Leadership initiative | Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
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Leadership initiative

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Leadership development

Tools to impact and influence othersYou have the capacity to lead—to make a positive impact on our organizations, communities, and the people around us.  We know that leadership doesn't "just happen." Leadership is a behavioral process, and learning ...
Students at the Gramlich Showcase, 2018

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

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

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
Policy Matters

Fordies show up on Giving Tuesday

Jan 29, 2026
Last December, the Ford School raised $4,000 from over two dozen donors in a global day of philanthropy known as Giving Tuesday.
Two students wearing University of Michigan sweatshirts sit at a table, smiling and looking at each other, with a laptop open in front of them.
News

Year of Democracy creates blueprint for campus engagement

Aug 27, 2025
The University of Michigan is wrapping the Year of Democracy, Civic Empowerment, and Global Engagement, a campuswide initiative to strengthen democratic practices and encourage active civic participation. But its work isn’t slowing.
Group of attendees at a conference, seated around tables with laptops, paying attention to a speaker standing at the front of the room.
State & Hill

Jennifer Niggemeier: Parting advice

May 8, 2025
Over the past 32 years, Jennifer Niggemeier has been a supportive career coach and enthusiastic cheerleader for thousands of public policy students. Her influence has extended beyond individual mentorship to shape and advance programs and opportuniti...
Two attendees smiling and posing together for a photo.
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

Javi Piñeiro (MPP/JD’24) participates in Next Milan Forum

Apr 16, 2024
I don't think if you had told me when I was a teenager growing up in a very rural small town in Puerto Rico that one day, still being young and a student, I would be in a position to go to a conference abroad and meet with people from all over the wo...
Javi Pinero standing with his conference badge at the NEXT Milan Forum in Italy organized by ISPI, Università Bocconi, and the OECD
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

Lessons From Sports: A conversation with Greg Harden

Dec 7, 2023
The oft-used phrase in sports “Control the controllables,” is as applicable to leadership in public policy. The phrase sits framed on Greg Harden’s desk and is the topic of his New York Times bestseller, Stay Sane in an Insane World. In November, Har...
Greg Harden with Parker Tracey
News

MPP students explore Michigan’s state and local government

Oct 31, 2023
Each year, approximately 20 percent of Ford School master’s students explore policy at the local or state levels through their required 10-week internship, and this summer was no different. Ford School faculty and staff helped students find opportuni...
Portraits of Ally Stavros (left) and Elizabeth Gelman (right)
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...
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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