At the Fountainworks Public Leadership Network (PLN) we offer high-touch, instructor-led leadership training opportunities that are specifically designed for mission-driven public leaders.

We created the Public Leadership Network (PLN) because we believe that regardless of where public leaders sit, there is an opportunity to amplify their leadership impact. 

Focused on building and strengthening existing and new leadership skills, developed within a supportive community of learning, the PLN equips public leaders to lead their current and future workforces, while navigating today’s complex challenges.

Public Leadership Network Leadership Training Classes

Unlock and Accelerate Potential: Assessment and Coaching Services

  • Overview: Benefit from personalized individual and/or team assessments, followed by expert coaching sessions to gain a deep understanding of your results. Your dedicated coach will collaborate with you to develop and implement a customized plan based on the insights gained.
  • PLN Pillar: Guiding High-Performing Teams, Developing Self Awareness
  • Time Commitment and Format: Variable
    Price: Starting at $399
  • Launch Date: July 10, 2023

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Facilitating Engaging, Impactful Meetings

  • Overview: Meetings say a lot about your organization’s climate—how you make decisions, how you share new insights, and how you build relationships. In this webinar, you’ll hear from a panel of facilitation experts on how to make the most of your meeting time and promote more engaging, impactful, and actionable meetings.
  • PLN Pillar: Leading Change
  • Time Commitment and Format: A 90-minute live webinar
  • Price: No charge!
  • Launch Date: September 28, 2023

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Creative Problem Solving for Public Sector Leaders

  • Overview: A recent poll found that 35% of employees believe they had only a few opportunities per year to be creative in their work (Gallup, 2017). In this PLN offering, senior consultants and creative thinking experts will explore how to tap into every day creative problem-solving. 
  • PLN Pillar: Tapping into Innovative Thinking 
  • Time Commitment and Format: A 90-minute live webinar 
  • Price: No charge!
  • Launch Date: October 19, 2023

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Amplify Your Leadership

  • Overview: Join a cohort-based experience to increase leadership self-awareness, develop teams, build constructive climates, and develop habits of continuous leadership development. 
  • PLN Pillar: Developing Leadership Self-Awareness  
  • Time Commitment and Format: 11 weeks of live sessions and self-paced modules in a cohort-based setting 
  • Price: $1,499
  • Launch Date: August 28, 2023

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Building Positive Connections with Public Institutions

  • Overview: Public leaders are challenged to build partnerships with their communities and other institutions (government, non-profit, foundation, etc.). This asynchronous course helps demystify for members of the community how to build relationships/connections with those public institutions. 
  • PLN Pillar: Working Across Boundaries 
  • Time Commitment and Format: Self-paced, fully asynchronous module
  • Price: $49
  • Launch Date: October 2, 2023

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Building Cohesive Teams

  • Overview: Based on Patrick Lencioni’s The Five Dysfunctions of a Team framework, this course will explore five key behaviors that allow supervisors to empower their team and shape new behaviors. The five main components that the course will discuss include: trust, conflict, commitment, accountability, and results.
  • PLN Pillar: Guiding High-Performing Teams
  • Time Commitment and Format: 5-week course experience with virtual, live sessions and self-paced modules
  • Price: $599
  • Launch Date: November 13, 2023

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Turning Conflict into Constructive Conversations: Learning to Lean In

  • Overview: Explore and practice a framework with new communication skills for identifying and holding crucial conversations in a variety of daily situations including 1:1 and in teams. This course will also include a DISC assessment, report, facilitated debrief about results, and a 1:1 coaching session. 
  • PLN Pillar: Guiding High-Performing Teams 
  • Time Commitment and Format: 6 weeks of live sessions and self-paced modules in a cohort-based setting  
  • Price: $799
  • Launch Date: October 2, 2023

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Making Resilience a Reality

  • Overview: This course will discuss the impact resilience has in the public sector workplace, build self-awareness to expand your current mental models about resiliency, and explore actionable strategies under the following key pillars of resilience: purpose, self-awareness and mindfulness, critical thinking skills, active/constructive relationships, self-care, and bouncing back/stamina.
  • PLN Pillar: Developing Self-Awareness  
  • Time Commitment and Format: 6 weeks of live sessions and self-paced modules 
  • Price: $799
  • Launch Date: October 16, 2023

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Newly Elected Officials Bootcamp

  • Overview: Join a cohort of other newly elected local and state government officials to gain the knowledge and leadership skills to create positive change in your communities. This bootcamp provides a comprehensive strategy for working with fellow board members, government staff, and the community to create greater impact.
  • PLN Pillar: Leading Change
  • Time Commitment and Format: Cohort model with a virtual or in-person option
  • Price: $349 (virtual) and $499 (in-person)
  • Launch Date: December, 2023

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PLN Class Schedule

July 10, 2023

Unlock and Accelerate Potential: Assessment and Coaching Services


August 28, 2023

Amplify Your Leadership


September 28, 2023

Facilitating Engaging, Impactful Meetings

October 2, 2023

Turning Conflict into Constructive Conversations: Learning to Lean In


October 2, 2023

Building Positive Connections with Public Institutions


October 16, 2023

Making Resilience a Reality

October 19, 2023

Creative Problem Solving for Public Sector Leaders


November 13, 2023

Building Cohesive Teams


December 2023

Newly Elected Officials Bootcamp

Who is the PLN for?

