Global Leadership and Followership for Our Polarized World: Theory, Methodology, and Practice

Gretchen Alther, Leadership Program Senior Manager, East-West Center. 

Gretchen Alther is Senior Manager of the Leadership Program at the East-West Center in Honolulu, where she runs professional development programs across the Asia-Pacific focusing on equity and community resilience. She holds academic credentials in international studies, natural resources management, peacebuilding, and leadership, and is pursuing a PhD in Leadership and Change. Gretchen is an advisor to the Institute for Climate and Peace and chairs the Campaign for Peace, Disarmament, and Common Security.

Alec Balasescu, PhD, anthropologist at large.

Alexandru (Alec) Balasescu is an anthropologist, writer, and occasional curator. He obtained his Ph.D. in anthropology at the University of California, Irvine in 2004, with an emphasis in Critical Theory. Between 2011 and 2014 he was the executive director of Romanian Cultural Insitute in Istanbul where he initiated a series of artistic collaborations in contemporary art. Alec’s most recent book, Climate Change in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. Nature, Culture and the Politics of Technology will appear in June at Springer Nature Publishing House. 

He teaches at Royal Roads University, Victoria, Canada.

Salena Beaumont Hill, Ph.D. (she/her), is a citizen of the Apsáalooke (Crow) Nation and a descendant of the Amaskapi Pikuni (Blackfeet) Nation. Her Apsáalooke name is Baawátbakala Xíasaash which means “Shining Crucifix”. She serves as an Assistant Professor in the Doctoral Program of Leadership Studies at Gonzaga University and holds a Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision from the University of Montana. Rooted in Indigenous philosophies, her work is grounded in Indigenous worldviews through both her teaching and research.

Dr. Melissa K. Carsten is an Associate Professor of Management at Appalachian State University, in Boone, N.C. Melissa conducts research on leadership and followership in organizational settings. Specifically, she studies beliefs about the follower role in relation to leaders, how followers enact their role to advance or detract from organizational objectives, and how leadership is co-created. Melissa has published articles in peer-reviewed journals such as The Leadership Quarterly, Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, Journal of Organizational Behavior, and Journal of Business Research. She has served on the Editorial Boards at Group and Organization Management, Journal of Organizational Behavior, and The Leadership Quarterly. She also served as the Series Editor for The Leadership Horizon’s Book Series, and has contributed over two dozen book chapters to edited books on leadership and followership.

Michael Cowan is a strategic, solution-oriented leader with a Master’s in Global Leadership and over 25 years’ experience in government and non-profits. An advocate for LGBTQIA2S+ rights and JEDI values, he has led national programs, secured over $2.5 million in grants, and co-founded a Neighbourhood House on Pender Island. His work spans Indigenous engagement, justice reform, and community development. A lifelong learner and scuba enthusiast, Michael strives to be the change he seeks in the world.

Marina Demchenko, Ph.D., Research Lead, Living Cities Action Research Ecosystem (LCARE).

Marina Demchenko, PhD, is a business development and public administration advisor, integral development practitioner, and researcher. With a PhD in economics and international marketing of territorial development, she has substantial experience in public administration and global change management. She serves as Research Lead at the Living Cities Action Research Ecosystem and the Laszlo Institute of New Paradigm Research, and is Country Chair (Russia) for Ecocivilisation. Co-founder of the Russian-Swiss PANORAMA LAB, she was the first ever advisor to a city mayor on the holistic wellbeing and happiness of citizens (Zverevo, Russia), during which she developed the INNER KEY© methodology for diagnosing and assessing the integral development of social ecosystems.

Stephanie Doscher, Ed.D., is an independent senior international education leader connecting people, ideas, and organizations to have global impact. She is contributing editor and co-author of The Guide to COIL Virtual Exchange (Routledge, 2022) and co-author of Making Global Learning Universal: Promoting Inclusion and Success for All Students (Routledge & NAFSA, 2018). She hosted the Making Global Learning Universal Podcast (https://globallearningpodcast.fiu.edu) and serves on the advisory boards for AAC&U’s Liberal Education and COIL Connect.

Glenda Eoyang works with people to help them thrive in the face of overwhelming complexity and uncertainty. She is a pioneer in the applications of complexity science to human systems. In 2001 she founded the Human Systems Dynamics (HSD) Institute, which exists today as a global ecosystem of communities of research, learning, and practice in HSD. Her theory and practice provide a roadmap for those who live and work at the intersection of order and chaos.
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Yuliya Filippovska, Ph.D., coach and facilitator, entrepreneur researcher: “Living Together”, Deep Democracy Institute Ukraine and International

As a deep democracy facilitator and coach, Yuliya Filippovska has worked with individuals, groups, organizations, and communities on conflicts and polarizations for 17 years. She developed Impact Hub Kyiv and TEDxKyiv communities. Since 2010 she is part of the Deep Democracy Institute (DDI) International and DDI Ukraine. Her PhD in leadership and change is about “Doing the Impossible: Dealing with False Beliefs.” Originally from Kyiv, Yuliya lives in Geneva due to the war in Ukraine.

