Dr. Jeannie Kim – Leadership, Life & Lessons for the Future

This fireside chat podcast features Dr. Jeannie Kim, a community college leader, discussing the intersection of artificial intelligence, humanity, and leadership in higher education. The conversation explores how educational institutions can navigate rapid technological change while maintaining human connection and addressing the emotional toll on faculty, staff, and students.

Themes discussed between N2N’s Storyteller in Residence and host of Quantum Leap 2026, Dr. Rod Berger, and Dr. Jeannie Kim.

1. Humanity in an AI-Driven World

• Dr. Kim and the host bond over being cancer survivors, using this as a lens to discuss facing finality while living in a world of endless possibility
• Emphasis on maintaining hope and resilience when confronting technological transformation
• AI should handle mundane tasks so humans can focus on meaningful connections

2. Leadership Challenges in Higher Education

• Leaders must carefully navigate AI adoption across three groups: early adopters (20%), middle adopters (60%), and resistant “clay layer” (20%)
• Fear pervades all levels of the organization
• Success requires vulnerability, storytelling, and emotional connection rather than having all the answers
• Must move away from “sage on the stage” mentality toward creating organic connections

3. Behind-the-Scenes Struggles Dr. Kim reveals challenges not widely discussed in the popular press:

• Mental health crisis among administrators, faculty, staff, and students
• Overwhelming combination of political/social chaos, rapid AI changes, and curriculum redesign
• Faculty capacity limitations when asked to defend content and completely revise teaching methods
• Outdated technology (still using 2000s-era tools during COVID in 2020)

4. Practical AI Integration

• California community colleges provide Google Gemini access to all students and employees
• Dr. Kim uses AI daily for iterative learning, crafting detailed prompts (sometimes over a page long)
• Uses paid, encapsulated version for privacy
• Encourages exploring AI for both professional and personal questions
• Most popular ChatGPT use: relationship advice/personal therapy

5. Education’s Path Forward

• Must acknowledge “we don’t know what we don’t know.”
• Avoid one-size-fits-all solutions that plagued previous technology implementations
• Focus on student-centered values that everyone can rally around
• Create space for failure and learning while respecting diverse perspectives
• Regular and substantive faculty-student interaction remains critical

6. New Leadership Skills Needed

• Spend less time on mundane tasks, more on human connection
• Create moments where people connect organically
• Be open to uncomfortable conversations and challenging perspectives
• Learn something new every day
• Provide diverse perspectives (example: hosting NYT bestselling author Karen Howe)

Notable Quotes:

• “AI can take care of those things that, quite frankly, I didn’t wanna do in the first place.”
• “We don’t know what we don’t know, and we don’t take the time to figure out what we don’t know.”
• “It’s not a one-size-fits-all”
• “We need to figure out how to stop being the sage on the stage.”

This conversation took place at the Quantum Leap 2026 conference, brought to you by End to End and Lightleap AI, focusing on innovation in higher education.