Milbank Memorial Fund Expands Its Leadership Program

Recognizing that the health of communities will always depend on a continuing supply of informed and capable leaders in state government, the Milbank Memorial Fund (MMF) and the Reforming States Group (RSG) created the Emerging Leaders Program (ELP) in 2015. The interactive one-year program is designed to help individuals from the executive and legislative branches develop practical, hands-on leadership skills that will enhance their effectiveness in addressing the challenges of today’s complex health policy environment. Eighteen individuals, who were nominated to participate, attended the program’s inaugural meeting in July 2015.

Based on participant feedback, this year’s ELP program will be expanded to focus on strategic and adaptive leadership curricula, with an emphasis on applied learning sessions and a formal mentor program with senior state leaders from the RSG’s extensive network.

The program, which reconvenes this month, will be led by Kenneth W. Kizer, MD, MPH, director of the Institute for Population Health Improvement, UC Davis Health System, and Richard Callahan, DPA, MPA, professor and past chair of the department of public and nonprofit administration at the University of San Francisco. Both have extensive experience in leadership behavior and strategy, health policy, and government service.

“The ELP is a natural extension of the RSG’s work,” said Trina Gonzalez, Program Officer at the MMF. “We’re delighted to be working with so many ELP participants, each of whom has a different story to tell about how he/she got involved in public service. Each one of them has made a commitment to working in an arena where real change can happen and where leadership matters.”