With Edith’s years of experience as a finance executive and Jordan’s experience at Harvard and in a new world of commerce, they had arrived at the same conclusion from different perspectives. The close-knit groups that lead to our most profound growth as people, which in the past came from religious groups, teams, and neighborhoods, had evaporated from today’s social landscape. They began to research, working with leadership experts who had extensive certifications, and developed a pilot through which they could test the most effective formats for conversations that would lead to growth.
They found that their structured approach, with curated groups and an experienced guide, would foster even more than they expected when they set out. People came out of the sessions with widened perspectives, having grown in their most human capacities. The diversity of the group presented the most compelling opportunity, since new ideas could expand collective empathy and increase intelligence in more ways than one.
Using their expertise and the new research, the team designed a program, developed a model for selection of diverse groups, and employed the right coaches to shape Medley.