Ann DeBusk : Interview for the John W. Gardner Legacy Oral History Project
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Ann DeBusk, a longtime friend and mentee of John W. Gardner, shares memories of him and the advice he gave her. DeBusk begins by speaking about her youth and college education in the Pacific Northwest before arriving at Stanford to complete her graduate work at the Graduate School of Education. She describes meeting Gardner through her friendship with Gardner’s daughter, Francesca (Checka). DeBusk goes on to talk about her work with Leadership Palo Alto and the Silicon Valley chapter of the American Leadership Forum, as well as the guidance Gardner provided as she became involved with the two organizations. She also describes working on the advisory board of the John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities. She concludes the interview by sharing stories of her friendship with Gardner and his wife, Aida.
Description
Type of resource | sound recording-nonmusical, text, still image |
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Extent | 1 audio file; 1 text file; 1 photograph |
Place | Stanford (Calif.) |
Publisher | Stanford Historical Society |
Date created | July 3, 2017 |
Language | English |
Digital origin | born digital |
Creators/Contributors
Interviewee | DeBusk, Ann | |
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Creator | DeBusk, Ann | |
Interviewer | Mancini, Nancy | |
Publisher | Stanford Historical Society |
Subjects
Subject | Gardner, John W. (John William), 1912-2002 |
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Subject | Civil Society > United States |
Subject | American Leadership Forum |
Genre | Interview |
Bibliographic information
Biographical profile | After graduating from the University of Washington with a bachelor’s degree in history and earning a master’s degree in education from Stanford, Ann DeBusk taught high school history in the Sequoia Unified School District in Redwood City and the Newton School District in Massachusetts for three years. When she left teaching, she gave lectures and seminars in stress management for corporations, Stanford Medical School, and the community for eleven years. Later she became involved in the Palo Alto community, first with Leadership Palo Alto where she was the executive director. Then she founded American Leadership Forum-Silicon Valley, which brought together established leaders across sectors, geography, and ethnicities to work for the common good of their communities, as well as Silicon Valley. She was President of ALF-Silicon Valley for twelve years. DeBusk proceeded to build American Leadership Forum’s core program in 1988. With few resources, she established a board and in 1989, she launched the organization’s first class of fellows. The twenty-one-day program, which happens over a year, brings together senior- level people from all sectors, including mayors, CEOs, nonprofit executives, labor leaders, and other business and civic leaders for monthly classes and a six-day wilderness retreat. DeBusk led ALF Silicon Valley as President until 2000, attracting many of Silicon Valley’s most influential leaders from all sectors and establishing ALF as the preeminent leadership program in Silicon Valley. She remains involved with the organization as a senior fellow and advisor. |
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Transcript |
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Finding Aid | |
Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/ww224rf1232 |
Location | SC1355 |
Repository | Stanford University. Libraries. Department of Special Collections and University Archives |
Access conditions
- Use and reproduction
- The materials are open for research use and may be used freely for non-commercial purposes with an attribution. For commercial permission requests, please contact the Stanford University Archives (universityarchives@stanford.edu).
- Copyright
- Copyright © The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved.
Collection
John W. Gardner Legacy Oral History Project
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