Leadership Initiative | Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
Departments and Research Centers

Leadership Initiative

Leadership skills for transformative public service.

Content type
Showing 1 - 30 of 53 results
Core faculty

Morela Hernandez

Ligia Ramirez de Reynolds Collegiate Professor of Public Policy; Faculty Director, Leadership Initiative
[email protected]
Hernandez is an internationally recognized scholar with deep expertise in applying behavioral science insights to design and improve organizational systems and decision-making practices. She is widely published in top-tier academic journals and popular media outlets, and serves on several editorial boards. At Michigan, Hernandez teaches courses on leadership and serves as faculty director of the Ford School's Leadership Initiative.
Morela Hernandez
Postdoctoral fellow

Cat Summers

Postdoctoral fellow
Catherine (Cat) Summers is a social scientist studying the microfoundations of organizational change. Her research reflects her passion for assisting leaders and organizations in navigating sustainability and justice challenges.
Headshot of Cat Summers

Experiences & Workshops

Leadership Initiative programs are designed to equip graduate and undergraduate students with the skills and tools needed to effectively lead self, teams, organizations, and communities.  Students have opportunities on- and off- campus to develop and...
Students at Leadership Journey Dinner

Speakers

The Leadership Initiative hosts and co-hosts policymakers and other public leaders who shed light on how they responded to adversity, their successes,  and even, how they failed. Through the speakers’ stories, students learn how to navigate challenge...
Students attending Leadership Journey Dinner

Extracurricular programming

The Leadership Initiative hosts workshops, immersive experiences and talks designed to equip Ford School students with the competencies needed to lead self, others, organizations and communities. Each program or event supports the development of a le...
Ford Students participating in Story Lab

Leadership coaching

All Ford School master's students have the opportunity to work with a certified executive leadership coach—a growth activity that is typically reserved for senior leaders and executives much further along in their careers. For Master of Public Policy...
Photo of two people shaking hands

Leadership Initiative

The Ford School's Leadership Initiative develops and offers a growing suite of graduate and undergraduate student leadership courses, coaching, and extracurricular programs that build on and complement the school's excellent, rigorous curriculum. Led...
A student asks a question of Hillary Clinton
State & Hill

Lessons from the Big Ten Democracy Summit

May 7, 2025
In an effort to spark democratic engagement on college campuses, the University of Michigan’s Ford School of Public Policy and the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy co-hosted the Big Ten Democracy Summit in February. More than 150 stud...
Three individuals wearing lanyards smiling at a conference event.
News

Bridge Builders honored for democracy research

Apr 16, 2025
A group of Ford School graduate students were recognized for their research on furthering constructive dialogue as part of the Year of Democracy's three-day symposium to investigate the relationship between information and democracy.
Four individuals standing in front of a research poster at the Gramlich Showcase, smiling and dressed in business attire.
State & Hill

The Last Word: Sue Johnson

Dec 17, 2024
For 25 years, Sue Johnson has been a driving force behind successful fundraising efforts at the University of Michigan, first supporting Rackham Graduate School, then the University’s Museum of Art, and the Law School. Since 2016, the Ford School has...
Sue Johnson
Publication

Hernandez and Summers offer tips to help leaders articulate values

May 28, 2024
Values are at the heart of leadership, decision making, and organizational culture, but what constitutes a value? How do leaders effectively put them into practice? In an article for MIT Sloan Management Review, leadership experts Morela Hernandez an...
Headshots of Morela Hernandez and Catherine Summers
News

Highlights from the Dean's Symposium

Apr 21, 2024
Two days of panels, chats, and keynotes focused on examining and seeking solutions to some of the biggest challenges we face in Michigan, in the United States, and across the globe. More than 400 students, faculty, staff, and friends attended in pers...
Keynote photo
News

5 leadership tips from former military aide Matt Maasdam

Mar 1, 2024
Matt Maasdam, a former Navy SEAL and former military aide to President Obama, joined Javed Ali and 15 students for a lunchtime event, “Leadership through Teamwork.” In a lunch-time chat hosted by the Ford School Leadership Initiative, Maasdam shared ...
Matt Maasdam sits with Ford School students during a leadership luncheon.
News

Giving Tuesday: A practice in leadership

Feb 19, 2024
Last fall’s Giving Tuesday campaign raised over $4,500 from 29 donors for the Leadership Initiative (LI). Support for the Leadership Initiative enables students to have access to assessments, workshops, and coaching to increase their self-awareness, ...
Weill Hall entrance with "Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy" etched into the glass
News

Workshops help students communicate with clarity and impact

Oct 30, 2023
As policy professionals, Ford School graduates will need to expertly convey new ideas, propose policy to higher ups, lead teams toward a shared goal, build support among factions, present data, and respond to questions ‘on the spot.’  Much like the w...
Photo of students at Story Lab
News

Undergraduate workshop prepares students for the future of work

Oct 18, 2023
This October, the Ford School’s Leadership Initiative and Career Services team hosted the second annual Deloitte Future of Work Institute (FoWI).  Undergraduate students from the Ford School and the U-M Leadership Certificate program participated in ...
deloitte-future-of-work-institute-leadership-initiative-career-services.jpg
News

Returning students practice leadership skills

Oct 9, 2023
On an overcast morning in late August, 38 continuing Ford School MPP students gathered in the Dixboro Woods to strategize, communicate, and achieve a shared objective. But it wasn’t to fulfill a consulting project or a problem set. It was part of the...
leadership-int-news-feature-1090x681.jpg
News

Meet new postdoctoral fellow Catherine Summers

Aug 24, 2023
Catherine Summers is a postdoctoral fellow with the Ford School’s Leadership Initiative and the Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise at the Ross School. She is an organizational psychologist who is passionate about assisting leaders and or...
Cat Owsik photo
Publication

Overcoming workplace imposter syndrome

Jan 31, 2023
Many high-achieving employees describe feelings of self-doubt and not being intellectually capable to do their jobs. These feelings can be classified as “imposter syndrome” and it is a persistent issue among career women. A KPMG survey of 750 female ...
Headshot of Morela Hernandez
State & Hill

National recognition for Niggemeier, summer leadership coaching

Dec 19, 2022
In 2021, after an initial pilot test, the Ford School became the first policy school to offer all Master of Public Policy students the opportunity to work with a certified executive leadership coach during their required summer internship. In October...
Representatives from the Sanford School of Public Policy, O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Ford School of Public Policy, and the Harris School of Public Policy present at the 6th annual Voinovich Public Innovation Challenge at the 2022 NASPAA conference.
News

Making the case for public policy education

Dec 14, 2022
In an event on December 5, 2022, Ford School interim dean Celeste Watkins-Hayes told a group of Capitol Hill staffers and other DC professionals that a public policy education can lead to community impact.  “I'm a firm believer in the idea that o...
Photo of Hardy Vieux, Maria Cancian, Celeste Watkins-Hayes, and Trevor Brown posed in front of a screen with a slide that says "Public Policy Panel for Prospective Policy Makers"
News

New leadership development program focuses on the journey

Sep 14, 2022
This fall, the Ford School’s Leadership Initiative is launching a new program for graduate students to learn about different pathways to leadership from Ford School faculty in an intimate, informal setting. Professor Morela Hernandez, director o...
Headshots of Morela Hernandez, Luke Shaefer, and Shobita Parthasarathy