Leadership Programs

The Haas Center offers many ways for students to enhance their leadership skills and provides opportunities for students to be more intentional about their personal public service leadership development through programming, community- building and academic coursework.

The Emerging Leaders Retreat provides freshman and sophomores passionate about public service an opportunity to learn useful skills from Haas Center staff and Public Service Leadership Fellows such as strategizing, community-building, and reflection. This two-day, overnight retreat takes place during the Spring Quarter and guides student participants in finding their public service path at Stanford and beyond.

The Public Service Student Advisory Board (PSSAB) consists of both undergraduate and graduate students, appointed by invitation of the Haas Center Director. Like the National Advisory Board (NAB) and the Faculty Steering Committee (FSC), the PSSAB serves in an advisory capacity to the director and staff, meeting quarterly for program-based briefings and evaluative discussions. The results of their deliberations are shared with the FSC and NAB and incorporated into policy recommendations.

The Public Service Leadership Program is a five-quarter experience for current sophomore or juniors of any major who wish to build a strong community of peer-leaders who will learn with and from each other. Each candidate is actively involved in public service leadership through a position or project on or off campus and brings a unique set of experiences and perspectives to the group. After the initial  Introduction to Public Service Leadership course, much of the work is independent and can be done at a student's own pace until the program completion the following spring.