The Center for Public Leadership is an academic research center that provides teaching, research and training in the practical skills of leadership for people in government, nonprofits, and business. It was established in 2000, through a gift from the Wexner Foundation, at Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University.
In January 2008 the center moved from its offices at 124 Mt. Auburn Street to its current location in the Taubman Building on the main campus of Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
David R. Gergen, Faculty DirectorHannah Riley Bowles, Research DirectorCelia Maria GonzalezRonald HeifetzSwanee HuntBarbara KellermanNancy KoehnJennifer LernerJoseph S. Nye, Jr.Todd RogersDean WilliamsFive fellowships at Harvard University are currently operated by the center, they include: the Dubin Fellowship for Emerging Leaders, the George Leadership Fellowship, the Gleitsman Leadership Fellowship, Wexner Israel Fellowship, and the Zuckerman Fellowship.
Through a gift of $20 million from the estate of Alan Gleitsman, the center endowed the Gleitsman Program in Leadership for Social Change in 2007. The program supports the annual Gleitsman International Activist Award and Gleitsman Citizen Activist Award (given on alternating years), Gleitsman Leadership Fellows, and social change scholarship.
2011 - Teresa Ulloa Ziáurriz, Latin America and Caribbean regional director for Coalition Against Trafficking Women2009 – Karen Tse, founder of International Bridges to Justice2007 – Sakena Yacoobi, executive director of the Afghan Institute of Learning2005 – Han Dongfang, advocate of the worker's movement in China; Patrick Alley, Charmian Gooch, and Simon Taylor, founders of Global Witness2003 – Leaders in the fight against poverty: Fazle Hasan Abed, Founder of BRAC University (formerly Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee); Jaya Arunachalam, Founder of the Working Women's Forum; Roman Imboden, Developer of the Multifunctional Platform; and Roy Prosterman, Founder of the Rural Development Institute2001 - Bernie Krisher, Creator of Schools in Cambodia; Martin Macwan, Advocate of Dalit's Rights1999 - Advocates for reconciliation in the Middle East: Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen); Yossi Beilin; Bassem Eid; Yitzhak Frankenthal, Galia Golan, Faisal Husseini, Terje Rod Larsen and Mona Juul, Ahmed Qurie (Abu Ala), Uri Savir and Stanley Sheinbaum. Posthumous Awards in memory of Anwar Sadat, Yitzhak Rabin and King Hussein bin Talal of Jordan1997 - Maria Adela Antokoletz, Argentinean founder of the Madres de Plaza de Mayo (Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo); Muhammad Yunus, Bangladeshi lender to the poor1995 - José Ramos-Horta, East Timor independence advocate; Serge and Beate Klarsfeld, Nazi hunters1993 - Nelson Mandela, Former African National Congress President; Wei Jingsheng, Advocate for Democracy in China. Posthumous Awards in memory of Helen Joseph and Petra Kelly2012 - Rebecca Onie, co-founder and CEO of Health Leads2010 – Susan Burton, founder of A New Way of Life Reentry Project2008 – Bill Shore, founder of Share Our Strength2006 – Ron Grzywinski and Mary Houghton, founders of Shore Bank; Gloria Steinem, citizen activist; Julie Stewart, founder of Families Against Mandatory Minimums2004 – K-12 education advocates: Christopher Barbic, Yvonne Chan, Michael Feinberg & David Levin, Bertha Lewis, Michelle Rhee, Mark Rosenbaum, J.B.Schramm, Agnes Stevens, Margot Stern Strom, and Kevin Sved & Johnathan Williams2002 – Mike Farrell, activist and actor; Mimi Silbert, founder of Delancey Street Foundation2000 – Jack Kevorkian, end-of-life issues activist; Bryan Stevenson, founder and Executive Director, Equal Justice Initiative1998 – Anti-Tobacco Advocates: Alan Blum, Stanton Glantz, Former Vice President Al Gore, former Washington Attorney General Christine Gregoire, C. Everett Koop, Janet Carol Mangini, Congressman Henry Waxman, Jeffrey Wigand, Merrell Williams, and Patricia Young1996 – Geraldine Jensen, founder of the Association for Children for the Enforcement of Support; Tanya Tull, Founder of Beyond Shelter1994 – Wendy Kopp, Founder of Teach for America; Ralph Nader1992 – Louis Clark, Executive Director of the Government Accountability Project; William Wassmuth, founder of The Northwest Coalition Against Malicious Harassment1991 – Karen Nussbaum, co-founder of 9to5, National Association of Working Women; Ann Wilson, Chairperson of the Board of Commissioners, Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee1990 – Sophia Bracy Harris, co-founder of the Federation of Child Care Centers of Alabama; Deborah C. McKeithan, creator of four national organizations to act as support networks for the disabledCheryl Dorsey, President, Echoing GreenBill Drayton, founder and CEO, AshokaAlan Khazei, founder, Be the ChangeRebecca Onie, founder, and Nell Perlmutter, Vice President of Field Operations and Partnerships, Project HEALTHBill Shore, founder, Share Our StrengthEd Walker, Managing Member of ReGeneration Partners, LLC and CityWorks, LLC (2012–13)Jeffrey Walker, Chairman, Millennium PromiseAndrew Wolk, founder and CEO, Root CauseThe Center for Public Leadership publishes an annual survey of Americans' confidence in the leaders, by sector, known as the "National Leadership Index". The survey was first taken in 2005 under the direction of Professor Todd L. Pittinsky, Ph.D., Seth A. Rosenthal, Ph.D., Brian Welle, Ph.D., and R. Matthew Montoya, Ph.D.
Since its founding in 2000, the Center for Public Leadership has hosted faculty, scholars, and practitioners for appointments ranging in length from one semester to multiple years.
Todd L. Pittinsky, Associate Professor, Stony Brook University (Affiliated Faculty & Research Director, Center for Public Leadership, 2006–2010)Marshall Carter, Chairman, New York Stock Exchange Group (Affiliated Faculty, 2003–2004; Senior Fellow, 2004–2006)J. Richard Hackman, Edgar Pierce Professor of Social and Organizational Psychology, Harvard University (Affiliated Faculty, 2004–2005)Andy Zelleke, MBA Class of 1962 Senior Lecturer of Business Administration, Harvard Business School (Affiliated faculty, 2007–2011; Center Codirector, 2007–2009)Nancy Koehn, James E. Robison Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School (Visiting Scholar, 2011–2013)Deborah Ancona, Seley Distinguished Professor of Management, MIT Sloan School of Management (Visiting Scholar, 2010–2011)Roderick Kramer, William R. Kimball Professor of Organizational Behavior, Stanford Graduate School of Business (Visiting Scholar, 2005; Visiting Professor & Center Advisor, 2009–2010)Ruth Wageman, Associate Professor of Business Administration, Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College (Visiting Scholar 2006)Kim Campbell, former Prime Minister of Canada (Visiting Professor of Practice, 2001–2003; Senior Fellow, 2003–2006)Warren Bennis, University Professor, University of Southern California (Visiting Scholar, fall semesters, 2001, 2002, 2003)Jeff Amestoy, fmr. Chief Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court (2005–present)Kerry Healey, former Lt. Governor of Massachusetts (CPL Fellow, 2007–2009)Maggie Williams, Chief of Staff for First Lady Hillary Clinton (CPL Fellow, 2006) 