1. Leadership Development in the Public and Nonprofit Sectors (Full Syllabus)
This seminar class is an in-depth conversation on leadership. The course draws on various experiences as elected and appointed officials, working with leaders in the public and nonprofit sectors, at the city, county, regional, state, (and federal levels). You are an important participant in this conversation in class. There will be several experienced leaders as guest speakers to class.
The class conversations, readings, writing or verbal assignments, and presentations are intended to improve your practice of leadership. The course starts with the premise that leadership is designed, not accidental. This course is constructed to improve your leadership skills, provide an overview of leadership skills and concepts for you to consider in your professional development, and provide in-class practice for application of leadership processes. The class emphasizes discussion and action-based learning with the active involvement of participants to teach the application of leadership processes.
2. Advanced Leadership Through Mentoring and Reflective Practice (Full Syllabus)
This class will provide an in-depth discussion of Leadership Theory and Development, with a focus on the phenomenon of transformational leadership. This course will go more deeply into the issues raised in Leadership Development in the Public and Nonprofit Sectors by examining the internal infrastructure and relationships necessary to achieve high levels of efficiency and functionality within a non-profit or public sector agency. Starting with organizational research into interventions considered successful in the Corporate sector (Schon & Argyris, Organizational Learning, 1978 ) and in time, to the personal interactions of coach-intern dyads and mentoring (Schon, The Reflective Practitioner,1983), the application of discoveries made to group infrastructure in current leadership literature will be discussed. This course will examine the process of mutual inquiry, reflection and reciprocity of benefits during the mentoring process. A method will be discussed through which transformational leadership is realized.
The required and recommended readings are, along with the conversations, writing projects and presentations, are intended to improve your in-depth understanding of the leadership process within an organization. Our approach will be one that centers on issues of diversity, inclusion, and responsiveness, as well as issues of power, and its application for desired outcomes. In addition, the material explored in this Core Course will be applicable to any discipline in the workforce (eg. Education, Health, Social Services, etc.) and in both public and nonprofit sectors. Of course, over time, material used evolves and changes, reflective of the participants interests, goals and needs.
3. Funding and Financial Stability (Full Syllabus)
This class is an in-depth look at the challenges of continued funding and financial stability. Although special focus will be given to funding non-profit strategy, a close look at leading authorities in financial management, public funds trends and current economic circumstance will be addressed. You are an important participant in this conversation in class. There will also be several experienced financial experts as guest speakers to class. See partial list of guest speakers to date in Program section.
The class conversations, readings, writing and oral assignments, and presentations are intended to improve your practice as a leader. This course is constructed to improve your skills as a leader in providing financial awareness and stability to an organization. The knowledge of types of funding, application, sustainability and broad based strategic planning will be addressed in the context of the external financial environment. Both external and internal collaborations are discussed.
4. Nonprofit Management Through a Contemporary Leadership Lens (Full Syllabus)
This class will provide an in-depth discussion of Nonprofit Management and Leadership Theory and Development, with a focus on the phenomenon of transformational leadership. This course will go more deeply into the challenges and issues facing leaders in the nonprofit sector and examine the type of cultures, internal infrastructures and relationships in existence in relation to achieving high levels of efficiency and functionality. Some overlap of discussion from the Core Courses related to both Public Policy and also that of Mentoring and Reflective Practice will occur. This course will however concentrate on the nonprofit agency and the growing importance of nonprofits in the public sector. Class participation will be a very important part of looking at current practices in the nonprofit sector and how those practices are serving efficiency and functionality in achieving agency goals even in contemporary times and challenges.
The required and recommended readings, along with the conversations, writing and oral projects and presentations, are intended to improve participants’ in-depth understanding of nonprofit leadership in a contemporary frame. The approach will be one that centers on nonprofits with leaders who are diverse and working to build effective strategies and outcomes for minority-led agencies to be successful both internally and in the public domain receiving the respect of the external community in which they are seated.
