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APWA                                                                                         By Britt Elmore

Emerging Leaders Academy Experience

What is Emerging Leaders Academy?              The retreat afforded the opportunity to par-  Leaders Program is making the connec-
  The American Public Works Asso-              ticipate in a weekend long, intensive ses-    tion with an amazing group of 16 people
                                               sion on Public Works topics. We also had      from across North America. Even now,
ciation Emerging Leaders Academy is a          the opportunity in November 2015 to meet      after the organized program is over and
yearlong intensive leadership program de-      the national headquarters staff as well as    we have all graduated, we still email, call
signed for Public Works professionals who      each other for the first time. Among other    and text about issues that face us in our
have shown an interest in advancing their      things, the retreat involved mock news        day-to-day operations. The collaboration
careers within the profession. To be eli-      interviews, TED talks, personality tests,     with these individuals is incredible for
gible candidates must have been working        reading assignments, National APWA staff      tough topics. Our group has forged a life-
in the field of Public Works or performing     presentations, and team work projects.        long bond that will be extremely beneficial
Public Works-related functions for no          Benefits of Emerging Leaders Academy          throughout our careers. I would encour-
more than 10 years or have been working                                                      age anyone who meets the requirements
for longer than 10 years but have been           The biggest benefit of the Emerging         of the program to apply.
promoted into their first leadership role
within the past three years, must be inter-    The Emerging Leaders Academy “Niners” from left to right: Mike Pepin, Eric Seaburg, Michael Wodalski,
ested in advancing their careers within the    Samantha Hayden, Jose Leon, Ben Carroll, Frances Ellerbe, Britt Elmore, Ryan Betz, Christopher Peal, Matthew
Public Works profession, and be commit-        Goolsby, Leslie Green, Chad Findlay, Jordan Ottow. Not pictured: Heather Maloney and Karen Kase. The class
ted to full participation in all Emerging      called themselves the “Niners” because they were the ninth class to complete the program.
Leader Academy assignments and activi-
ties, with the full support of their agency’s  From left to right: Brian Usher, 2016 APWA President; Sue Hann, Emerging Leaders Academy Director; Britt
executive leadership. APWA’s website has       Elmore, Civil Engineer for City of Chattanooga PW Department; and Diane Linderman, Academy Coordinator
more details.                                  for the Emerging Leaders Academy.
Application Process

  The application requires a resume,
completed application, four question re-
sponses, and two recommendation letters.
APWA looks for individuals who have
recently transitioned into leadership roles.
My leadership roles include TCAPWA
Young Professional’s Committee Chair
and The City of Chattanooga Public
Works Accreditation Manager. Involve-
ment in your local branch and chapter will
also help get attention to your application.
Requirements of Emerging
Leaders Academy

  During the course of the program the
class completed nine “homeworks” and
one class project. Our class project, titled
“Preparing the Next Generation of Public
Works,” is a comprehensive document full
of templates for organization setup and
onboarding, professional development,
recognition, and outreach programs and is
available for anyone to download via our
website by scanning the QR code. Gener-
ally the homework would involve reading
an article; communicating with someone
in your organization, another Emerging
Leaders Academy member, or someone
outside of your organiza-
tion; writing a report; and
finally a group confer-
ence call every month to
discuss the homework.

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