The Center for Excellence in Public Leadership is committed to developing public leaders who make a positive difference in their organizations and the lives of the people they serve.  For us, this means that we, in turn, must seek to make a positive difference in our students' lives and their professional capabilities so that their impact and influence are deepened and expanded.  Our experience has taught us that, for our leadership development programs to have the impact we desire they must integrate challenge and support, real-world action projects and opportunities for reflection, individual stretch assignments and peer learning support, and safe spaces for experimentation with new thinking approaches and leadership behaviors.