Rodel Fellowship

The nation’s premier leadership development program for state and local elected officials. 

Rodel Fellowship

The Institute’s signature program is the Rodel Fellowship. Created in 2005, the Fellowship is the nation’s premier leadership development program for elected leaders. Each year, the program selects 24 outstanding state and local-level leaders, divided equally between the two political parties, to come together for a series of three multi-day seminars held over a two-year period. Working with leading scholars as moderators, the Fellows read and discuss classic texts dealing with ethical values, democratic principles, and wise and effective leadership. Those texts include the Declaration of Independence, the preamble to the United States Constitution, and writings by Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and Martin Luther King, Jr., among many others.

Following completion of the Rodel Fellowship seminars, Fellows have an opportunity to gather periodically with alumni of the program to discuss critical questions of public policy and public leadership in a nonpartisan setting. Over 380 elected leaders have completed the program. These Fellows have gone on to serve as United States senators, governors, mayors, party leaders, Cabinet secretaries, members of Congress, and Vice President of the United States.

What Our People Say About Us

OUR FELLOWS

Class of 2026

Thomas Beadle

State Treasurer
North Dakota

Malia Cohen

State Controller
California

Russell Coleman

Attorney General
Kentucky

Mattie Daughtry

State Senator
Maine

Debjyoti Dwivedy

Director, Eden Prairie School Board
Minnesota

Kyle Evans Gay

Lieutenant Governor
Delaware

Travis Fitzwater

State Senator
Missouri

John Fredrickson

State Senator
Nebraska

Thomas Galvin

Chairman, Maricopa County Board of Supervisors
Arizona

Jessica González-Rojas

State Assemblywoman
New York

Quentin Hart

Mayor of Waterloo
Iowa

Suzanne LaFrance

Mayor of Anchorage
Alaska

Jonathan Lindsey

State Senator
Michigan

Natalia Macker

County Commissioner, Teton County
Wyoming

Chris Mathias

State Representative
Idaho

Ronald Morrell

Mayor of Marion
Indiana

Russell Muirhead

State Representative
New Hampshire

Christina Muryn

Mayor of Findlay
Ohio

Dan Rayfield

Attorney General
Oregon

Courtenay Sprunger

State Representative
Montana

Dave Sunday

Attorney General
Pennsylvania

Reena Szczepanski

State Representative
New Mexico

Kristen Thompson

State Senator
Oklahoma

Steve Yeager

State Assemblyman
Nevada

Title and affiliation reflect position at time of nomination to the Rodel Fellowship.

All-Class Reunion

Every three years, Rodel’s All-Class Reunion brings together Rodel Fellows from all fellowship classes for substantive briefings, group discussions, and informal networking. The purpose of the All-Class Reunion is to provide a forum for discussion of major public policy challenges, offer leadership development training, decrease political polarization, and strengthen relationships among American political leaders.

Latest News

James Davison Hunter wins 2025 Edwards Book Award

The Rodel Institute is delighted to announce that James Davison Hunter’s book, Democracy and Solidarity: On the Cultural Roots of America’s Political Crisis, has won the 2025 Edwards Book Award. The prize will be conferred on September 25th at the University of Virginia’s Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, which is co-hosting this […]

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2025 Edwards Book Award Shortlist Announced

The Rodel Institute is delighted to announce the shortlist finalists for its 2025 Edwards Book Award. The Edwards Book Award is an annual prize recognizing books that make an outstanding contribution to the to the understanding and practice of democracy and American politics. The prize carries an honorarium of $10,000. The Rodel Institute received a […]

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2025 Edwards Book Award Longlist Announced

The Rodel Institute is delighted to announce the longlist finalists for its 2025 Edwards Book Award. The Edwards Book Award is an annual prize recognizing books that make an outstanding contribution to the understanding and practice of democracy and American politics. The prize carries an honorarium of $10,000. The winning book is chosen by a […]

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