Leadership Forum

Date(s): March 29, 2023 @ 7:30 - 11:15am

Event category: Presentations and Lectures

The FPU Leadership Forum calls Valley leaders to transformational leadership that inspires innovation and collaboration, building a shared vision for the flourishing of our region.

Leadership Forum 2023 takes place March 29, 2023 at FPU's Warkentine Culture and Arts Center. Details for registration and sponsorships are available now.

In-person event registration has closed. To be added to the waiting list, please contact Steven Redekop at 559-453-3451 or steven.redekop@fresno.edu. Virtual tickets may be purchased below.

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FPU Leadership Forum 2023 Breakout Sessions

Authentic Leadership – Keynote Track

Session #1, 9:30am-10:15am:
"Courageous Leadership Discussion: Live Q&A with MaryJo, Victor, and Kenny Burchard "

Courageous leadership in the daily grind often does not feel heroic. On any given day, it can feel disappointing, disorienting, and lonely. In this candid Q&A panel discussion, MaryJo, Kenny, and Victor Burchard will be open to questions from the participants, relating their insights that they have gained through their challenges, and how these perspectives can be applied to courageous leadership challenges today. Potential topics include: (re)creating reasonable expectations, leaning into unexpected changes, belonging, the redemptive role of suffering, and building trust.

Session #2, 10:30am-11:15am:
"How to Build Belonging as a Leader" - Interactive Workshop with MaryJo Burchard

Mr. Rogers said, "Deep within us - no matter who we are - there lives a feeling of wanting to be lovable, of wanting to be the kind of person that others like to be with. Framed in compassionate mindfulness of self and others, this hands-on workshop helps participants (a) increase awareness of their personal belonging experience, (b) actively evaluate how belonging is being conveyed and/or muffled in their setting, and (c) identify belonging-building actions that are fitting and reachable within their contexts.

Christian Business Track

Session #1, 9:30am-10:15am:
Shepherding resilience within organizations – Professor Paul Saldana

The ISO defines organizational resilience as “the ability of an organization to absorb and adopt in a changing environment” with the idea that we continue to prosper into the future. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Philippians that we should forget “what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead” (3:14). This session will provide practical and biblical insights for leaders to identify and marshal resilience within their organization, positioning it for continued success.

Session #2, 10:30am-11:15am:
Lessons in Business and Life From Bezos and Jesus – Dr. Steven Starcher

Business education at a Christian university is different. Take a glimpse into Dr. Steve Starcher’s classroom where faith is integrated into the curriculum and students learn lessons in life and business from Jesus as well as contemporary business leaders, such as Jeff Bezos.

Community Transformation Track

Session #1, 9:30am-10:15am:
Leadership: Point of View Matters

When Jesus came to accomplish God’s work in the world, he saw the world and all that it could be. When it comes to our work in the world, how does the way we view the valley, our neighborhoods and the people that live here, affect what we do and the results we expect? In this session, you’ll dive into the Word, seeing the way Jesus changed our point of view of people and systems, as well tap into CCT’s framework for doing good for God’s people.

Session #2, 10:30am-11:15am:
Virtues and Talent: How to Unlock the Most Out of Your Team

In the age of silent quitting and what seems to be an unmotivated workforce, how do we engage our workforce to find calling in their work? How did Jesus motivate his disciples and those after him to carry on His good work. In this session, CCT breaks downs 3 key areas, individual giftings, ways to contribute and the identification of passions in the workplace that must come together to create meaningful work for others. Building on the Point of View Matters session, participants will walk away practical frameworks for applying these concepts in the workplace.

Keynote Speaker

Dr. MaryJo Burchard is the Co-Founder of Concord Solutions, LLC an organizational leadership consulting company based in Virginia Beach that specializes in helping leaders, teams, and organizations find strength, focus, and connection while facing major disruption and tough change. MaryJo has become sought-after for training in trauma-informed leadership, and her research has led to the development of the Change Experience Profile digital assessment, which identifies the immediate needs and concerns of each person impacted by a change in real time. 

She has been featured on numerous episodes of the TV show, Hampton Roads Business Weekly, served as Content Editor for the Theology of Leadership Journal, and has delivered workshops on Trust, Belonging, Change Leadership, and Self-Compassion for the International Leadership Association global conference, the Academy for Nonprofit Excellence, state and local governments, and local, regional, national, and international nonprofits and businesses. 

But before all this, MaryJo was a 20-something student worker at Fresno Pacific University, who left a job in a small Hanford nonprofit to focus on finishing her BA in Management and Organizational Development in FPU’s degree completion program. When she graduated in 2004, she took a full-time admissions job with FPU, and was on the team that started the Visalia Regional Center at El Diamante High School. While serving at the Visalia Center, she and her husband adopted their son from Ukraine, and she finished her MA in Leadership and Organizational Studies and graduate certificate in Peacemaking and Conflict Studies in the Workplace with FPU. She began her PhD studies in Organizational Leadership through Regent University in 2010, continuing to work as Assistant Director at the Visalia Regional Center, teaching for the School of Business in the evenings. Her family moved to Virginia in 2014 to follow new opportunities. Twenty years ago, she could not have predicted her story. It is her honor to return to the Central Valley, speaking to her FPU family and her hometown community, the place where so many of the most important decisions began. 

Become a Sponsor:

Show your support of the FPU Leadership Forum by becoming a corporate sponsor. For more information, contact Anna James Miller at 559-453-3453 or Anna.Miller@fresno.edu

Become a Sponsor

Leadership Sponsor, $10,000

• 1 table of 8 at event, or donate back for others to attend.
• Premier event seating.
• Participate in opening welcome at event.
• Verbal recognition during program (twice).
• Logo in marketing materials (as timeframe allows).
• Acknowledgement in event advertisements, promotional emails, and press release(s) (as timeframe allows).
  
  
   
• Your name and logo on digital event collateral - website, email, social.
• Company logo and link on event webpage.
• Full page ad in event program with your provided artwork.
• Display table at event.
• Post-event thank you mention and link on social media.
• Your collateral or promotional item at event seating tables.
• Membership in the 2023 FPU President’s Circle.
• Acknowledgment in a 2023 Business Insights campaign.

Character Sponsor $5,000

• 1 table of 8 at event, or donate back for others to attend.
• Preferred event seating.
• Verbal recognition (minimum of once during program).
• Acknowledgement in promotional emails, and press release(s) (as timeframe allows).
• Company logo and link on event webpage.
• Half page ad in event program with your provided artwork.
• Display table at event.
• Post-event thank you mention and link on social media.
• Membership in the 2023 FPU President’s Circle.
• Acknowledgment in a 2023 Business Insights campaign.

Integrity Sponsor $2,500

• 4 tickets to event, or donate back for others to attend.
• Sponsor logo recognition during event.
• Company acknowledgement in press release(s) (as timeframe allows).
• Company logo and link on event webpage.
• Quarter page ad in event program with your provided artwork.
• Display table at event.
• Membership in the 2023 FPU President’s Circle.

Influence Sponsor $1,000

• 2 tickets to event, or donate back for others to attend.
• Sponsor logo recognition during event.
  
  
   
• Company acknowledgement in press release(s) (as timeframe allows).
• Company logo and link on event webpage.
• Listing in event program.
• Membership in the 2023 FPU President’s Circle.