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 360 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 2023

Danny Early Britt, Jr.

State Senator
North Carolina

Demi Busatta

State Representative
Florida

Eddie Charbonier Chinea

State Representative
Puerto Rico

Dereck E. Davis

State Treasurer
Maryland

Siobhan Dunnavant

State Senator
Virginia

Ebo Entsuah

Councilmember, City of Clermont,
Florida

Paige Gebhardt Cognetti

Mayor, City of Scranton,
Pennsylvania

Jon Godfread

Insurance Commissioner
North Dakota

Samara Heavrin​

State Representative
Kentucky

Christina Henderson

Councilmember At-Large, Washington, D.C.

Craig V. Hickman

State Senator
Maine

Jacey Jetton

State Representative
Texas

Zach Klein

City Attorney, Columbus
Ohio

Quinton Lucas

Mayor, City of Kansas City,
Missouri

Lauren Matsumoto

State Representative
Hawaii

Jason S. Miyares

Attorney General
Virginia

Raj Mukherji

Assemblyman
New Jersey

Tram T. Nguyen

State Representative
Massachusetts

Mattie Parker

Mayor, City of Fort Worth,
Texas

Mike Pellicciotti

State Treasurer
Washington

Matt Pinnell​

Lieutenant Governor
Oklahoma

Regina Romero

Mayor, City of Tucson,
Arizona

Rob Sand

State Auditor
Iowa

Mentoring Program

In 2022, the Rodel Institute launched a Mentoring Program to support the next generation of American elected officials. The Mentoring Program connects the most recent classes of Rodel Fellows with the more than 350 high-achieving current and former elected officials who have completed the Rodel Fellowship since its founding in 2005. The Mentoring Program offers unparalleled opportunities for networking and professional and personal guidance for individuals with a unique set of shared experiences.

All-Class Reunion

Every other year, 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.

Rodel+ Seminars