FAMU Partners with The Citizens Campaign to Establish Citizen Leadership Training Base

‘We know our students and the public at large are committed to improving Tallahassee, the surrounding communities and the nation as a whole’ – Phyllis Watson, director of FAMU Continuing Education.

Florida A&M University (FAMU) and The Citizens Campaign Wednesday announced the establishment of a Citizen Leadership Training Base designed to train students and members of the community in no-blame, pragmatic problem-solving skills and provide opportunities for them to put their training to use as “citizen leaders” working to better their communities and our country. FAMU is one of 25 colleges around the nation where model Citizen Leadership Training Bases are first being developed in partnership with The Citizens Campaign.

The FAMU Citizen Leadership Training Base will have two core components: (1) offering citizen leadership training to students and the broader community via the college’s online continuing education program; and (2) hosting a Civic Trust where those who have completed the citizen leadership training work together in No-Blame Problem Solving sessions to better their communities by searching for and advancing cost-effective, evidence-based solutions.

People who complete the online course will receive a certificate in “Leadership and No Blame Problem Solving issued by FAMU. The course is now open to students, community members and university employees. Those interested can register at https://training.thecitizenscampaign.org/courses/famu-leadership-no-blame

“We know our students and the public at large are committed to improving Tallahassee, the surrounding communities and the nation as a whole. It is part of our mission to give them the skills and knowledge to do so,” said Phyllis Watson, director of Continuing Education at FAMU. “Partnering with The Citizens Campaign in establishing a Citizen Leadership Training Base at FAMU will help us fulfill this critical mission. It will empower our students and interested members of the public to be effective, active leaders contributing to the betterment of their communities and our country.” 

This initiative will make a difference locally and nationally, said Michelle Curry, The Citizens Campaign’s Civic Trust manager.

“The work done here at Florida A&M University will help create a national model for the development of citizen leaders whose example of unselfish service and No-Blame Problem Solving can bridge our divides and heal our nation,” said Curry, a FAMU alumnus.

• Leadership and no blame problem-solving training provided to students and community members in an online certificate-earning course:

  “Leadership and No-Blame Problem Solving introduces students and members of the broader community to the power levers of local government, a proven No-Blame Problem Solving method developed by ‘successful practitioners’ in local and state government, and accessible opportunities  to put this knowledge to work as non-partisan Civic Trustees or in accessible local government and civic leadership posts. 

Hosting the Tallahassee Civic Trust: FAMU will serve as the host of the Tallahassee Civic Trust to be comprised of about 24 Civic Trustees, who come together in monthly no-blame problem solving sessions, searching the nation to identify successful solutions to better Tallahassee. People who complete the Leadership and No Blame Problem solving course will have the opportunity to become trustees. Trustees commit to at least one year of service and pledge to work to “leave their city better than they found it.”