One may imagine that once their classes with the Civic Leadership Academy (CLA) are finished, alumni fully re-immerse themselves in their high-profile roles in nonprofits and government agencies throughout Cook County, and that’s the end of that. But many don’t end up leaving the University of Chicago behind for long.
The Center for Effective Government (CEG) at the Harris School of Public Policy houses CLA and organizes programming including innovative “policy treks,” mentoring, panels, and events. The nearly 300 alumni of CLA – which this year celebrates its 10th anniversary – continue to enrich the education of students at Harris and across the university through sharing their knowledge and experience.
Each year, CLA provides leadership development for a 30-member cohort of people at the mid or upper level of their career in such varied fields as juvenile justice, education, public safety, law and the arts, to list just a few. With the wealth of opportunities the extensive CLA network provides, CEG and Harris focus on building bridges between CLA alumni, who are already established in their careers, and students who want to be leaders in those same sectors.
“Because one of CEG’s primary focuses is developing relationships with practitioners, it’s important for us to help build bridges between students and experienced leaders in their fields,” said Sadia Sindhu, executive director at CEG. “There’s immense value in helping pass the wisdom and institutional knowledge of experienced practitioners on to the innovative young minds who will help shape our democracy in the years to come. That investment in the future of effective governance is a key part of our mission.”
CEG teams with the university’s Institute of Politics (IOP) on the policy treks, which pair CLA fellows and current UChicago students on deep dives into pressing policy topics.
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This story was first published by UChicago's Harris School of Public Policy.