Dr. Kem Gambrell is Professor and Chair of the Doctoral Program in Leadership Studies at Gonzaga University. With over two decades in academia, her scholarship and teaching is shaped by collectivist ideologies emphasizing relationality, communityship, and holistic well-being. Her research includes anti-racist pedagogy, Indigenous collectivism, and decolonized leadership alliances.

Dr. Melanie Goodchild, is an Ojibway woman from Biigtigong Nishnaabeg First Nation in northwestern Ontario. She is the Vice President of Academics and Research at Shingwauk Kinoomaage Gamig, an Indigenous university in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. She holds a PhD in Social and Ecological Sustainability from the University of Waterloo and is a contributing faculty member at the Presencing Institute at MIT, the Academy for Systems Change and the Wolf Willow Institute for Systems Learning. Dr. Goodchild is currently the Systems Changer in Residence at the Canadian Association of Science Centres, with over 1000 members across Canada, where her work focuses on decolonizing science. She is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Awareness-Based Systems Change at MIT and her 2021 article called “Relational Systems Thinking” (Goodchild, 2021) to date has had 68,000 downloads.

Tina Huesing, Ph.D., Teaching Professor at Montclair State University, NJ and Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands

Tina Huesing, PhD., is a business school professor who teaches at Montclair State University’s business school in New Jersey and at Wittenborg’s University of Applied Sciences campus in Munich, Germany. Her current focus in teaching is on business ethics and social impact.
Her research interests are focused on leadership, especially leadership in global organizations, and leadership needed for global challenges. She is interested in leadership as a dynamic, relational practice embedded in its environment of situational demands and social networks.

Borna Jalsenjak, Ph.D., Professor of Ethics and Leadership, Luxembourg School of Business, Luxembourg.

Dr. Borna Jalsenjak is an educator specializing in leadership, business ethics, and critical thinking. He teaches at the Luxembourg School of Business. Also, he regularly lectures in the U.S., Italy, and Croatia. His research explores ethics, CSR, and leadership through a philosophical lens. With a PhD in philosophy and training as a certified coach, he brings academic rigor and practical insight to his work in business education and ethical leadership.

Alapaki Luke, Ed.D., Professor of Hawaiian Studies, Honolulu Community College, University of Hawaiʻi System.

Dr. Mark Sung Alapaki Luke is a Professor at Honolulu Community College and the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Alapaki teaches Hawaiian Studies, Geography, Curriculum Studies, and Hawaiian Language. Dr. Luke is an alumnus of the EdD Leadership and Innovation at NYU and his research focused on increasing the Native Hawaiian Capacity at the University of Hawaiʻi. He is also a STEMS2 Master’s and Geography/Hawaiian Studies alumnus at UH Mānoa. Alapaki participated as an East-West Center Degree Fellow (2001-2003). He plants kalo (taro) in Kahana Valley on the island of Oʻahu and enjoys sharing the experience with his students, community groups, and international communities. He has worked with numerous private/public schools and community groups with Native Hawaiian Culture, instilling a sense of place and Native Hawaiian Culture/Language within their curriculum.

Mary Matovu Mandy, Social Welfare Officer, Government of Northwest Territories, Canada

Mary Matovu Mandy is a dedicated development Worker currently working with the Government of the Northwest Territories. She brings a wealth of experience from her previous roles, including Caseworker with the City of Toronto and Emergency Responder with the Red Cross. Mary has also contributed to international development through her work with CUSO International and other non-profit organizations across Africa, focusing on community development and capacity building.

Mark E. Mendenhall, Ph.D., J. Burton Frierson Chair of Excellence in Business Leadership, Gary W. Rollins College of Business, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and Partner in The Kozai Group.

Mark E. Mendenhall holds the J. Burton Frierson Chair of Excellence in Business Leadership at the Gary W. Rollins College of Business at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga. He has co-authored/edited 33 books and numerous research publications on global leadership, international human resource management, and leadership. Mark is a partner in The Kozai Group, a consultancy specializing in global leadership identification, assessment, and development, and is a past president of the International Management Division of the Academy of Management.

