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Leadership Foundations: Virtual Fireside Chat With Steve Smith ’92
Thursday, Oct. 23
3–4 p.m. Eastern time
Join us for the kickoff of the Leadership Foundations series with a livestreamed fireside chat featuring Steve Smith ’92, president & CEO of L.L.Bean and vice chair of Dickinson’s Board of Trustees, and Emily Kelahan, assistant professor of philosophy. This engaging conversation will explore key dimensions of leadership.
Through real-world insights and philosophical reflection, this session will offer a dynamic look at how leadership is practiced and understood across contexts. Attendees will receive reflective exercises to continue their leadership development beyond the webinar.
Whether you're an emerging leader or looking to deepen your leadership practice, this session will provide foundational tools and thought-provoking perspectives to guide your journey.
Please register by Wednesday, Oct 22. The Zoom link will be shared with registrants prior to the event.
This program will be cosponsored by the Office of Alumni Engagement and the Burgess Institute for the Global Economy.
Steve Smith ’92 is the fourth president and CEO of L.L.Bean. Steve graduated from Dickinson with a B.A. in fine arts. As a student, he was a member of Beta Theta Pi and the men’s basketball team. Since graduation, Steve has been an active volunteer for the college. He became a member of the Board of Trustees in 2017, and he currently serves as vice chair.
Steve began his career in 1992 at J. Walter Thompson in New York City and worked internationally in Belgium, China, and the UK. His career was dedicated to sales, marketing and retail across multiple industries, including work with Resort Sports Network, Hannaford Supermarket, Delhaize Group, Walmart International and Yihaodian, before he returned to Maine to join L.L.Bean in 2016.
Emily Kelahan’s research and teaching interests lie in roughly two areas: the history of early modern philosophy (1550-1800) and the philosophy of work (What is work? How is it different from play, leisure, labor and other related concepts? What is the place of it in a flourishing human life?). What both of these areas have in common is that they allow her to engage in a variety of sub-disciplines at once. She likes to pose and attempt to answer tough questions that lie at the intersection of epistemology, metaphysics, ethics and social philosophy. She is teaching the course Philosophy of Work at Dickinson this fall.