The USC Price School of Public Policy hosted a graduation reception on June 22 for the Los Angeles County Executive Leadership Development Program (ELDP) — a specialized training program for select mid- and senior-level county employees.
Established in 2014, the ELDP is a collaboration between USC Price Executive Education and the County of L.A. The semester-long, cohort-based curriculum involves on-campus classes, online sessions, executive coaching and small group capstone projects. It’s co-directed by Professor Bob Denhardt and Paul Danczyk, Price’s director of executive education in Sacramento, along with Assistant Director Tommy Royston.
L.A. County CEO Sachi Hamai and USC Price Dean Jack H. Knott took part in the ceremony at USC’s Town & Gown ballroom, joining more than 100 attendees who included county department heads and officials, program participants, as well as Price faculty and staff.
During the event, Dean Jack Knott welcomed graduates and guests by offering insights into public service. Following his address, Hamai and Lisa Garrett, the L.A. County director of personnel, presented Knott with a county scroll recognizing the Price School’s rise to No. 4 in the U.S. News & World Report national rankings.
In addition, featured speakers Susan Fowler from the L.A. County Public Library and Karen Dalton from the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department offered words of inspiration and reflected on their own experiences as participants of the EDLP program.
This spring 2016 cohort consisted of 38 participants, representing 23 county departments; all of whom now belong to a growing EDLP alumni base of 230 graduates.