Guy Nasmyth, Principal, Guy Nasmyth Consulting Services; Associate Faculty, Royal Roads University

As a former senior leader with the federal government, Guy Nasmyth has a longstanding interest in leadership and leadership development. After launching his own consulting practice, Guy started consulting full time with the government as well as with for-profit and non-profit organizations. Guy teaches at the graduate level in the schools of Leadership Studies and Professional and Continuing Studies at Royal Roads University. He has also taught in the School of Public Administration at UVic, the School of Inspired Leadership in Gurgaon India, and the society for Participatory Research in Asia.
In organizational development work, Guy has worked throughout Canada and around the world. He has worked with the government in Cambodia teaching leadership at the middle management level and with the healthcare system in Kuwait at the executive level. He has also facilitated and taught in Bangkok with a focus on systems thinking and leadership. He has been the keynote speaker at various conventions including the International Initiative for Mental Health Leadership, and the Natural Health Practitioners of Canada, and often speaks in a variety of settings.
Guy holds a Master of Arts in Leadership and Training, a Master of Arts in Human and Organizational Systems, and a PhD in Human and Organizational Systems from Fielding Graduate University. Amongst other publications including with the Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship, Guy’s dissertation is entitled: Leadership as a System-wide Construct: A Narrative Exploration of the Collaborative Process.

Julia Puaschunder, Professor, Department of Economics & Finance, International University of Monaco.

Julia Puaschunder is a trained economist, legal scholar and psychologist currently at the Department of Economics and Finance of the International University of Monaco. Julia was a Fulbright Scholar and Max Kade Foundation Scholar at Harvard University. As a Prize Fellow in the Interuniversity Consortium of New York, she researched, taught and studied at The New School, Princeton and Columbia University. Julia Puaschunder authored 14 books on ethics, climate justice, behavioral economics and resilient finance.

Mark A. Rennaker is chair of the Division of Leadership and Followership Studies at Indiana Wesleyan University. He served over 30 years in faith-based and nonprofit leadership roles at local, regional, and national levels. He has also served a variety of leadership roles during nearly 20 years of higher education experience. He is certified with Ira Chaleff’s Followership Train the Trainer program. Rennaker has multiple research interests, including servant-leadership, trust, followership, and human resource development. Rennaker regularly presents on leadership, followership, and higher education topics at national and international academic and professional conferences, including the Global Followership Conference (GFC) and the International Leadership Association’s (ILA) Annual Global Conference. Along with academic colleague Dr. Mike Linville, he was presented the Followership Trailblazer Award at the 2023 Global Followership Conference and the SAGE Outstanding Scholar Award at the 2023 ILA conference. Dr. Rennaker and Dr. Linville are co-authors of The Essentials of Followership: Rethinking the Leadership Paradigm with Purpose, now in its second edition and adopted by dozens of universities. The PhD in organizational Leadership program that Dr. Rennaker leads has been named the #1 Online Organizational Leadership program in both 2024 and 2025 by Forbes Advisor. The Bachelor of Science in Organizational Leadership Program he leads was recently named the Outstanding Leadership Program at the 2025 ALE conference.

Randy Richards, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus, St. Ambrose University, Davenport, Iowa USA

Randy Richards, Ph.D. a second career academic, spent almost 20 years in management in both the public and the private sector before becoming a full-time professor at St. Ambrose University. He is Professor Emeritus at St. Ambrose. He continues as an experienced facilitator and workshop designer for adult learners. He holds degrees in Philosophy from St. Ambrose (B.A. 1971), Georgetown (M.A. 1975), and University of Iowa (Ph.D. 1996).

Ronald Riggio, Kravis Professor of Leadership and Organizational Psychology, Claremont McKenna College.

Ronald E. Riggio, Ph.D. is the Henry R. Kravis Professor of Leadership and Organizational Psychology and former Director of the Kravis Leadership Institute at Claremont McKenna College. Dr. Riggio is a social/personality psychologist and leadership scholar with more than two dozen authored or edited books and more than 250 articles/book chapters. He was co-editor (along with Ira Chaleff and Jean Lipman-Blumen) of The Art of Followership. His most recent co-authored (w/ Alexander Negrov) is Leadership in Ukraine: Studies During Wartime.

Harriet L. Schwartz, PhD, Professor of Relational Practice and Higher Education, Graduate School of Leadership and Change, Antioch University.

Harriet L. Schwartz, PhD, is a Professor of Relational Practice and Higher Education in Antioch University’s PhD in Leadership and Change program. Her scholarly interests include teaching as relational practice, emotion and teaching, and qualitative research methods, particularly critical incident technique and grounded theory. The author of Connected Teaching: Relationship, Power, and Mattering in Higher Education (Stylus, 2019), Harriet is a leader in applying Relational Cultural Theory (RCT) in education.

Arwa Shurab, Leadership Coach.

Arwa Shurab is a Palestinian leadership coach, speaker, and founder of HERVOICE, an NGO dedicated to empowering women in leadership. With a master’s degree in Global Leadership and certifications in life coaching, Arwa supports women and marginalized communities through advocacy, coaching, and education. Based in North Vancouver, she is also the co-founder of BCMAP—BC Muslim and Arab Professionals. Arwa is a passionate voice against Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism, committed to justice and transformative change.

