SM Diversity

Strong communities are built through strong relationships.

Kim Fledderman, our Philanthropic Advisor who is exclusively focused on connecting nonprofits to opportunities within the Community Foundation, keeps the Philanthropy team engaged with the community through regular nonprofit engagement opportunities. Since joining the team last fall, Kim has organized more than 100 site visits and Zoom meetings!

Recently, that included a visit to Trees Atlanta, where we explored their Kendeda TreeHouse headquarters and tree nursery, both located along the Atlanta Beltline Westside Trail. Site visits like these help us better understand the opportunities and challenges facing our communities and identify ways philanthropy can support meaningful impact.

This Stanford Leadership Forum breakout asks whether the billions being invested in AI infrastructure will lead to aggregate productivity growth and, if so, which workers will be the winners and which will be left behind.

Speakers include Paul Oyer (moderator) the Mary and Rankine Van Anda Entrepreneurial Professor and Professor of Economics, Stanford Graduate School of Business; Senior Fellow, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research; Tamay Besiroglu, CEO, Mechanize; Susan Athey, the Economics of Technology Professor, Graduate School of Business; Senior Fellow, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research; Professor of Economics (by courtesy), School of Humanities and Sciences; Amman Mineral Faculty Fellow for 2025-2026; Director, Golub Capital Social Impact Lab; Associate Director, Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence; Nela Richardson, Chief Economist and ESG Officer, ADP.

Part of the 2026 Stanford Leadership Forum: Shaping the Future, hosted by the Stanford Leadership Institute at Stanford Graduate School of Business.



Stanford University Graduate School of Business

https://youtu.be/UbiLWoIYoxk?

Stanford Graduate School of Business 4 likes. "Stanford Leadership Forum 2026: Rewiring the Workforce in the Age of AI"

New workplace research from Gallup and Microsoft highlights a growing trend heading into 2026:

Employees want to feel valued, recognized, and connected to meaningful work.

Some key findings:

• Employees who do not feel adequately recognized are 2x more likely to say they’ll quit within the next year.

• Gallup and Workhuman research found that employees who feel well-recognized are 45% less likely to leave their jobs after two years.

• Microsoft’s 2026 Work Trend Index found that 65% of employees fear falling behind if they do not adapt to AI.

• Yet only 13% say they are rewarded for experimenting and innovating with AI in the workplace.

• Only 25% of employees believe leadership has a clear AI strategy.

One of the major themes across both reports:
The challenge is no longer just technology adoption — it’s leadership, culture, communication, and employee trust.

As AI continues transforming the workplace, organizations are increasingly being challenged to balance innovation, performance, engagement, and human connection at the same time.

Article highlights:

Gallup Employee Recognition Research:
https://www.gallup.com/workplace/236441/employee-recognition-low-cost-high-impact.aspx

Microsoft 2026 Work Trend Index:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index

Work Trend Index: Microsoft’s latest research on the ways we work. The Work Trend Index provides data-driven insights to help people and organizations thrive amid ongoing change and disruption.