Historically, the Sue Shear Leadership Academy (SSLA) has been an intensive 7-day leadership development program designed to inspire civic engagement and encourage women’s public sector leadership. The 2022-2023 school year offered a redesign of the program with monthly one-day workshops that extended from November 2022 to April 2023, and brought participants together with women leaders from a variety of sectors to gain new knowledge around leadership virtues.
Originally, the program was sponsored by the Sue Shear Institute for Women in Public Life in 1998 and transitioned to UMSL’s College of Education (COE) in 2019. The SSLA was developed in partnership with the NEW Leadership™ National Network. NEW Leadership™ is a national non-partisan program developed by the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) at Rutgers University to educate the next generation of women for public leadership.
The 2022-2023 SSLA was hosted by the UMSL College of Education Center for Character and Citizenship, with support from the Women’s Giving Circle and the John Templeton Foundation.
Over 700 college women have graduated from the Sue Shear Leadership Academy and are making a difference as leaders in their communities. Past Fellows build lasting networks with other Academy alumnae and women leaders who serve as mentors and role models.
The 2024-2025 Sue Leadership Academy continues its legacy of empowering women in civic engagement through leadership. This year, we are tailoring the content and format of the Academy to align with your interests and schedules!
Join us for our first orientation meeting and gratitude party on Thursday, November 21st, where you can explore and select the leadership topics and skills that resonate with you. You’ll also have the chance to choose the meeting formats and schedules that best suit your availability.
To participate, please apply today under the “How to Apply” tab! If you’re interested but cannot attend the meeting on November 21st, or if you’ve missed the application deadline, feel free to apply anyway, and we’ll reach out to you.
