Redwood Fellows is a growing statewide community of 84 influential leaders representing 12 professional sectors and 42 towns and cities across Connecticut. We build trusting relationships across lines of difference and turn that trust into collaborative action for a stronger Connecticut.  Redwood begins with a curated Fellowship experience, which leads to membership in the Statewide Community.

No. We are an active statewide community of influential leaders. The initial Fellowship experience is only the beginning. We are building a community that is so valuable to its Fellows that they remain actively engaged for years.

Our mission is to build an active statewide community that supports leaders in achieving their aspirations while accelerating their individual and collaborative impact.

Our current 84 Fellows are listed here.  We are multigenerational: Fellows range in age from 27 to 70 and our median age is 46. We represent multiple sectors, viewpoints, ideologies, and affiliations. 

Redwood Fellows is intended for leaders from multiple sectors. Today, we represent 12 professional sectors: advocacy, business, faith community, healthcare, higher education, K-12 education, local government, economic development, nonprofit leadership, philanthropy, human services, and state government.

Redwood trees stand tall and strong for so long because they interlock their roots with the roots of neighboring trees. That’s a beautiful metaphor for leadership. As leaders, we can’t stand tall and strong for long if we function alone. Leaders achieve greater, more enduring impact by connecting their roots and building community across lines of difference.

We believe that the most effective way to strengthen Connecticut is by ensuring our leaders truly know one another. In an era increasingly defined by virtual interactions, we prioritize intentional, in-person experiences that allow leaders to deepen bonds and build real, authentic relationships.  When Fellows trust and care for one another, they show up for each other and bridge the natural gaps that exist between different perspectives and experiences. Every time they do, the community becomes stronger—and the stronger our community, the greater our collective opportunity and capacity to improve Connecticut.

We do not have one definition.  Fellows intentionally represent a range of political beliefs, ideologies, and affiliations; the goal is to build trust and common ground across those differences, not to erase them.  We share a common commitment to invest in a state we care deeply about.

Redwood Fellows is built on a long-term theory of impact that unfolds across three levels:

• The first is the individual leader.  Through the Fellowship and Statewide Community, leaders enhance their well-being, expand their networks, strengthen their leadership skills and influence, deepen their ability and desire to work across lines of difference, and grow more likely to stay in Connecticut leading work that strengthens the state.

• The second level follows from the first.  As these individual outcomes take hold, their effects extend to the institutions and coalitions those leaders serve.

• The third is systemic.  When first- and second-order outcomes are widespread, and as Redwood approaches a critical mass of more than 200 actively engaged leaders, we aspire to see change in the larger system.  The third-order outcomes are the hardest to plan for, but they become far more likely when the first two levels are consistently present.

We are a data-driven community that values quality and impact.  With that frame in mind, we track Fellow engagement and self-reported outcomes, such as expanded networks, strengthened leadership skills, increased professional influence, and likelihood of remaining in Connecticut.  We evaluate how these individual gains extend to Fellows’ institutions and coalitions, and over time, to the state as a whole.  We also track collaborative actions and their outcomes.

Fellows who actively participate in Redwood Fellows benefit in the following ways:

• Access: increased access to influential leaders, networks, and resources.

• Professional learning: strengthened skills to advance their leadership.

• Community: membership in a supportive community of leaders who share a commitment to Connecticut.

• Self-care: a retreat setting where Fellows are encouraged to reflect, restore, and prioritize themselves.

• Efficacy and impact: active support from a community of influential leaders who help Fellows advance in their career and accelerate the impact of the institutions and coalitions they lead.

Redwood Fellows started in 2024 as a pilot program called Community among Leaders.  The learnings from the pilot shaped Redwood’s first Groves in 2025.

A Grove is a cohort of Fellows who move through the year-long Fellowship experience together.  Redwood launched Groves I through IV in 2025 and 2026 (two per year); Groves V and VI are the next cohorts, beginning their Fellowship experience in 2027.  Each Grove is composed of 24 Fellows on average.

Redwood Fellows includes 84 influential leaders, spanning 42 Connecticut towns and cities and 12 professional sectors.  We plan to launch two new Groves of Fellows every year (each with 24 Fellows, on average), with a goal of more than 200 actively engaged Fellows statewide by 2030.

Redwood Fellows is unique for five main reasons:

• We are statewide: We actively recruit leaders from every region of Connecticut; our first four Groves of 84 leaders represent 42 towns and cities.

• We are long-term: Fellows are committed for multiple years.

• We are multi-sector: We intentionally bridge a dozen professional sectors, building trusting relationships across sectors to advance collaborative action.

• We are influential leaders: We are a community of leaders who are experienced, and who have influence and significant responsibility and a track record of professional achievement.

• We are building this together: Every Fellow helps to co-create the Fellowship experience, while shaping and advancing the Statewide Community, ensuring it is an active community responsive to the needs and aspirations of Fellows.

We actively learn from and collaborate with other fellowships and learning communities.  We also build on other fellowships by creating developmental pathways for leaders to pursue.  For example, a meaningful share of current Fellows came up through other respected programs first, including the Aspen Institute, Broad Center, Community Leadership Program in New Haven, Five Frogs, Kauffman Fellows, Leadership Danbury, Leadership Greater Hartford, Leadership Greater Waterbury, and Pahara Institute.

Redwood Fellows helps to initiate cross-sector collaborative action that leads to public benefits over time, such as improved social welfare and better outcomes for Connecticut residents.  Fellows lead within institutions and coalitions that serve residents directly.  These institutions include government agencies, nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, and other associations.  By investing in the leaders of these institutions, we help to strengthen the effectiveness of the institutions and coalitions themselves.

No.