Hi, I’m Chelsea, and I was part of the inaugural cohort of the Good Work Institute’s Laboratorio de líderes solidarios.
When Micah welcomed our cohort at our first in-person gathering, he said, “If you’re here, you were meant to be here.” I’ll come back to this.
I came into the Leaders Lab with a sense of the leader I wanted to be. Throughout my career, I’ve always sought out a North Star. I’ve been drawn to work that brings people together, builds community, and helps people imagine what becomes possible. But following a North Star doesn’t always mean you have a map.
I am so profoundly thankful to GWI. The Solidarity Leaders Lab gave me that map. I left with something much deeper than a collection of leadership skills. I left with a practice and, just as importantly, a community of practice. The curriculum challenged me, grounded me, and gave me practical ways to stay aligned with that North Star, even when the work is messy or uncertain. It didn’t change who I wanted to be as a leader. It gave me the confidence, the tools, and the relationships to become that leader with greater intention.
We explored shared leadership, nonviolent communication, facilitation, leadership styles, manifestos, systems thinking, alternative profit sharing structures, flocking, and what it really means to move through the world in relationship with one another. Every session asked us to think differently about power. Not as something to accumulate, but as something to cultivate together.
This could have all felt very theoretical. However, every exercise, every conversation, every practice was rooted in a simple question: How do we become the kind of leaders this moment is asking for and what do we need to put in place to get there?
The people in the room reflected that question. Farmers sat beside artists. Organizers beside business owners. Educators beside nonprofit leaders. Many of us checked multiple of these boxes. We weren’t there because we worked in the same field. We were there because we shared a belief that the future will be built across sectors, in relationship with one another.
The image I carry with me is mycelium. An underground network that nourishes an entire forest. That’s what this cohort has become. We’ve all gone back to our own communities, but we’re still connected. We call each other. We collaborate. We challenge one another. We celebrate one another. Every new cohort expands that living network and I am excited to have the privilege of witnessing that collective impact.
I also deeply appreciate that the Good Work Institute works so hard to live their values and made this experience financially accessible. GWI understands that if we’re serious about cultivating the leaders our communities need, those opportunities have to be available to people because of their commitment, vision, and passion, not because of their budget. Thank you to the foundations and donors who made this possible.
I keep thinking about what our communities would look like if this was how we taught leadership from the beginning. Instead of teaching people that leadership is about maximizing profit, climbing the ladder, or being the person with all the answers, we taught them to listen deeply, share power, navigate conflict with compassion, trust collective wisdom, and build relationships that endure.
That’s the invitation Good Work Institute is making. They’re growing leaders who understand that the work ahead isn’t about being the biggest voice in the room. It’s about helping a community discover its own voice. And I honestly believe that’s the kind of leadership our future depends on.
I’ll return to what Micah told us on that first day: “If you’re here, you were meant to be here.”
I believe that’s true tonight.
We often talk about changing the world as though it happens somewhere else. But the truth is that it happens anywhere where people choose to invest in one another. It happens when we build leaders who know how to share power, build trust, and feel certain that a new paradigm is needed for understanding power.
That’s the work the Good Work Institute is doing. And the beautiful thing is that it doesn’t stay here. It ripples outward through every one of us, into every meeting we facilitate, every organization we strengthen, every young person we mentor, every conflict we navigate, every community we help imagine what’s possible.
We’re all part of that ripple. We’re all part of that story. And I can’t think of a better story to be writing together.
This blog post is the text of a speech delivered by Solidarity Leaders Lab fellow Chelsea Miller as part of GWI’s Summer Soirée on Saturday July 25th, 2026.
Photo credit: Lauree Ostrovsky (From left to right: Lauree, Angelica, and Chelsea at the Soirée!)
