Welcome

The National Program

The Virginia Program

Virginia Fellows

Application & Selection

About the State Coordinator

Institute for Educational Leadership

Contact Information

The National Program

The Education Policy Fellows Program (EPFP) was created in 1964 with funding from the Ford Foundation as a response to the explosive growth of the federal role in education under the new Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and related Great Society legislation. The transformed federal role in education generated a need for education professionals in the states who understood the content of federal legislation, the policy process, and the complex changes state systems were undergoing as a result. The present-day challenges posed by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act and the press for both universal student success and accountability in education add even greater urgency to the development of sophisticated, broad-minded, and well-networked education leaders.

EPFP is defined by local flexibility within a coherent national structure. Three program strands – leadership, public policy, and professional networking – organize the learning in EPFP. This arrangement enables Fellows to use their work settings as the context for examining leadership and policy issues important to them and to their organizations. EPFP site locations are in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Washington, DC, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Virginia is the newest state to host the program.

Under the leadership strand, Fellows develop familiarity with leadership theory and concepts, build awareness of themselves and their potential as leaders, and learn from face-to-face interaction with proven leaders. The policy strand engages Fellows in learning about specific policy issues, about the process through which policy is made and implemented, about the various participants in the policymaking process, and about the practices skilled leaders use to function successfully in the policy environment. The professional networking strand implements the belief that relationships are at the heart of good leadership and organizational success.

IEL provides overall management and direction to EPFP nationwide. IEL sponsors the Leadership Forum (LF) and the Washington Policy Seminar (WPS), annual plenary conferences that bring a national focus to Fellows’ experiences at the program sites. IEL’s special relationship with leaders of all kinds – academicians, elected and appointed public officials, business trainers, and staffers working for Congress, agencies, and associations – brings a world of policy experience and expertise to EPFP Fellows each year.

Over 6,400 EPFP alumni now work and lead in all sectors of American life: K-12 and higher education organizations; local, state, and federal government agencies; public policy groups; foundations and nonprofits; and corporations. This extensive alumni network offers current Fellows and graduates rich access to professional information, expertise, and career growth.

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