We define public sector leaders as those serving their communities within government, education, non-profits, and foundations. The PLN is designed for any level of leader—emerging to seasoned—from any public sector organization. Bringing together any level leader across all types of U.S. public sector organizations ensures diversity of ideas and maximizes the opportunity to learn and grow from different experiences. 

Facilitating Discussion At Farm To Fork Meeting

Why You Should Join The PLN

Amplify your leadership skills to better serve your community.
  • PLN leadership training provides public leaders with access to the relevant resources needed to address today’s biggest demands and challenges.
  • We equip public leaders with the practical skills needed to boost their leadership excellence to better lead their teams, organizations, and communities.
Connect with a community of ongoing support and learning.
  • You become a member of the PLN when you take one of our training sessions.
  • PLN members a part of an active, diverse community of other public sector leaders committed to continuous learning and development.
  • You will receive regular invitations to webinars and access to thought leadership blogs and articles.
Receive access to relevant and actionable course content.
  • PLN provides public leaders with the development opportunities necessary to amplify their leadership impact now and in the future.
  • All material is relevant and timely, following a proven path for successful learning – introduction of concepts, skills practice, observation and refinement, and the adoption of new ways of leading.
Fit meaningful course work into your busy schedule.
  • The PLN is a fully virtual leadership training experience that blends synchronous and asynchronous learning.
  • All PLN training offerings are designed to fit your leadership needs and accommodate busy schedules.
  • Most PLN offerings are cohort-based with the goal of creating new opportunities for connection with others from mission-driven organizations.
Experience training and course design for leadership today and in the future.
When we design PLN offerings we ensure the design addresses the following questions:

  1. Does this provide leaders with stretch experiences and new ways of thinking?
  2. Does this reflect the current realities public sector leaders are operating in?
  3. Will this open windows of opportunity to bring new possibilities to fruition and generate public good?
  4. Does this allow for high-touch engagement experiences with cohort members and skilled instructors?
Learn with skilled instructors and coaches.
  • All virtual, live sessions are led by skilled instructors/coaches who have walked in your shoes and understand the public leadership environment.
  • PLN instructors/coaches focus on providing high-touch, engaging, and personalized learning experiences that any public leader can benefit from.

The PLN Pillars

We believe that leadership requires constant development and adaptation, and it should be based on core competencies – or Pillars – that will help public leaders navigate today’s fundamental challenges.  PLN Pillars are centered on the core values of public leadership: creating collective action and public good. The PLN Pillars are grounded in specific leadership principles that reflect the current realities of operating in public service organizations. 

The Pillars guide the development of the PLN’s training opportunities and include:

Developing Self-Awareness

As an anchor for leadership development, self-awareness requires leaders to consistently commit to reflecting on their patterns, mental models, behaviors, and assumptions. By tapping into self-awareness, leaders can explore new ways of thinking and participate in “stretch” experiences.

Guiding High-Performing Teams

This pillar involves a leader’s ability to lead others toward realizing their organization’s mission and achieving goals. Guiding high-performing teams combines utilizing emotional intelligence, team building, trust, cooperation, and much more. 

Working Across Boundaries

Leaders must develop diverse and inclusive networks, build alliances, and collaborate across and outside of their organizations to build relationships and achieve common goals. Working with community members and stakeholders is a key component of public leadership and a crucial aspect of working across boundaries.

Tapping into Innovative Thinking

In a rapidly changing world, it is a necessity for public leaders to seek out new insights. Innovative thinking is a leader’s implementation of creative solutions, processes, and programs that have value to others (inside, across, and outside organizations).

Leading Change

Successful and continuous adaptation requires solid tracking of progress and challenges, good decision making, an ability to analyze and consider resetting paths to a goal, and delivering measurable results. 

Testimonials from PLN Members

I learned a great deal from the Amplify Your Leadership Course, and from the instructors and my classmates. I found a number of opportunities to apply what I was learning in real-time in my work (and home) environment.

The PLN allows for self-reflection and engagement. I am learning a lot from the instructors and other cohort members. I enjoy the relevant articles, am learning how to reframe my thoughts, and like the great conversations.

The PLN inspired me to lead and mold my group to be the very best we can for each other as well as our customers. If the environment we create is happy, we will make a positive lasting impression on others. Hopefully, this will inspire others to do the same.

I enjoyed how the PLN helped me lead good conversations with my team, especially how to maximize people’s strengths and allow stretch opportunities to improve on identified areas of growth. I’m looking forward to having different exercises to come back to periodically to make sure everyone is on the same page with their development.

I had the opportunity to cultivate humility and learned the importance of bringing an open-minded and compassionate mindset to my place of work.

Learn More About The Fountainworks PLN