Living Stones Leadership Lab | Enlivening Emerging Managers

Rooted in Love. Growing in Wisdom. Leading with Impact.

[Registration for the Fall-Winter cohort is closed. Please click here to express interest in the next cohort and receive updates when those dates are announced.]

Stepping Into Leadership, Grounded in Purpose

You’ve excelled in your craft—you’ve been the go-to engineer, the teacher everyone trusts, the healthcare worker who shows up early and stays late, the nonprofit staffer carrying quiet excellence. Then one day, someone says: “You should lead.”

Suddenly, the questions come rushing in: Am I ready? Can I guide others with the same excellence I’ve brought to my own work? How do I lead without losing my soul in the process?

This is where the Living Stones Leadership Lab comes in: a five-month, in-person leadership journey designed for those at this very crossroads.

A brand new offering developed in collaboration with Ben Grizzle and Belinda Neal (Managing Directors, Goldman Sachs) for those transitioning from individual contributor to people manager or team leader in their vocation (paid or unpaid), this experience will help you build the skills, confidence, and spiritual grounding to lead teams with clarity, courage, and care.

The Leadership Lab provides a space to grow in community with a curated cohort of peers within and across industries while also gaining focused mentorship, skills-based learning, and practical wisdom from experienced leaders as you navigate this uniquely pivotal moment in your vocational journey.

Leadership ability doesn’t arrive with a title—it’s formed through practice, reflection, and relationship. Whether you’re leading your first team, preparing for your next role, or seeking to grow as a manager, join a fellowship rooted in faith, grounded in wisdom, and built for the moment you’re stepping into now.

What Fellows Can Expect: A Transformative Structure

• Kickoff Leadership Summit: Launch your fellowship with a dynamic, in-person gathering featuring keynote talks and fireside chats with senior industry leaders. 
• Bi-Weekly Cohort Meetings (in-person, 8x total): Small peer groups (8 people) from diverse sectors (finance, tech, nonprofits, healthcare, education, etc.) meet to workshop real leadership challenges, share honest reflections, and support one another’s growth.
• Mentor Dinners (3x total): Share a meal in an intimate setting with your cohort and mentor, a seasoned leader within their vocation. Ask candid questions, gain wisdom from their journeys, and build meaningful connections.
• Devotional Journey & Spiritual Formation (Ongoing): Engage with a custom devotional guide designed to ground your leadership in love, stillness, and Scripture. This five-month rhythm of reflection invites you to lead with depth in a city that prizes expediency. It is for those who want to cultivate love rather than control, to build something eternal even in the spaces of deadlines, policies, and performance reviews.
• Skills-based Workshops & Fireside Chats (Optional): Focused on essential leadership skills like delegation, strategic communication, vision-casting, and giving feedback.
• Final Gathering – The Legacy Session: Reflect on the journey, hear from senior leaders on long-term impact, and celebrate with your cohort.

Key Themes You’ll Explore

• Making the shift from contributor to leader
• Building trust and safety on your team
• Communicating with clarity and conviction
• Resolving conflict and leading through change
• Leading with purpose, not just performance
• Discerning your leadership legacy

What You’ll Gain

• Practical Leadership Skills: Build essential management capabilities through interactive workshops and real-world case studies.
• Peer Insight Across Industries: Learn alongside emerging leaders from other fields—and gain new perspective of your own.
• Faith-Rooted Reflection: Reflect on leadership through the lens of timeless principles—drawing from Scripture and thinkers like Augustine, who explored the tension between the City of God and the City of Man. This foundational framework will help you wrestle with what it means to lead faithfully and effectively within complex systems, balancing eternal values with real-world demands.
• Mentorship & Cross-Industry Connections: Connect with experienced mentors across a variety of industries—as well as peers from your own sector.
• Cohort Community: Walk with a group of peers navigating similar transitions, challenges, and opportunities.

Who Should Apply

This fellowship is designed for professionals who:

• Are stepping into (or preparing for) their first or second management or team leadership role
• Want to lead with greater clarity, integrity, and spiritual grounding
• Are open to learning from peers across industries
• Value a safe space for honest reflection and skill-building
• Live in the tri-state area and can travel for the various in-person weeknight and weekend gatherings (exact locations TBD, likely in & around Midtown Manhattan)

Logistics & Format

• Location: In-person gatherings in NYC (venues TBD)
• Timeline: 5 months (dates for next cohort to be announced)
• Cohorts: 4–5 groups of ~8 participants each, led by a mentor
• Cost: to be announced 

*We are committed to making Living Stones Leadership Lab accessible. If cost is a barrier, full and partial scholarships are available—no one will be turned away due to financial need.

Application Process  

• Step 1: Submit the Fellowship Application 
  Tell us about your career journey, leadership goals, and what you’re hoping to grow in.
• Step 2: Acceptance Notification & Cohort Matching 
  Accepted participants will be matched into peer groups that balance industry experience, goals, and complementary strengths.
• Step 3: Prepare for the Kickoff Summit 
  You’ll receive further logistical info and a warm welcome from your hosts.

Please click here to express interest in the next cohort and receive a notification when registration is open.

Questions? Email info@goldenwoodnyc.org with “Living Stones Leadership Lab” in the subject line.

Meet the Hosts 

Ben Grizzle & Belinda Neal | Managing Directors, Goldman Sachs

With decades of experience mentoring leaders on Wall Street and in ministry contexts, Ben and Belinda bring depth, wisdom, and a calling to form leaders who serve with conviction and clarity. Their vision: to cultivate the next generation of managers who lead with integrity and leave a lasting legacy.

Over the past several decades, Rev. Dr. David Kim has trained, consulted, and counseled hundreds of leaders and organizations in developing a robust, meaningful integration of faith and work. David’s past experiences as VP of Faith and Work, Executive Director of the Center for Faith & Work, Director of the Gotham Fellowship, and editor of the NIV Faith and Work Bible have given him a breadth of exposure to the challenges of integrating faith and work. His expertise as a key thought-leader in the faith and work space has been well-established having addressed prominent institutions and churches around the world. David’s passion is to help people and organizations see the unseen realities that give rise to the world we create.

Goldenwood 

Goldenwood cultivates spiritually attentive communities to envision work that is enlivened by hope and expresses the fullness of our humanity. A nonprofit organization, Goldenwood fosters life-giving spiritual rhythms through individual and communal programs, as well as unconventional organizational consulting. Their vision is to see work revived by love.