Willie Joe lightfoot SELECTED TO Join County Leaders from Across U.S.

for Intensive Leadership Program IN Washington, DC

(Rochester N.Y. April 12, 2012) The National Association of Counties announced today the selection of Monroe County Legislator Willie Joe Lightfoot as one of twenty-five county leaders from across the United States to participate in the Ninth Annual County Leadership Institute, a rigorous four-day program offered in partnership with Cambridge Leadership Associates. Nominated by Stephen Acquario, Executive Director of the New York State Association of Counties, as an official with a commitment to developing collaborative and innovative solutions to local issues, Legislator Lightfoot will meet at IBM’s Institute for Electronic Government in Washington, DC, from June 3-7, 2012. 

The Institute, now in its ninth year, has graduated 189 members from 40 states and 140 counties across the country.  Known for enhancing the capacity of county officials to identify and implement innovative solutions to the complex challenges facing county government in the 21^st 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 Program Developer and Cambridge Leadership co-founder 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.  These county leaders not only discuss the core principles of public service leadership with prominent experts, they also collaborate intensively with each other to develop new ways to attack real-life issues of importance 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 am to 5pm and in four evening meetings.  Program costs are offset by corporate and non-profit sponsoring organizations.  Sponsors for 2012 include IBM, ESRI, NACo’s Financial Services Corporation (FSC), and the National Council of County Association Executives.

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