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Founders Council

The Center for Values-Driven Leadership is made possible in part by the generous support of its Founders Council. The Council is comprised of individuals, corporations, and foundations that advance the mission of the Center by contributing a minimum of $25,000 per year for three years.

Michael L. Flynn Chief Financial Officer,
The Financial Group

Michael Flynn is the founder and chief financial officer of The Financial Group. He was also a charter member of the Advisory Board for the Small Business Development Center of the Business and Professional Institute at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn.

His passion for children and families in distress prompted Flynn to found SDG (Soli Deo Gloria) Adoption and Child Advocacy Center, a nonprofit foundation that serves families with special needs and terminally ill children. In addition to representing families who desire to adopt children locally and abroad, he also serves as a court-appointed Guardian Ad Litem.

Additionally, Flynn sits on the Board of Directors for the Red Thread, a charitable organization that facilitates medical and surgical procedures in the United States for foreign-born orphans.

Vaya Group

The Vaya Group has more than 25 years of experience in helping Fortune 1000 companies meet their talent management needs. Led by Dr. Paul H. Eccher, Dave Ross and Nino Lamberti, Vaya Group uses their insight, knowledge, experience and proprietary assessment, quantitative and intervention tools, and strategies to successfully help companies identify their talent and cultivate excellence.

Using their The Vaya Talent Optimization Framework™ Audit, Vaya Group is able to provide a multi-dimensional, holistic approach to talent cultivation taking into account the past, present and future; industry and competitive and market conditions; business strategy and direction; the organization’s goals and philosophy; and the leadership’s strengths and weaknesses.

The company's rigorous assessment of coaching and collaboration with thousands of executives and employees at world-class organizations has produced insights and research recognized throughout the industry. They have helped highly successful organizations like Hewlett Packard, General Electric, Campbell Soup, Amgen and sanofi-aventis harness their talent and improve their profitability.

Edward Hospital

Located in Naperville, IL, Edward Hospital & Health Services is a full-service, regional healthcare provider offering access to complex medical specialties and innovative programming.

Designed for “people who don’t like hospitals,” Edward Hospital’s goal is to make the patient experience as stress free as possible. The hospital is known for its continuous innovations to provide maximum comfort, such as space for family to spend the night, peaceful healing gardens and an ER designed especially around and for kids.

The organization’s commitment extends beyond its patients to its employees and the community at large. Edward is one of the leading providers of charity care in the region, helping families who need financial assistance.

Magnetrol International, Inc.

Eight decades ago, Magnetrol's founders developed a more reliable instrument for liquid level control than was prevalent with the technology of the day. By combining a buoyancy device with the operating principle of magnetic-coupling, the first "Magnetrol" was born.

Innovation is still a prized resource at Magnetrol and is sustained by programs that recognize and reward initiative and creativity. Magnetrol nourishes responsible innovation through superior engineering, by manufacturing to the highest standards of excellence and by truly listening to its customers.

Now a global company, Magnetrol has come a long way since it produced its first electro-mechanical level switch in 1932. However, the company’s commitment to its customers, employees and the community as a whole hasn't changed. Continuous improvement of products, processes and service remains the company’s prime objective.

Tellabs Foundation

Tellabs is a telecommunications infrastructure builder and a partner with communications service providers around the world.

The mission of the Tellabs Foundation is to advance specific, strategic endeavors in communities where Tellabs employees live and work. They aim to build the capacity of nonprofit organizations by supporting sustainable initiatives, primarily in education, health and the environment.

About CVDL

The Center for Values-Driven Leadership offers research, education and outreach opportunities to help business leaders forge new paths to profitability. It is a gathering place where top executives, entrepreneurs and thought leaders come together to innovate at the forefront of values-driven business practice.

Upcoming CVDL Events

Class: 8-Day Intensive; Research Methods I: Scholar-Practitioner Strategies
- June 14-17, 2013
Class: 8-Day Intensive; Leading Self I: Your Career Leadership Legacy
- June 18-21, 2013
Class: Leading Teams, part 1
- July 19-21, 2013

Exemplars

Wendy Hallgren, Vice President, Corporate Compliance, discusses compliance and ethics at Flour. Watch her here.
Nobel Peace Prize recipient and founder of Grameen Bank, Professor Muhammad Yunus, dreams of eradicating poverty as we know it and rethinking the relationship between the rich and the poor. Here he discusses The Social Business Model and how it is a radical departure from the modern profit-maximizing entity. See it here.
How does an established company open itself up to allow for new innovation - especially in areas of sustainability? Stu Hart, author of Capitalism at the Crossroads and an expert in business sustainability, shares his thoughts on how successful companies can make space for dynamic innovation, leading to a healthier company AND planet. This video was recorded as part of the Center for Values-Driven Leadership's Senior Executive Roundtable series. For more on the CVDL and this series, visit www.cvdl.org. Sustainability and Innovation
The Center for Values-Driven Leadership View Video