Presence in Motion – Reflections on The ELC Gala Week
By Earl T. Granger III, Chief Development and Impact Officer, The Executive Leadership Council

It’s been a few days since we wrapped The ELC Gala Week, and if you’re anything like me, you’re still carrying pieces of it with you. I can still hear a voice from a panel, a hallway introduction that became a real conversation, the quiet power of being in a room where everyone understands the stakes.

At the Gala, I said something that many of you told me stuck: “If your presence doesn’t make an impact, your absence won’t be felt.” (I can’t take credit for the wisdom. That gem comes from Trey Smith, who, unlike me, still counts as Gen Z.)

It’s a sharp truth, especially for those of us who live busy, public lives. But in the context of The ELC, it means even more because this is about both meeting the moment and showing up for a movement. And more than that: making sure that movement carries forward long after we leave the room.

As powerful as they were, what struck me most this year weren’t the headlines or the mainstage moments. It was the way people found each other. The first-timers who walked in unsure of what to expect, and left feeling like they’d found their people. The scholars who said they’d never been in a space where they could see so many versions of their future selves. The members who paused between sessions just to say, “That conversation moved me.”

And yet, even in that energy, excellence, and shared purpose, there was a moment where I was reminded just how much work we still have to do. Because while it felt like there were so many of us in the room, the truth is… we all still fit in one room.

Think about that. One room.

In a world where a single company can employ tens of thousands of people, we remain, collectively, a powerful minority. Present, yes. But not yet where we need to be. And certainly not in the numbers required to shift systems at scale. 

That’s not cause for discouragement but a call to action. Because what that room held wasn’t just who we are now, it was who we could be, if we keep doing the work. Together.

While The ELC Week is a powerful moment, we have to be relentless about what happens between events. That’s really the heart of it. The ELC Week gives us a moment of clarity, but the real work lives in what we do next.

Some of you are seasoned in this community. Others are just discovering what it means to belong here. And no matter where you are on that spectrum, the same invitation applies: this mission is yours now, too.

We heard a lot about the importance of pulling up others behind us. But what I felt this year was something even deeper: a shared sense that we are all responsible for making sure this organization lives to see another 40 years. That what we build now will be the foundation for someone else’s first step. Their first conversation. Their first “this is my community” moment.

And that doesn’t happen by chance. It happens when we take this experience and make it active in every facet of our lives – in our workplaces, our mentorship, our strategy, our giving. When we let it show up in how we lead, not just in what we attend.

If The ELC gave you anything this week, whether it be clarity, connection, or a challenge, I hope you’ll pass it on. Follow up on that conversation. Mentor the person who reminded you of your younger self. Build something from the spark. That’s how we keep this going. That’s how our presence will be felt, even when we’re not in the room.

And if you’re wondering how to start, consider this:

If you can give, donate.
If you can serve, join a committee.
If you can guide, mentor a scholar.
If you can amplify, champion our work inside your organization.
And if nothing else, share what this week meant to you — out loud, in your words.

Because every act of engagement, no matter how small, strengthens the whole. It says: I was here. I saw what was possible. And I chose to make it last.

Let’s make sure the next 40 years of The ELC are built on intention, not inertia. Let’s make sure someone else finds their way in because of what you chose to do today.