When Jonathan was joining us in March, here were a few of words about himself and the importance of the learning field: "I am truly a lifelong learner and my favorite days are days when I learn something I didn't know at the beginning of the day. Connecting people is something I love to help happen. When I know that two people share similar interests or one has expertise in an area which another person really needs I try to provide a virtual or actual handshake.
Trying something new really excites me. Sometimes I have to try it several times, or from several angles, but chewing on that new thing while you get to think about how to apply it is fun and surprisingly productive. I'm really passionate about avoiding staying the same. I don't believe in change for its own sake, but when you look at almost anything you see the problem with never leaving your comfortable rut. The world changes even if you don't. In solving most problems there are two or three possible ways to skin the cat which will all work. I think we should try method A for a couple of years and then be willing to go back and see if maybe method B or C would work well for us too. I love helping someone find their own passion and give that person the support so that they can thrive and grow. That provided the joy in management for me and I hope that will come about in some of my activities with the CONSORTIUM too. My brain circuits start firing in all directions when I can link knowledge from one sector with an application in a totally different sector. I love listening to people talk about their ideas, discoveries, projects and programs because it adds new possibilities for connections." Two weeks ago, even though Jonathan was quite ill, he insisted on coming to Saratoga to co-lead a leadership program. When asked why he wanted to make the trip, Jonathan told us - "It is really important that I can be in a leadership classroom - I love listening, facilitating, coaching and making new connections."
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Sadly, Jonathan Kayes, a global leader in learning, passed away on Thursday night. Jonathan was the Chief Learning Officer of the Central Intelligence Agency for many years, and recently became the CLO of The MASIE Center's Learning CONSORTIUM. Jonathan served the United States in a critical role as an Operations Officer for the CIA for 27 years. After 2001, he took on key leadership roles in learning and then was promoted to the new role of Chief Learning Officer of the CIA. He retired in early 2010. 
One my greatest joys has been in serving as a Chief Learning Officer. The CLO gets to work with various constituencies from the C-Suite to the newest employee coming in for orientation.