While in the Peter C. Cook Leadership Academy (CLA), all CLA Fellow Candidates have a myriad of both required and elective events and opportunities to enhance their leadership skills, confidence, and network. [For a sample schedule of the required events, check out this calendar.] 

Required events are times when the whole cohort comes together to learn from and with one another. These include:

• Eight Self Reflection Workshops which take place once/month on the City campus on Friday afternoons from 1-4pm. The heart of the CLA, these sessions are designed to dive into foundational leadership mindsets and skill-building, develop greater self-awareness, and the opportunity to learn from and with a diverse group of motivated student leaders.
• Two Wheelhouse Talks, which are 2-hour public events that include a TED-style talk with a local or national leader, along with community conversation, Q/A, and great food!  These are typically on Friday afternoons (1-3pm or 4-6pm)
• Two Fireside Chats - a private event to the CLA, this opportunity allows students a more intimate opportunity to learn from and dialogue with a local or regional leader about their life and leadership lessons.
• Two Hauenstein Center events which afford students the opportunity to engage with topics such as civic engagement and discourse, democracy, and relevant history. These typically take place on Wednesday or Thursday evenings.
• Two community service events, where CLA students volunteer with local non-profit organizations to support their local, national, or global efforts for the common good.  
• CLA Fellow Candidates are each paired with a mentor from the community in order to expand upon leadership skills and build further connections. Mentor meetings take place one a month (October-March).

The CLA seeks to find innovative ways to support our Fellow Candidates’ leadership development. Because each leader's goals are unique, students are also asked to pick 10 hours of elective opportunities to build their leadership capacity. A sampling of options include:

• Etiquette Dinner: Pro tips in navigating formal meals so you can enjoy the context and conversations.
• Public Speaking Training: Learn how to share your message with confidence. 
• Networking + Educational Events: Economic Club of Grand Rapids lunches, Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce events

Other resources & programming to support this include:

• Access to apply Independent Initiative funding. An Independent Initiative is a transformational professional development opportunity of the student's choice that helps them further develop as an ethical and effective leader. Qualifying opportunities include conferences/conference presentations, work groups, study away, study abroad, projects/initiatives, and any experience that will help further the fellow candidate's growth and development as a leader in a fundamental way.  

The ideal CLA candidate is a student that you, the nominator, see as exceptional! The criteria include a commitment to personal growth, active involvement in the campus community, dedication to the public good, a passion to lead, and a  high academic achievement. However, we are also looking for those students who may not be actively engaged in leadership activities, but could greatly benefit from intentional development opportunities in order to expand and build confidence in their capabilities. 

Yes! There is no limit as to how many students you can nominate.

The CLA team sends out a weekly email to all new nominees to let them know they have been nominated. Nominator information will be not shared in case you would like to remain anonymous. However, we strongly recommend that you contact your student to let them know you have nominated them for the CLA as well as your reasons for doing so. This information is incredibly meaningful and valuable for students, helping to affirm their strengths, giving them vision for their future, and often serving as a tipping point in leading them to apply for the program. 

Please reach out to the Cook Leadership Academy staff at [email protected] and we'd be happy to help!