A year-long effort from various stakeholders in the region culminated in creating The COG Institute for Regional Excellence. These included
partnerships between with The George Washington University’s Center for Excellence in Public Leadership, Chief Administrative Officers and Personnel Directors from member jurisdictions, and the COG Board of Directors. COG’s had developed a strategic plan focusing on leadership training as an important element of regional development. Thus , COG and George Washington University staff worked together to a year-long Regional Executive Development program credentialing participants as Certified Public Managers upon their successfully completing the program. The COG Board of Directors unanimously approved this program on July 12, 2000. The first cohort completed the program in August 2002. The seventh cohort (most recent) completed the program in July 2009. Participants came from Arlington County, Fairfax County, the City of Fairfax, the City of Falls Church, Prince William County, Montgomery County, Prince George’s County, the City of Takoma Park, the District of Columbia, and COG.

View the projects completed by the seventh cohort:

View the projects completed by the sixth cohort (PDF 9 MB).


 

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

The Regional Executive Development program assists local government managers in the metropolitan Washington area in dealing with the challenges of providing services and meeting the needs of residents in a growing metropolitan area. It is targeted at mid- to senior-level managers in metropolitan Washington area local governments. It aims to develop leadership, enhance management skills, increase exposure to innovation in local government, and develop an understanding of regional issues and approaches.

The main objectives of the program are to:

  • Provide the theoretical and intellectual foundations of leadership and management in the public sector and expose participants to “state-of-the-art” practices in public administration;

  • Examine - and help participants prepare for - the special challenges and responsibilities that come with leading large, complex public organizations;

  • Increase understanding of metropolitan-wide issues as well as interdependencies among area local governments and develop a common language and set of concepts area managers can use when discussing issues; and

  • Provide an opportunity to share problems, develop joint solutions, and establish networks among area jurisdiction managers.

  • Participants go through the program as a single cohort, attending classes together. The cohort format creates group cohesiveness and maximizes the opportunity for managers from different area jurisdictions to network and learn from each other.