I met Keith Berwick in 2002 when I was attending the Henry Crown Fellowship Programme in Aspen.I was inspired by his moderation style, his openness, kindness, inclusivity and no-nonsense approach. It is that experience that motivated me to explore the formation of the Africa Leadership Initiative. In partnership with Ken Afori Ata, the late Ali Mufuruki, Romeo Rodrigeus and the unyielding support of Keith, Peter Reiling, Skip Battle, Adi Enthoven, ALI was born. The formation, growth and success of the Africa Leadership Initiative and the ALI Impact Forum is thanks to leaders like Keith.
Keith was a thought leader and curated the program selflessly. His role at developing other moderators and future moderators for the African continent and the rest of the world is a legacy of his generosity. He leaves behind hundreds of ALI fellows who have had the privilege of his moderation and kindness.
Keith showed us all that from Success to Significance is a reality we can all achieve.
Thank you, Keith Berwick, for the lessons and your teachings.
Rest in eternal peace.
Isaac Shongwe
Keith had a way of elevating the quality of one’s experience simply with his presence; he had a quality of being. He shared this with each and every one of us, binding us in a certain but unmistakeable spirituality that is a hallmark of this fellowship.
“You see”, he once said, in his characteristic emphatically articulated gruff-ish whisper, “I have made it my business to love each one unconditionally, and more so those with whom I disagree. There is great learning there”. This was his practice, along with his commitment to meeting and spending time with each and every single fellow in a seminar, and “learning something from each one”.
He asked me, as we caught the shuttle to the airport after a moderator training session in 2007 if I would consider co-moderating the Good Life seminar with him. He had conceived of it as an alumni seminar which would allow for a deeper inquiry, creating a seminar experience more intentionally focused on the practice of soul-tending, examining the quality of our inner lives, and recommitting to a values-based second-half of life. He had hoped that it would become an essential part of the curriculum, a 5th seminar, but we would start with what we had, and we did that over several years, learning and growing together.
These practices and experiences taught me that the challenges we want to address in the world, have to be explored internally first; that one inspires equality with an inner notion that each and every single person with whom one interacts, has something to teach, that every human is worthy of love and in this love that he bestowed, he made of us a family. The bonds of love are firm and they are equal. To experience this, and to a hold a space for it, requires an inner exploration, and an acceptance of and loving of oneself. Wherever we are, we meet each other there, and if we can be authentic and courageous, we can journey on together, on the edge of vulnerability and insight, the portal to wisdom.
On my last visit with him days before his passing, I explained an insight I had had in a meditation shortly before seeing him. I had come to understand that if I want my children to experience freedom, I need to look at them with freedom, it is through the gaze that the experience is transmitted. I realised that I can not gaze at them with freedom, unless I, in fact, am free. The practice for myself has to be, to be free for me to give that quality of being to them. This virtuous experience as it passes from giver to receiver and back, is one of the greatest gifts I have learnt in my many hours with Keith. It is a quality of being that has made of my life an incredible adventure and opened a gateway to the beginning of wisdom as to what it means to be truly human. An exploration best describe in words he would use: “we are all, my dear, always, in the process of becoming.”
In the end, and as a dear friend once invited me to consider as insight on transitioning from this physical plane, as Keith’s spirit grew, his body weakened. And as his body weakened his spirit grew. And when his spirit no longer needed his physical body, it cast it off and now he can be anywhere and everywhere, the quality of his being. We will greet him in the trees, the sunshine, the stars, time with loved ones, in each other, and most certainly, in the enduring love that persists in this amazing fellowship. We have much to be thankful for.
I used to tell Keith that he was the fairy godfather of the AGLN, sprinkling his particular brand of magic dust over the programs he was directly involved in, while ensuring that others who had been lucky enough to be under his spell became carriers of that magic elsewhere. What was that magic dust? Part of it was his insistence on intellectual rigor in the Western/Aspen classical tradition combined with a passion for people, possibilities and life in general, a passion that he maintained indefatigably up to the end. Part of it was the hugs, the enthusiasm, and the willingness to go anywhere at any age for the Fellowship and the Fellows. All of it was uniquely Keith.
Keith was the intellectual and emotional embodiment of the AGLN, a restless intellect and a steadfast believer in our collective capacity to make progress. It is difficult to overstate how he stitched together this global army of the just—or at least that was his aspiration for us all. He believed in being present, and would go to the ends of the earth to support fellows and fellowships, even as his health waned. He was a mentor to me personally, as he was to many of us, and I will always thank my great good fortune of having had him in my life. Above all, Keith had faith in human beings, despite the evidence. I was lucky to be able to say goodbye to him in Santa Barbara in May. He never stopped believing, and neither should we.
I would like to say the following about Keith:
Keith left an indelible mark on my life. I feel so privileged to have known him and have been inspired by his wisdom, kindness, humility, courage and service. Keith lives was a true example and embodiment of the AGLN leadership ideal. We will keep his dream alive and he will not be forgotten.
Best, Adi Enthoven
Keith embodied the Aspen program for hundreds of fellows over three decades. He built the curriculum alongside James O’Toole, Skip Battle, Todd Breyfogle, Ben Dunlap and other Aspen notables, and was our inspiration (actually aspiration, never equalled) for how to moderate the readings.
Keith was always kind and relentlessly cheerful; his sunny disposition, though, never eclipsed his fierce intellect. Always exhorting us to act, asking us in his forceful roar “what are you going to do about it”?
Most of all, Keith cared. He cared deeply about the program, about the fellows and about The Aspen program. He was convinced that the AGLN in all its manifestations was the forum through which our deepest challenges could be tackled.
I have a fond memory, talking to Keith over a beer, about marathon running. He was assiduously describing his training regime for his next run. “How old are you”? I asked, rather forwardly. “Seventy-six” he replied. Lovely human.
Best, Bruce Robertson
For me Keith represented the essence of the Fellowship. He brought love, gentleness, and clarity. For him living a life that contributed to the good society was a non-negotiable and as such he could challenge us to be more from a place of deep authenticity and wisdom. He leaves remarkable legacy in all of us whose lives he so profoundly touched and in the Fellowship he helped shape.
