The Denver Metro Chamber Leadership Foundation gives participants of every program a chance to dive into learning something new and connecting with fellow leaders. When combined, that experience sparks the kind of inspiration that generates innovative ideas and changes our community.
The Leadership Foundation’s annual Leadership Exchange (LEX) is a chance to do just that. I was among the 155 Colorado leaders on this year’s LEX trip to San Diego, where we saw firsthand how another city is approaching economic development, partnerships, industry support and education. For more than 150 years, leaders at SCL Health, the title sponsor of this year’s LEX trip, have valued volunteerism, community impact and innovation – three values perfectly captured in this year’s LEX trip.
Innovative partnerships are critical to the work we all do in Colorado and Montana. At SCL Health we have always worked to partner with other nonprofits, community leaders and health care providers to help provide care to the communities we serve. San Diego is a city that also thrives on partnerships of all kinds.
Started by Johnson & Johnson (yes, the baby shampoo people), JLABS enables and accelerates scientific breakthroughs from small companies that typically don’t have the same access to resources as a Fortune 50 company like Johnson & Johnson. As a health care leader, JLABS was particularly interesting not only to witness the partnerships taking place, but also because of the innovative and life-saving solutions being developed there. And for those who visited Balboa Park, they saw 30 arts and creative nonprofits partnering to share space, resources and even a common pass.
Just as we focus on Colorado’s Civic DNA™ – the values we share as a community of shared vision, responsibility, inclusivity, leadership and collaboration – San Diego’s partnerships, innovative research community and inclusive approach to growth speak to its business community’s unique shared values. I look forward to seeing what ideas spring from LEX 2018 participants over these next months as we jointly explore new cultural partnerships, education models and strategies to mitigate the challenges of growth. On behalf of everyone at SCL Health, thank you all for being part of this great community.
Megan Mahncke is president of the SCL Health Foundations. SCL Health chaired the LEX: San Diego trip.
