orientation.

Others

• Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose (CECP): CEO-led coalition of Fortune 500 companies focused on aligning business strategy with societal purpose, running peer convenings, benchmarking, and a Senior Fellows-style network. Thematically adjacent as a membership-based convening platform for senior executives, though focused on corporate-purpose benchmarking rather than personal leadership development.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/American-Leadership-Forum-108697884687761
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/american-leadership-forum
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@AmericanLeadershipForum

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about American Leadership Forum