Jeffrey Walker, former chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase's global private equity group and current chairman of the University of Virginia’s Council of Foundations, will speak on collaborative leadership on Thursday from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy.

Open to the public, with a free light lunch provided, the event will be held in Garrett Hall's Great Hall.

Batten School Dean Harry Harding will moderate the event and share some of his own thoughts on leadership.

“Collaborative leadership refers to the ability to work across organizational boundaries, such that leaders of one organization can work successfully with the leaders of another organization to advance the interests of both,” Harding said. “In a world of public-private partnerships, strategic alliances among nonprofit organizations, joint ventures among social enterprises, or simply cooperation among different units within the same organization, collaborative leadership is an increasingly important skill for aspiring leaders to know and master.

“Jeff Walker has played an important role in the development and popularization of this concept,” Harding added.

Walker is a board member, consultant and adviser to nonprofit institutions and social enterprises. He has been a lecturer at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and an executive-in-residence at Harvard’s Business School, focusing on social enterprise and collaborative leadership.

As chairman of the U.Va. Council of Foundations, which is made up of representatives of 14 separate alumni-supported foundations and representatives of the School of Continuing and Professional Studies, the Batten School and the University Library, Walker “has a strong interest in promoting collaboration across Grounds,” Harding said.

Walker will reflect on leadership lessons from the June ouster and reinstatement of U.Va. President Teresa A. Sullivan.

Walker graduated with a B.S. from U.Va.’s McIntire School of Commerce and earned an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School. 

For information, contact Katharine Meyer at kem3e@virginia.edu or 434-982-6761.