Public Leadership

The Public Leadership certificate examines salient issues related to public leadership and creating policy:

• emotional intelligence and public leadership
• value-based communications
• body language
• public speaking
• empathy-based fundraising
• public policy procedures
• military and veteran engagement
• disinformation and cyber security
• climate change policy solutions

During the final capstone module, participants will present a plan for fellow lawmakers and community leaders to critique and evaluate. A $10,000 prize will be awarded to the best proposal(s) to support implementation.

Learning Outcomes

The certificate program aims to achieve the following learning outcomes:

1. Expand lawmakers’ and civic leaders’ knowledge to effectively create, communicate, and implement policy.
2. Gain a deeper understanding of emotional intelligence, leadership and management, public speaking, body language, value-based communications, legislative procedures, cyber security, and empathy-based fundraising.
3. Connect with elected officials who have had a significant impact on public policy.

Prerequisites

There are no mandatory prerequisites. However, this program is designed for current, aspiring, or former public officials at the tribal, municipal, county, state, and federal levels as well as corporate and non-profit leaders.

Details

• Dates: August 9-11, 2024 in-person, then online, once a week for two hour sessions, for the next 6 weeks
• Schedule: In-person in Washington, DC on the evening of August 9th, with full days on August 10-11, 2024. Class will then be online, once a week for two-hour sessions, for the next 6 weeks. The day of the week will be determined by class participants, and has traditionally been Wednesdays from 5-7 pm PST.
• Location: Washington, DC and online
• Instructors: Alex Cornell du Houx
• Cost: Upon selection, full scholarships, including travel and lodging, are offered. Tuition is $2,500 or $1,500 with a partial scholarship.

Meet Your Instructor

Alex Cornell du Houx is a co-founder and the president of Elected Officials to Protect America. He was elected to the Maine House of Representatives where he became one of its most active members, sponsoring and co-sponsoring 155 bills his first term, and 136 during his second. Cornell du Houx won the Reed Award for the best public affairs campaign in 2011 after he co-founded and ran Operation Free, a coalition of veterans working on energy and climate security. He serves and advises on the board of Veterans Campaign, as well as the Solon Center for Research and Publishing. He’s partnered with the Truman National Security Project, and founded the Maine New Leaders Council. Cornell du Houx is an instructor at Veterans Campaign’s workshops and at the University of San Francisco’s Masters in Public Leadership program. He served in the Marine Corps infantry and has deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. Cornell du Houx is currently a Public Affairs Officer with the Navy Reserve.

Application

The Fall 2024 application is expected to be available late Spring 2024.