Harvard University’s Advanced Leadership Initiative (ALI) has welcomed its 18th fellowship cohort to Cambridge, as another group of accomplished leaders joins the campus community over an academic year in residence committed to develop and implement strategies and solutions to address some of society’s most urgent challenges.
Curated to ensure broad sector diversity, the 2026 ALI cohort includes notable, executive-level participants with deep experiences in government, military, social entrepreneurship, consumer products, energy, financial services, healthcare, professional services, manufacturing, entertainment, and technology. These diversified experiences assist cohort members in the formulation of multi-sector approaches to solving societal challenges at scale.
The 2026 ALI cohort is also distinctly global in scope: 19 members were born outside the United States, and collectively cohort participants have lived in 23 states throughout the U.S. and 45 countries across six continents. These perspectives and experiences will further enrich both the peer-to-peer learning within ALI and the learning throughout the campus community during the fellowship year.
Each year, ALI brings extraordinary leaders to Harvard who are ready to redirect their talents and experiences toward next chapters of service and purpose, and this new cohort again embodies the program’s mission to help prepare highly accomplished individuals to serve as catalysts for lasting social impact.
The Advanced Leadership Initiative was founded in 2009 to fill a growing need for experienced leaders to take on complex social and environmental challenges. Over the course of the year, the program’s participants engage in a rigorous curriculum on campus, collaborate with faculty and students across Harvard’s Schools, and further social impact project and pathways, often in collaboration with members of the program’s 750-member global alumni community, the ALI Coalition.
To learn more about members of the 2026 ALI cohort, please visit ALI’s website.
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