Leadership development | Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy

Leadership development

Explore our Leadership Initiative

Develop the skills to lead meaningful change 

You have the capacity to make a positive impact on organizations, communities, and the people around you. But leadership does not "just happen." It is a set of behaviors you can learn, practice, and strengthen. 

At the Ford School, you will pair rigorous policy analysis with the leadership skills to navigate complexity, build coalitions, communicate across differences, and turn ideas into action. Leadership development is woven through your experience at the Ford School—in the classroom and beyond it.

Leadership doesn't come by title. You don't have to be the head of an organization to have an impact." -Morela Hernandez, Ligia Ramirez de Reynolds Collegiate Professor of Public Policy

Students in discussion in classroom.

Learn

Build a foundation through coursework that combines rigorous policy analysis with communication, collaboration, ethical reasoning, and the fundamentals of leadership.
Four people meet around a conference table in a classroom-style room, with notebooks and a laptop visible, during a City of Brighton consultation with Ford School Consulting Clinic students.

Practice

Apply what you learn through internships, consulting projects, research, community partnerships, public conversations, and other hands-on policy experiences.
A man in a dark suit speaks into a handheld microphone during a presentation in a wood-paneled lecture hall.

Grow

Strengthen your leadership through assessment, coaching, writing support, feedback, and reflection.

 

Growing as a leader requires developing self-awareness. Multiple opportunities at the Ford School allow us to build intentionality and transform the way we lead, learn, serve, communicate and collaborate in teams."

-Clary Baudraz (MPP '21)

Munoz student panel
In a small-group conversation, Cecilia Muñoz discussed her career journey, reflected on lessons from her time in government, and explained how she sustains hope while working on difficult public challenges.

See conversation across differences in action

Bipartisan leaders discuss what it takes to build trust across political divides

What sustains democratic trust when political disagreements remain unresolved? At two Ford School events during the University of Michigan’s Democracy Week, current and former Democratic and Republican elected leaders pointed to local participation, civic education, careful listening, and relationships across ideological lines.
Finish reading
A Democracy Week banner from U-M’s Center for Democracy and Civic Empowerment stands outside the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies.
Ford School students in discussion with community leaders
Elizabeth Powers (MPP/JD '23)

Leadership skills that complement a technical toolkit

"The Ford School is a place of community and supporting the whole person. With the Leadership Initiative, I feel like I have developed as a future member of the workplace and of society. I have strong quantitative and qualitative skills from coursework; and now I have stronger leadership skills."
Student raising hand
Julia Weigand (MPP '20)

Strategies for asking the right questions

“Our coach asked us how we wished to make an impact, why, and using what skills? We discussed strategies for asking the right questions, turning self-reflection into action, and supporting each other in our professional and personal goals.”
Susan Rice and Students