Leadership Programs

Our Philosophy
At the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, we believe every person contains the capacity for leadership. Our custom-designed leadership programs, with world-class faculty, have made a tangible difference for hundreds of public-sector and nonprofit professionals on every level from local to international. We can help your executives achieve their leadership potential. To find out more, keep reading or contact us.

We Help Managers Become Leaders.
SPPD's Leadership Programs are interactive seminars designed for skill building and development of leadership abilities. Lessons from these seminars can and should be taken from the classes into the public and nonprofit sectors. The curricula provide real approaches to real problems, and the courses are expressly designed so participants can begin using lessons immediately in the workplace. Recent programs include:

For information, please contact:
Dr. Richard Callahan, Associate Dean
USC State Capital Center
1800 I Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 442-6911
rcallaha@usc.edu

National Conference of State Legislatures
This program is offered in Sacramento by the USC State Capital Center in collaboration with the Center for California Studies at California State University, Sacramento. It brings together the two preeminent university-based programs in the State capital, with a combined total of over 50 years of focus on state legislative issues and processes. The program emphasizes effective management practices, as well as key legislative issues and trends within the context of the values of representative democracy.

The eight-day program draws on USC and CSUS faculty members in public policy, public administration, and business administration, in addition to faculty members from other major universities and experienced legislators. The curriculum has four components: ongoing interactive seminars; morning sessions related to specific legislative issues; afternoon sessions focusing on avenues for management, leadership, and personal growth; and distance learning prior to and after the program.

Sierra Health Foundation Leadership Program
Participants in this program are nonprofit and healthcare executives from within the Sierra Health Foundation's 27 Northern California counties. Each of the 25 class members is chosen from an applicant pool through a selective application process. More than 100 executives have completed this program, now in its sixth year.

The wide-ranging curriculum incorporates classroom activity and participatory sessions, team projects and peer assistance with real-world problems. Classes use the Web to stay in touch between sessions and network with other alumni of the program. Curriculum topics include negotiation, situational leadership, creating and managing effective boards, financial decision-making, organizational culture, decision making, communications inside and outside the organization, and team development.

California Institute for Mental Health Leadership Program
This leadership program is tailored to county executives and managers in California mental health departments. Topics include crisis management, legislative process, working with the media, effective negotiation, and the ever-popular "Getting to WOW!" Over two dozen presenters lent their unique styles and insights to this year's classes, the fourth year of this highly successful program.

Latino Caucus Institute
Working with institute board members State Senators Marta Escutia and Richard Polanco, this Leadership Development Program emphasizes skills for effective engagement of the public, transparency and ethics in leadership positions, effective negotiating and collaborative approaches to problem solving, as well as content specific to cities and school districts in the areas of finance and management. The second class of this program will be offered in April 2006.

San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments
Ten full days of class help regional government executives create a community of greatness in the San Gabriel Valley. Spread over five weekends in the fall, content includes specific courses on the challenges faced by this Southern California coalition (e.g. open space, water quality), as well as attention to more general problems in leadership (core values, decision-making).