Realizing the Vision for the White House Leadership Development Program

“We’re creating a new initiative called the White House Leadership Development Program for Future Senior Career Executives…we want people to get new experiences that reenergize them, reinvigorate them. We want the next generation of leaders to have the experience of solving problems and building relationships across the government. Because one thing that we have to acknowledge is that our government often statutorily was organized for the needs of the 1930s or ‘40s or ‘60s, and too often, we get stove-piped at a time when we need people with different skillsets and different agencies to be working together.”

President Obama, December 2014

As part of the President’s Management Agenda, the Administration is focused on developing and unlocking the full potential of the federal workforce to drive greater effectiveness and efficiency within government and better harness taxpayer resources to spur economic growth for the American people.  To further this commitment, in December 2014 President Obama announced the White House Leadership Development (WHLD) Program to provide opportunities for aspiring senior career civil servants to develop their skills and better serve the American public.

We are proud to announce that following a rigorous selection process, 16 talented GS-15 employees have been chosen for the inaugural cohort that begins later this month.

The WHLD Fellows hail from a variety of agencies, functional areas and backgrounds.  These public servants come from all walks of life and from every corner of America to carry on the proud tradition of dedicating their careers to serving others.  They are indicative of the talent that thrives across government. Their interest and enthusiasm for building a whole-of-government perspective and for driving results on mission-critical priorities is inspiring. It also speaks to the need for a program such as this to provide opportunities for federal employees to build the experiences, skillsets and networks that are critical to enterprise leaders.

The WHLD Fellows will serve a one year rotation on high-visibility, cross-agency projects, such as the Cross-Agency Priority Goals. Additionally, WHLD Fellows will engage in an innovative development program that is targeted at the competencies, stakeholders, and exposure to collaborative practices required of enterprise leaders.

The program objectives are two-fold:

• Developing Talent: To help retain & grow top talent within the Federal government by working on the complex, cross-agency challenges which increasingly confront the Federal Government.
   
• Delivering Results: Harness top talent from across the government to support implementation of key priorities and address mission critical challenges, such as the Cross-Agency Priority (CAP) Goals.

For more information on the Fellows and the WHLD Program, click here.

We are excited about the opportunity that the WHLD Program brings and its potential to train future leaders on how to address challenges that cut across agency boundaries.

We believe the White House Leadership Development Program is one way to prepare the 21st century workforce.  As the President said, a high-performing government relies on an engaged, well-prepared and well-trained workforce. So do the American people.

Beth Cobert is the Acting Director of the Office of Personnel Management. Dave Mader is the Acting Deputy Director for Management at the White House Office of Management and Budget.