Snider to represent Arizona at County Leadership Institute

Twenty-five of the brightest minds in the United States will gather in June at the seventh annual County Leadership Institute, a rigorous four-day program offered in partnership with the National Association of Counties (NACo) and Cambridge Leadership Associates.

David Snider, chairman of the Pinal County Board of Supervisors, is among the 25 candidates selected to go to Washington, D.C.
 
“Each state may only nominate one candidate and one alternate. Only 25 people are admitted into the program,” Snider said. “I expect to earn valuable lessons from my colleagues in other counties and bring that collaborative experience back to Pinal for the benefit of our communities.”
 
Nominated by Nicole Stickler of the Arizona Association of Counties as an official with a commitment to collaborative solutions to local issues, Snider will be at IBM’s Institute for Electronic Government in Washington, D.C., from June 1-5.  Representatives from George Washington University/Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration will participate as a university partner.
 
The institute, now in its seventh year, has graduated 141 members from 42 states and 138 counties across the country. It is known for enhancing the capacity of county officials to identify and implement innovative solutions to the complex challenges facing county government in the 21st century. This year’s program will focus closely on the demands of personal leadership in a new era of government, one characterized as a “permanent crisis” by CLI Faculty Marty Linsky. 
 
“The county officials who participate in the institute get information, ideas and perspectives they can’t get anywhere else,” said Larry Naake, executive director of NACo. County leaders discuss the core principles of public service leadership with prominent experts while also collaborating with each other to develop new ways to handle the real-life issues that matter to the citizens of their counties.
 
In addition to developing skills and cultivating new perspectives of leadership, the institute builds a network of CLI alumni who continue to offer support, suggestions and feedback across years and county lines. Classes meet daily from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and for three evening meetings. 
 
Program costs are offset by corporate and non-profit sponsoring organizations.  Sponsors for 2010 include IBM, ESRI, NACo’s Financial Services Corporation, the National Council of County Association Executives and the Arizona Association of Counties.  
 
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