East

Eastern Leadership Academy
The Council of State Governments' Eastern Regional Conference is excited to announce the inaugural Eastern Leadership Academy (ELA) to take place this fall. Forty state officials from the 15 Eastern region member jurisdictions will gather in Philadelphia, Pa., for the Academy. This select group of state officials, from all three branches of government, will receive training to enhance leadership skills and will study the most significant policy issues facing the states today. Participation is a unique opportunity to learn with the best and the brightest policymakers from across the region.

CSG/ERC is holding this conference in partnership with the distinguished Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania. Prominent speakers include University of Pennsylvania faculty from the Fels Institute, the Wharton School of Business and the Annenberg School for Communication. Also, consultants will work with participants to strengthen consensus building skills, improve media relations and develop strategies for stress management. For more information on ELA, contact Michelle Shiwamber at 212-482-2320.

Midwest

Bowhay Institute for Legislative Leadership Development (BILLD)
The Bowhay Institute for Legislative Leadership Development (BILLD) is the only leadership training program designed exclusively for Midwestern legislators. The purpose of BILLD is to help newer legislators develop the skills necessary to become effective leaders, informed decision-makers and astute policy analysts.

South

Center for the Advancement of Leadership Skills (CALS)

In an effort to provide the public with highly skilled, educated, and confident state leaders, the Southern Legislative Conference (SLC) is proud to sponsor the Center for the Advancement of Leadership Skills (CALS).

Nominations are solicited from 10 of the region’s 16 states, on an alphabetically rotating schedule, thus ensuring that each class reflects a minimum of legislative participants from two, and most often three, of the region’s five term-limited legislatures. Each annual class of 30 participants will accommodate two state legislators, one from each chamber, and one state official from either the executive or judicial branch, from each of the 10 states comprising the class. Scholarships are provided to participants to underwrite the costs of attending.

The SLC has received accolades from our distinguished participants, who expressed improved individual competencies in the areas of communication, conflict resolution, consensus building and critical decision making among the many benefits of attending the CALS program.

Unique among CSG leadership programs, CALS rotates among university partners. The inaugural program, hosted by the University of Arkansas System’s Clinton School of Public Service and the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute, convened in the fall of 2007, with the University of Oklahoma’s Carl Albert Center for Congressional Research serving as host in 2008, and West Virginia University completing the rotation in 2009.

For more information, please contact Ms. Lori Jones-Rucker at ljones-rucker@csg.org or 404-633-1866.

West

Western Legislative Academy
Just as many other professions place a high value on professional development education, so must state legislators. CSG-WEST began the Western Legislative Academy as a way to build stronger Western legislative institutions and more effective legislators. We focus on strengthening the professional and personal development skills of effective lawmaking. We build support for the institution of the legislature. We give legislators the opportunity to learn from their colleagues in other Western states as well as the opportunity to demonstrate their personal commitment to becoming better lawmakers.