In 1950, a small group of CEOs in New York had a problem: they were isolated. They led companies, made high-stakes decisions, and carried the weight of hundreds of employees but had no one to confide in. So they created the Young Presidents' Organization (YPO).
Seventy-five years later, YPO has 35,000+ members across 142 countries. It works because humans aren't meant to navigate complexity alone. But for 75 years, this model has been exclusive to executives who could afford $35,000+ annual memberships.
The Disconnection Crisis
We're in the middle of a workplace disconnection crisis that most organizations don't even recognize:
- 61% of workers report persistent workplace loneliness (Portland State University, 2026)
- 90% of employees experienced burnout in the past year (Deloitte, 2025)
- 73% of workers feel they can't be vulnerable at work (APA, 2025)
- Employee engagement has hit a 10-year low at 31% (Gallup, 2026)
The most important work happening in organizations isn't on Slack or in spreadsheets. It's in the moments when people feel safe enough to say, 'I don't know what to do.' Those moments create growth, trust, and resilience. -- Ahad Ghadimi, Founder and CEO, Forum@Work
I started Forum@Work because I lived this problem. As a first-time CEO, I felt completely alone. Then I joined a CEO peer forum. For the first time, I could be honest about my doubts, fears, and mistakes. It changed everything.
Our Mission: 1 Billion People Connected
Forum@Work exists to bring YPO-quality peer forums to every level of every organization. First-time managers. Mid-level leaders. Individual contributors. Remote workers. Anyone who faces the isolation of modern work deserves access to the same peer support.
Here's how we're doing it: - **Democratizing Access:** YPO costs $35,000/year and serves executives. Forum@Work costs a fraction and serves everyone. - **Building for Scale:** Technology that makes peer forums easy to launch, manage, and sustain across global organizations. - **Training Facilitators:** Thousands of trained facilitators creating psychologically safe spaces. - **Measuring Impact:** Tracking engagement, retention, burnout, and belonging as proof that connection drives business outcomes.
What Success Looks Like
Imagine a workplace where first-time managers don't struggle alone, burned-out employees have a support network, remote workers feel visible, and underrepresented employees have peers who validate their experiences.
Forum@Work clients report 52% reduction in loneliness, 48% reduction in burnout, and 61% increase in psychological safety within six months.
The Great Reconnection Starts Now
The Great Reconnection isn't a trend. It's a movement. It's the recognition that isolation is killing engagement, accelerating burnout, and making work unbearable for millions. And it's the commitment to building something better.
One billion people. One peer forum at a time. That's how we reconnect the world of work.
