Something pretty cool happened in our city that I don't think enough people know about.
Back in 2017, a local philanthropist gave a guy named Chris Pineda an unusual assignment: figure out how to make Salem better, and don't worry about the money.
No grant applications.
No board approvals.
Just go do it.
The idea behind it was simple but kind of brilliant. No single organization can fix every problem in a city. But what if the people leading Salem's nonprofits, schools, and businesses were all operating at a higher level? What if they trusted each other more, led themselves better, and actually worked across silos instead of around them?
That's what Groundwork Leadership set out to do.
What Groundwork actually is
Before it became a formal program, Chris spent three years embedded inside the Salem school district and local nonprofits, just figuring out what actually moves the needle. Testing. Watching. Learning. No curriculum yet, just genuine curiosity about what makes communities change.
In January 2020, the first official Groundwork Cohort launched. And this wasn't a networking event with name tags and a guest speaker. It was a year-long intensive built around three things most leadership programs never touch:
The Salishan Retreat. Every cohort started with three days at the coast. Leaders left their titles at the door. The whole point was to get people out of their professional armor and into honest conversations about who they actually are — their history, their blind spots, their real purpose.
Monthly First Friday Sessions. Once a month, cohort members came back together for what they called "Informance Interludes" — part learning, part peer coaching, part accountability. Not networking. Real relationships.
The Culture of One. The philosophy holding it all together: you can't lead an organization better than you lead yourself. Transformation starts at the individual level, not the org chart.
The people who went through this weren't just anyone. Salem CEOs. Nonprofit directors. Educators. People who were already leading, and who came out leading differently.
Over the years, Chris pressure-tested a framework he calls the 7 Conditions of Transformation: Purpose, Commitment, Common Language, Vulnerability, Consistency, Deep Trusting Relationships, and Safe Space.
Not theory.
Stuff that got stress-tested right here in Salem conference rooms and coastal retreat centers during the Groundwork Cohorts.
Now it's a book and Salem should be proud
Chris is releasing Beneath the Transaction: Discover the 7 Conditions that Transform Life and Leadership, and he's launching it right here where it all started.
He could have distanced the book from Salem, made it feel more universal. Instead, he leans in.
"I want people to feel proud that this happened in our community," Chris told me. "We discovered what creates transformational change right here in Salem. This isn't just my story, it's Salem's story."
That landed for me. Because it's true. While a lot of cities are importing leadership frameworks from somewhere else, Salem was the laboratory for this one.
📅 April 30, 2026 | Doors at 6:00 PM, program starts at 6:30 PM 📍 Salem Convention Center 🎟 Free, but you need to RSVP
The night includes an interactive keynote from Chris and a panel of the Salem leaders who shaped the book alongside him. It's a celebration of what this community built together, and an invitation to take these ideas into your own life and work.
The first 50 people to register get a free signed copy of the book. If you're bringing a team of 5 or more, you'll be entered to win a private virtual book club session with Chris.
Salem built this. You should be there when we celebrate it.
— Jacob