Leadership Academies

• Foundation for Leadership Academies
• Who Should Attend
• Academy Goals
• The Training Design
• The Learning Experience and Content
• Faculty
• For More Information

Foundation for Leadership Academies

The Leadership Academy is founded on the understanding that leadership is a combination of values, skills, and observable behaviors that can be learned, improved, and expanded. Leadership can also be adapted and changed to address various situations in a changing environment. Effective leadership will result in mobilizing people to want to learn together and to create a vision they will share and work towards.

Created in partnership with SAMHSA's Center for Mental Health Services, Communities Can! has offered the Leadership Academy to state, community and family leaders in a wide array of venues from the system of care field, state mental health administration, statewide family networks, early childhood systems, the federal government and national training and technical assistance centers. With more than 400 graduates, the Communities Can! Leadership Academy continues to provide an opportunity for leaders to 1) reinforce their passion for social change; 2) learn new ways to understand and define the leadership role within systems that serve children and families; and 3) create effective strategies to sustain oneself as a leader in an environment of rapid change and uncertainty.

Who Should Attend:

The Leadership Academy is created for families and professionals at all levels of community and local, state, and federal government, who are committed to expanding their own leadership and implementing strategies for change through an expansion of their own leadership capacity. The Academy offers leaders an opportunity to take a stop back from day-to-day responsibilities and explore the nature of leadership, their roles as leaders in the process of systems change, and strategies to support their continued growth and development as leaders.

Academy Goals:

The Academy is designed to help state and community leaders:

• Understand the leadership role, develop a consciousness about the nature and proactive of leadership, and create a commitment to action;
• Gain a greater understanding of individual leadership strengths and opportunities for improvement which promote success;
• Broaden individual skills and tolls for leadership needed for an environment of change and uncertainty.

The Training Design:

The Communities Can! Leadership Academy has three stages of learning:

1. A three-month preparatory period in which individuals begin understanding and identifying their leadership behaviors and challenges;
2. A four-day intensive training and learning experience that employs a variety of learning methods to give leaders a supportive environment in which to explore their own leadership strengths and opportunities for improvement; and
3. A continuous learning framework in which Academy participants apply and deepen the leadership concepts in their home environment through the use of a no-cost, peer-driven national Learning Community of Leaders and fee-for-service, follow-up technical assistance and support.

The Learning Experience and Content:

The Leadership Academy learning experience models a process of change that is anchored in self-examination and discovery. Framed in the context of a self-identified personal leadership challenge, participants will explore the dynamics of community transformation through collaboration, risk-taking, and the creative use of stress to foster change and sustain it over time. Participants will focus on examining their leadership behavior and actions within chaos, conflict and change, and strengthen their ability to mobilize community involvement and adapt to change effectively. The modules and content of the training include:

• Who Am I In the Work: Vision and Values
• Framing the Work: Shared Vision
• Leadership Choices: Expanding Your Options
• Leadership Practices Inventory: Leadership Behaviors
• Addressing the Work: Leadership and the Adaptive Challenge
• Leading Without Authority: Every Opportunity
• Stepping Into the Void: Risk and Courage
• Thriving in the Chaos: Support and sustenance
• A Learning Community: Continuous Improvement

Faculty:

Leadership Academy faculty are highly experienced trainers who have learned and expanded their own leadership skills through training, personal development, and their work as leaders in communities and health and human services agencies. During the Academy, faculty will provide didactic and experiential learning opportunities, guide interactive dialogue and small group work, and support peer collaboration and self-discovery.

For More Information:

For more information about the Leadership Academy or to inquire about training in your community, contact Ellen Kagen, Director, Communities Can!, 202-687-5087 or kageneb@georgetown.edu.