Public Leadership and Innovation Program for the Mayor’s Office of Bogota
As part of its Custom Program offerings, Georgetown University Latin America Leadership Program (LALP) developed a virtual training program for public officials from the Bogota Mayor’s Office. The program focused on innovation, management, and leadership development to address local challenges and needs in the Colombian context.
The Mayor’s Office of Bogotá, supported by ICETEX, commissioned this program with the goal to train its public officials in the areas of leadership and public innovation for the successful facilitation of this program.
The Latin America Leadership Program seeks to educate, connect and inspire the new generations of Latin American leaders to generate a positive and sustainable impact in the region. This program was achieved thanks to LALP’s vast experience working with the region and developing initiatives for public sector institutions. The content of the program was adjusted to the needs of the organizing institutions and the context of the country, maintaining the main objectives of the problem.
This virtual program strengthened the officials' skills to work across agencies, jurisdictions, and sectors to address critical societal issues through collaboration. The participants were equipped with tools for impactful public policy-making, focusing on innovation for their development and implementation. Likewise, decision-making, leadership, and management skills at the individual level were addressed with the objective of promoting agents of change within the government who will have an impact on organizational culture by motivating innovation and mobilizing others. Through classes, panels, and group dynamics, the participants were able to explore these issues alongside professors such Georgetown University's McDonough School Professor Ricardo Ernst, executive director of LALP and professor at Georgetown University, and Diane Garza from iCatalyze.
This program was designed for the general secretary of the Mayor’s Office of Bogota, with the support of ICETEX. Two different cohorts of 40 public officials participated virtually. The first cohort sessions were held from September 1 to September 24, 2021, and the second cohort sessions took place from March 22 to April 7, 2022.