Rodel Institute

The Rodel Institute is an independent, nonpartisan and nonprofit organization devoted to strengthening American democracy and improving the quality of public leadership in the United States. A nonpartisan center for leadership and intellectual growth, Rodel helps America’s most promising leaders reach their full potential as public servants, deepen their commitment to democracy and the rule of law, and work together to address some of our nation’s most important domestic and international challenges. The institute’s programs convene diverse leaders from across the political, legal and policy spectrum in an effort to find common ground, build relationships, and encourage the understanding and cooperation needed to move our nation forward. The Institute's signature program is the Rodel Fellowship. Created in 2005, the fellowship is the nation’s premier leadership development program for elected leaders. Each year, the program selects 24 outstanding state and local-level leaders, divided equally between the two political parties, to come together for a series of three multi-day seminars held over a two-year period. Working with leading scholars as moderators, the fellows read and discuss classic texts dealing with ethical values, democratic principles, and wise and effective leadership. Those texts include the Declaration of Independence, the preamble to the United States Constitution, and writings by Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and Martin Luther King, Jr. among many others. Following completion of the core Rodel fellowship seminars, fellows have an opportunity to gather periodically with alumni of the program to discuss critical questions of public policy and public leadership in a nonpartisan setting. Over 360 elected leaders have completed the program. These fellows have gone on to serve as United States senators, governors, mayors, party leaders, Cabinet secretaries, members of Congress, and Vice President of the United States.