In 2009 I participated in the ACT Leadership Academy and Legislative Summit with the support of RMACT, ACT National, CU-PTS and my family (thanks Aaron, Jon, Casey and Carolyn). The ACT Leadership Academy brings together individuals from ACT chapters across the country, for professional development, to get work done in support of ACT’s mission, to strengthen the network among ACT participants and to bring new people into positions of greater involvement in the organization. I’ve included a number of links in this article to make it easy for you to dig into aspects of the Leadership Academy experience of interest to you.

It was an exciting time to be in DC, staying at the Club Quarters Hotel just a few blocks from the White House. Accepted into the Academy on January 3, on our first Academy session in DC January 11 - 13, they were setting up bleachers for the inauguration that was to take place a week later. A few of us got a quick dinner at Ben’s Chili Bowl, sitting in the same booth that Barak and Michelle sat in the day before.

On the professional development front, we had a number of presentations and, with our small group of twelve disciples, everything was interactive:

1.  Orientation to ACT, Jon Martz, ACT’s background, mission, status, strategy and future
2. Transportation for Tomorrow, Jon introduced this recently completed NSTPRSC tome on transportation
3. Strengths Finder 2.0, We completed the on-line test in advance and used the results
4. Douglas McCabe of Georgetown University gave a talk on Leading and Motivating People
5. Jason Pavluchuk, ACT’s Government Relations Specialist, spoke on Building Relationships w/ Legislators
6. Chris Simmions, Chair of the ACT Next Authorization Task Force, spoke on the Authorization process
7. We were introduced to T4 America by attending a reception for their organization
8. Christopher Steiner, spoke to us about his book, “$20 per Gallon: How the Rising Cost of Gasoline Will Radically Change Our Lives,”
9. Alan Deutschman, author of Change or Die, spoke, then joined us for dinner at the Old Ebbitt Grill
10. Susan Binder, Senior Policy Staff, Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
11. Rep. Don Young (R-AK), former Chair, House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure
12. Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-MN), House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure
13. Rep Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), House Ways and Means Committee, the Budget Committee and the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Climate Change
14. We attended the ACT Board of Directors Meeting  and presented our Academy project reports

The second Academy session coincided with the ACT Legislative Summit, April 27 – 29 last year. For a westerner who had spent less than a week in DC over the past 50 years, this was a truly amazing event. I came away with a much better understanding of the legislative process and with a lot of respect for ACT’s national team. One of our Academy projects was to interview ACT members across the country to get their input on legislative issues – so that ACT could use that local knowledge to speak more meaningfully to members of Congress on key committees about issues of importance to ACT. Over the course of two very busy and carefully organized days, ACT’s Legislative Summit participants were addressed by three members of Congress, saw ACT present three Leadership Awards and two Legislator of the Year Awards, heard from a number of in-house ACT experts and made numerous visits to the offices of our Congressional representatives.
The third and final Academy session coincided with the ACT National Conference August 30 – September 2. We practiced our project presentations, met with Christopher Steiner, attended the ACT Board meeting and gave our presentations; an award ceremony for Academy graduates followed. All-in-all, it was a great experience – I’d recommend both the Legislative Summit and next year’s Leadership Academy to other RMACT members.

Members of the 2009 ACT Leadership Academy w/ speaker
Douglas McCabe of Georgetown University