Shoulder to Shoulder Alumni

The Ethical Leadership Forum at The Sebastian Hotel - Vail, Colorado
Your SStS field study was one formative experience in a much longer journey.

Five, ten, or more years later, you may be establishing a career, starting a family, becoming more rooted in a community—or navigating several of these transitions at once. With each come new opportunities, responsibilities, and questions about the person you want to become and the influence you hope to have.

The Shoulder-to-Shoulder Network (SSN) is designed to meet you where you are.

The Ethical Leadership Forum is one entry point: a place to exchange ideas and build relationships with alumni, students, educators, NGO partners, and leaders from across professional sectors, all invested in the well-being of their communities and the wider world.

We are building a SSN beginning with over 1,000 alumni. Depending on where you are in life, the Network may offer professional relationships, mentorship, opportunities to serve, intellectual engagement, or simply renewed connection with people committed to living and leading ethically. How, and how much, you engage is up to you.

Thursday, October 7th

5 - 7 PM: Forum Mixer

Sponsored by The Sebastian Hotel

Enjoy passed appetizers in a Shoulder-to-Shoulder microcosm — a cross-section of educators, NGO leaders, students, philanthropists, and business leaders, all in one room.

Friday, October 8th

7:30 – 8:30 AM: Alumni Breakfast: Where Are You Now, and What Comes Next?

Reconnect with alumni from across SStS programs and generations while exploring how the “alumni ecosystem” can support and be strengthened by people at different stages of adult life.

The conversation will consider what would make the network meaningful now: connections across professions, mentorship in both directions, renewed engagement with NGO partners, participation in SStS programming, regional gatherings, and opportunities that alumni themselves may help create.

In one session, we weave the voices and experiences of our NGO partner Karma Sherpa (Co-Founder of The Small World Nepal), Evie and Leah (SSTS alumnae), and Erika Twani (author of Becoming Einstein’s Teacher and The Einstein Mindset, 2027) to illustrate an actionable strategy framework adaptable for already established programs in your school.

8:30-9:30 AM: Guiding the Power of Transformation

Moral Imagination, Student Agency, and Technology

Lia Padilla & Evie Blan

SStS Alumni

American School Foundation of Guadalajara & Fort Worth Country Day

Guadalajara, Mexico & Dallas, TX

Karma Sherpa

Co-Founder and President

The Small World Nepal

Kathmandu, Nepal

Erika Twani

Author

Becoming Einstein's Teacher & The Einstein Mindset

10 - 11 AM: The Difference it Made

SStS Alumni Panel

How does an SStS experience continue to influence choices long after the program ends? In this panel discussion, SStS alumni present directly to educators, school leaders, and younger alumni about how their field study transformed their transition into college, early careers, workspaces, and local communities.

11-1 PM A Plenary Session

Health Care as a Moral Ecosystem

The full Forum comes together for the Plenary Lunch: a panel discussion among leaders who see health care from every angle — hospital leadership, value-based care, rural medicine, and impact investing — followed by a Jeffersonian-style lunch conversation and open Q&A.