Woden Teachout, Ph.D., Manager of Faculty Development, Division of Continuing Education, Harvard University

Woden Teachout is the manager of faculty development at Harvard’s Division of Continuing Education. She holds an MA in Education from Union Institute & University and a Ph.D. in American Studies from Harvard. She has held Fulbright awards to Kyrgyzstan, Romania, and Uzbekistan and was named Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She is co-director of the Global Writing Incubator, a new initiative for global scholars seeking impact on the global knowledge landscape.

Qingyan Tian, Ph.D., Leadership Studies, Christopher Newport University

Qingyan Tian, Ph.D. has more than 40 years of experience working at supranational, transnational, regional, and national levels across public, private, education, and non-profit sectors. Organizations she has worked with include United Nations, World Banks; Kosovo Ministry of Education; Caterpillar Inc., Bayer; Bank of America, China Development Bank; American Council on Education, University of Missouri, Beijing University, Charles University; and many others. She was an Associate Professor of American Studies and English Language at Ocean University of China. Currently, she is a Senior Lecturer in leadership studies at Christopher Newport University (CNU). As the author of five books and the editorial board member of three sage journals, her research focuses on bridging globalization, leadership, and research methodology. Two research projects she is leading now include Leadership in War, Peace, & Prosperity and Leadership in Global Poverty Eradication which is a large-scale transnational and transdisciplinary collaboration.

Aleesha Towns-Bain, Ph.D. Candidate.

Aleesha Towns-Bain is the President & CEO of the Bristol Bay Foundation, which supports Alaska Native students in pursuing educational opportunities while promoting and preserving the cultural heritage of the Bristol Bay region in Alaska. Born in Seattle with family roots in Pilot Point, Alaska, Aleesha is a former journalist and editor who has spent the past 18 years working with foundations. She is dedicated to advancing education outcomes for Indigenous students and preserving Native languages for future generations. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in journalism and Native American studies from the Evergreen State College and a Master of Arts in journalism from University of Missouri-Columbia. She is currently pursuing a doctorate in Leadership & Change from Antioch University.

Dr. Eliane Ubalijoro CEO of CIFOR-ICRAF, Director General of ICRAF

Ubalijoro is a Rwandan Canadian scientist and executive, renowned for her leadership in sustainable development and global health. As the Chief Executive Officer of the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF), she spearheads groundbreaking research and innovation to tackle environmental challenges, climate resilience, and food security worldwide. With a Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics from McGill University, Dr. Ubalijoro has a rich academic background, having served as a Professor of Practice at McGill’s Institute for the Study of International Development, where she bridged science, policy, and sustainability.

Beyond her role at CIFOR-ICRAF, Dr. Ubalijoro is a highly sought-after advisor, serving on multiple boards and global policy committees dedicated to sustainability, equity, and international development. Her expertise in integrating scientific research with policymaking has positioned her as a key figure in shaping sustainable solutions for pressing global challenges.

Ajay Viswanath, Leadership Coach & Consultant, TAO Consulting Pvt Ltd. 

Ajay is a seasoned learning professional and consultant with TAO Consultancy Pvt. Ltd., with over 24 years of experience. He has facilitated 500+ programs covering 15,000+ participants across industries. An alumnus of Royal Roads’ MAGL course, Ajay’s expertise lies in designing and delivering leadership development, assessment centers, and change management initiatives. An ICF-PCC Leadership Coach, Ajay coaches CEOs and senior leaders, integrating his Bharatanatyam background and understanding of body work to unlock leadership potential.

Mary Uhl-Bien is the BNSF Railway Endowed Professor of Leadership in the Neeley School of Business at Texas Christian University (TCU). She is listed in Stanford’s top 2% of scientists in the world and in Poets and Quants as a Top 50 Undergraduate Business Professor. Mary is a renowned leadership scholar, receiving an Eminent Leadership Scholar Award in the Academy of Management as well as an Honorary Doctorate from Copenhagen Business School.

Dr. Kenneth Williams, Professor of Organizational Behavior and Leadership, Antioch University, Graduate School of Leadership and Change

Dr. Williams brings over 30 years of experience in education, leadership, and international consulting. He has held senior roles in higher education, inclusive of President, Dean and Associate Dean, and has been involved in global consultancies with organizations such as UNICEF, OXFAM, EarthRights International, and the Ford Foundation. His scholarly work focuses on inclusive and values-based leadership, restorative justice, organizational behavior, indigenous leadership in sub-Saharan Africa, and education in the Caribbean. He has published on leadership in multicultural contexts, responsible and values-based leadership and inclusive education Educated in Barbados, Jamaica, the UK (LSE), and the US (Columbia University), he bridges theory and practice through culturally grounded, globally informed research and engagement.