Trelstad to chair Advanced Leadership Initiative

Brian Trelstad, Senior Lecturer of Business Administration and Joseph L. Rice, III Faculty Fellow at Harvard Business School, will become the next faculty chair of the Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative (ALI) in April 2023.

In his new position, Trelstad will succeed Meredith Rosenthal, C. Boyden Gray Professor of Health Economics and Policy at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, who has served as ALI faculty chair since January 2019 and, prior to that, as an ALI faculty board member since 2016. In collaboration with faculty across Harvard, Trelstad will advance ALI’s mission to prepare experienced leaders to take on new challenges in the social sector. He will continue his affiliation with the Harvard Business School, where he teaches elective courses on social entrepreneurship and systems change and required courses on the role of business in society. 

“Brian brings to ALI deep experience in training leaders to support efforts for social good,” said John H. Shaw, the University’s Vice Provost for Research. “His commitment to understanding innovation and how it drives social and environmental change makes him the right person to carry forward ALI’s mission of empowering leaders to contribute solutions to complex problems.”

“We are indebted to Meredith Rosenthal for her service over the past four years,” Shaw said. “Under her leadership, ALI has reworked and expanded its core curriculum, recruited more diverse cohorts, and broadened its reach through partnerships with social impact programs and the launch of its Social Impact Review. Her commitment has been inspiring and beneficial for ALI’s fellows, and I am deeply grateful to her for her energy and unwavering dedication.”

The search process involved consultation with faculty, staff, and others across the University, including substantial input from ALI alumni. "We learned so much about the Initiative, including opportunities to further strengthen and support it,” said Shaw. “We look forward to working with Brian, the Faculty Executive Committee, and others to act on these recommendations." 

Shaw notes that Brian will continue to work as a senior lecturer in HBS’ General Management Unit, where he teaches courses on social entrepreneurship and systems change and leadership and corporate accountability. He is also a partner and board member at Bridges Fund Management, a specialist sustainable and impact investor with $1B+ under management that invests in mission-driven businesses, real-estate projects, and outcome-based contracts in the United States and Europe. Prior to joining Bridges, Brian was the chief investment officer at Acumen, a pioneering impact investment fund that primarily focused on emerging markets.  

Brian is an alumnus of Harvard College, where he received a degree in Social Studies (AB 1991). He also received an MBA from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University and an MA in City and Regional Planning from the University of California at Berkeley. He is a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute.

 “Harvard’s Advanced Leadership Initiative has made a tremendous difference since inception.  It was a bold idea that Rosabeth and the founding faculty conceived of—to help experienced leaders tackle important challenges in society—and Meredith’s leadership has really ignited the passion of the fellows over the past few years,” said Trelstad. “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to lead ALI and work with its vibrant community of fellows, coalition members, faculty, and staff to advance our mission of inspiring innovation, collaboration, and social change.”

ALI was conceived and co-founded in 2005 by Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Ernest L. Arbuckle Professor of Business Administration; Rakesh Khurana, Danoff Dean of Harvard College, and Nitin Nohria, Professor of Business Administration, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor, and former Dean of Harvard Business School. Its first cohort of fellows came to campus in 2009. As a result of their year at Harvard, ALI Fellows have developed new approaches to combat hunger, homelessness, refugee crises, affordable alternative energy, racial disparities in health and longevity, climate change, early childhood education, and career pathways for the underserved. They have founded organizations such as Talent Beyond Boundaries, Daily Table, Global Ocean Trust, Gratitude Railroad, and Liberia Energy Network; led the growth of others such as Sesame Workshop, Year Up, and West Side United; and spurred innovations impacting millions of lives across the United States and in countries around the world. The first of its kind, the ALI program has now been replicated at other universities worldwide. 

As faculty chair for ALI, Trelstad will work with its faculty executive committee to set the program’s strategy, empowering past and present ALI Fellows committed to making a social impact and bolstering a new movement in higher education. Members of the faculty executive committee will include: Julie Battilana, Alan L. Gleitsman Professor of Social Innovation at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and Joseph C. Wilson Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School; Monica Higgins, Kathleen McCartney Professor of Education Leadership at the Graduate School of Education; Jim Honan, Senior Lecturer on Education at the Graduate School of Education; Howard Koh, Harvey V. Fineberg Professor of the Practice of Public Health Leadership at the Chan School of Public Health; Deval Patrick, Co-Director of the Center for Public Leadership and Professor of the Practice of Public Leadership at the Kennedy School of Government; and Meredith Rosenthal, C. Boyden Gray Professor of Health Economics and Policy at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

“Brian is an inspired choice to lead ALI,” said new Executive Committee member Deval Patrick. “His range of experience, University-wide connections and wisdom about people equip him well for this assignment. I look forward to working with him and the remarkable talent who participate in ALI.”

Said Rosabeth Kanter, the initiative’s founding chair, “Brian has the major ingredients to lead ALI into its next phase of growth: a deep hands-on knowledge of impact investing, an abiding commitment to social innovation for the common good, and strong ties to cutting-edge social entrepreneurs. His leadership, combined with teaching and scholarship, will ensure that ALI continues to attract and guide already-accomplished fellows so they can tackle some of the world’s biggest problems.”