Senior Executives in State and Local Government

The program is especially beneficial for senior-level executives from state, county and local government as well as their elected counterparts. Executives working with state and local governments – including non-profit organizations, national associations, and private corporations – will also find the program extremely valuable. Professional expertise and experience is critical to the learning process and each session’s members reflect a broad spectrum of functional responsibilities and geographical diversity.

"An important strength of the State and Local program is its ability to attract participants from a wide range of organizational settings and individual and community backgrounds. Much classroom discussion -- as well as time spent in quiet conversations outside the class -- focuses on how best to engage in difficult communication across boundaries that can -- and often do undermine effective public policy deliberations. Historically policy conversations that involve issues of race, class, ethnicity and gender have proven to be difficult, but more recently this list has grown to include emerging issues related to sexual orientation and the appropriate role of religion in public life. Too often policy policy deliberations remain stuck in the safe harbor of simply assessing the technical aspects of alternative approaches, but fail to engage in equally important explorations across the so-called "values divide." Guided by the notion "what is said in the classroom, stays in the classroom,"over the years the State and Local Program has exposed participants to new ways of engaging in these difficult value-ladened discussions, and in doing so has helped to equip participants to exercise the leadership needed to address pressing policy challenges that confront our increasingly diverse communities." Bill Apgar- Faculty Member