RCLA crafts and runs customized, experiential leadership programs that both expand individuals' skills and strengthen the organizations in which they work. We develop structured convenings where leaders explore the complexity of the challenges they face and together advance their efforts to make change possible. As an academic center, we conduct rigorous social science research, employing a variety of innovative and participatory methodologies to the issues of contemporary leadership.
At RCLA, we create projects and programs that help build fresh insights into collective leadership. Our work, which is rooted in a collaboration of practitioners and social scientists striving to expand practical experience into applicable theory, takes place in four areas of expertise listed below. Click on any of the links to your left to learn more about our work.
Developing, documenting, and sharing new knowledge about leadership practices is an essential part of RCLA's mission. The Research & Documentation component at RCLA believes that the knowledge we gather and share will eventually shift the traditional discourse about leadership from a heroic and individualist view to a more collective, relational, and inclusive view.
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RCLA provides spaces for reflection and action learning where social scientists, practitioners, and others active in community and public service leadership, both nationally and internationally, to come together and share their thoughts on challenging and often provocative issues in the field. Convenings may occur in the form of roundtable discussions, meetings using a participatory methodologies, or as conferences and similar venues organized around central strategic and managerial questions.
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Helping organizations to maximize leadership capacity, as well as to nurture and develop the talent already within their own ranks, is a vital part of our work at RCLA. We design training and leadership development programs that meet the individual needs and structure of each of our partner organizations.
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RCLA teaches and trains current and future leaders through undergraduate and graduate coursework and through partnership programs with other educational institutions and organizations both nationally and abroad. We also provides training programs on various participatory and facilitation methodologies to help practitioners and organizations hone the leadership skills that are vital to making change in their fields of work.
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