Pan-Atlantic University Hosts Commonwealth Assistant Secretary General, Prof. Luis Gabriel Franceschi for a Fireside Chat on Leadership as Stewardship
‘As leaders, we never truly know where our impact begins or ends.’
– Prof. Luis Gabriel Franceschi
True leadership is about building and preserving what will outlast us, ensuring that our institutions, values, and communities are sustainable for generations to come. Success, Prof. Franceschi noted, should not be measured solely by our results but also by competence, the depth of character, the strength of family, all bound by shared faith.
Leadership is Stewardship, but what does that mean for us as an advancing university?
This perspective framed a one-hour in-house fireside chat on Leadership as Stewardship: Reflections for Sustainable Institutions for the University’s governance community including Management Board members, Deans, Directors, and Heads of Units across the various Schools and Units. Speaking directly to this audience, Professor Franceschi urged them to see themselves as enablers rather than barriers. Enablers who set systems in place for success.
The event was welcomed by the Vice Chancellor, Professor Enase Okonedo, who emphasised the importance of understanding leadership as stewardship, particularly in advancing the university’s missions and values. She highlighted the critical need to develop students’ social and professional personalities while ensuring these values persist through generations.
This session moderated by Dr. Adaora Onaga, Director of Institute of Humanities, Pan-Atlantic University featured Prof. Luis Gabriel Franceschi, the Assistant Secretary General of the Commonwealth of Nations and founding Dean of Strathmore Law School.
During the session, Professor Franceschi, sharing personal experiences from his work with the Commonwealth, highlighted vivid stories illustrating three different challenges to leadership: objective evil acts, external circumstances, and negligence. He emphasised that the measure of virtuous leadership lies not in avoiding challenges, but responding to them with integrity, prudence, courage, self-control, and justice. He further spoke on the importance of institutional memory, proper documentation, and staying true to organizational values while maintaining flexibility in leadership approaches.
Faith and values, he stressed, are not peripheral to leadership, they are at its core. Whether in global diplomacy or university governance, sustainable leadership demands that we nurture communities, safeguard history, and remain adaptable without losing sight of what matters most.
The fireside chat served as a bold reminder for sustainable value-driven steward leadership across units, schools and departments. It was also a great opportunity to meet Professor Franceschi on a more personal note who highlighted his multicultural journey, ‘French by descent, Venezuelan by birth, and Kenyan by choice.’
