Two Georgetown McDonough professors, Paul Almeida and Michael O’Leary, will collaborate with four presidential centers to design the curriculum for the Presidential Leadership Scholars program. This leadership development program that was announced by President Bill Clinton and President George W. Bush at the Newseum earlier this month
The goal of the new Presidential Leadership Scholars (PLS) program is to sharpen leadership skills among individuals who have at least 10 years’ experience in the private, public, nonprofit, or military sectors. The scholars will apply these leadership skills to develop projects designed to make a positive difference to society. Both President Clinton and President Bush are expected to teach in the program.
In addition to scholarship in leadership style and strategy, the program aims to empower participants to launch their own civically conscious projects, through which they will utilize the skills developed during the Presidential Leadership Scholars program to effect positive social change in a bipartisan fashion, another hallmark of the PLS program.
“The students will be coming into the program with an idea for a project to launch that will create some social good,” Almeida said. “We can give them the tools they need to successfully implement their plans, and make an improvement in their communities.”
Individuals with a strong record of professional achievement are invited to apply before the deadline of Oct. 27. Notification will be sent to accepted applicants by Dec. 31. The program’s first sessions will begin in February 2015.