I’m excited to share that I’ve been recently certified by the “Academy for Excellence in Local Government”. The Academy is a program administered by the University of Maryland School of Public Policy and is designed to equip local elected officials with a breadth of municipal knowledge to enhance their effectiveness in carrying out their duties.

It covers nine Core Classes: Structure of Government, Municipal Budgeting, Basics of Risk Management, Conducting Effective Meetings, Consensus & Team Building, Employment Issues, Ethics, Open Meetings, and Public Information Act.

And five Elective Classes, which for me were: Inclusive Workforce; Continuity of Operations; Municipal Gov’t, Social Media, & 1st Amendment; Cybersecurity Risks; The 5P’s for AI Change Management.

I also ended up taking additional courses along the way even though they didn’t directly go to the certification.

It was quite a path to completion, I’m looking forward to the official graduation ceremony this September at the Univ. of MD Memorial Chapel, and I’m proud to be bringing that knowledge to bear for residents here in Laurel!

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