Public Leadership

The Public Leadership certificate examines salient issues related to public leadership and creating policy:

• emotional intelligence and public leadership
• value-based communications
• body language
• public speaking
• empathy-based fundraising
• public policy procedures
• military and veteran engagement
• disinformation and cyber security
• climate change policy solutions

During the final capstone module, participants will present a plan for fellow lawmakers and community leaders to critique and evaluate. A $10,000 prize will be awarded to the best proposal(s) to support implementation.

Learning Outcomes

The certificate program aims to achieve the following learning outcomes:

1. Expand lawmakers’ and civic leaders’ knowledge to effectively create, communicate, and implement policy.
2. Gain a deeper understanding of emotional intelligence, leadership and management, public speaking, body language, value-based communications, legislative procedures, cyber security, and empathy-based fundraising.
3. Connect with elected officials who have had a significant impact on public policy.

Prerequisites

There are no mandatory prerequisites. However, this program is designed for current, aspiring, or former public officials at the tribal, municipal, county, state, and federal levels as well as corporate and non-profit leaders.

Details

• Dates: August 8-10, 2025 in-person, then online, once a week for two hour sessions, for the next 6 weeks
• Schedule: In-person in Washington, DC on the evening of August 9th, with full days on August 9-10, 2025. Class will then be online, once a week for two-hour sessions, for the next 6 weeks. The day of the week will be determined by class participants, and has traditionally been Wednesdays from 5-7 pm PST.
• Location: Washington, DC and online
• Instructors: Alex Cornell du Houx
• Cost: Upon selection, full scholarships, including travel and lodging, are offered. Tuition is $2,500 or $1,500 with a partial scholarship.
• How to apply: Contact Alex Cornell du Houx for more information

Meet Your Instructor

Alex Cornell du Houx served on the Energy Utilities and Technology and Legal and Veterans Affairs committees, sponsoring 14 successful pieces of legislation and co-sponsoring 98 successful bills. He won the REED award for the best national Public Affairs Campaign for his work co-founding Operation Free, a coalition of lawmakers and veterans promoting energy security. Alex participated in and led State Department delegations to Southeast Asia to foster government-to-government relations, is a Kentucky Colonel, a senior advisor to the Veterans Campaign, a Partner with the Truman National Security Project, and a board member for the Solan Center for Research and Publishing. Alex is an Adjunct Professor and Directs the University of San Franciso’s  Public Leadership Certificate. He teaches value-based communications, emotional intelligence, and empathy-based fundraising. Alex served in the Marine Corps infantry as an assultman, for seven years and has deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. He is currently a Public Affairs Officer with the Navy Reserve and is the President and co-founder of Elected Officials to Protect America and EOPA Code Blue Water Security Solutions. Alex graduated from Bowdoin College with Government and Legal Studies and Theater and holds a Masters in Public Leadership from the University of San Francisco.