Leadership, Governance, and Public Administration

The Picker Center, in partnership with the Columbia Global Center Rio, developed a training for Brazilian public sector leaders with the objective of increasing government efficiency and improving results. Through analyzing cases studies on successful public projects, technology in government, and innovation in social policy, participants explored new ways of working together across traditional boundaries to solve complex public policy challenges.

In conjunction with the Civil Service Bureau, the Picker Center designed and delivered nine years of leadership and management training for the Hong Kong Civil Service. The courses provided civil service personnel an opportunity to improve their leadership skills and examine key challenges in policy formulation and implementation to generate practical strategies and policy solutions for enhancing their respective roles in public governance. 

The Picker Center designed three years of programming in New York City and Malaysia focused on Driving Performance and Problem-Solving for policy makers and NGO managers. The program examined best practices in public policy areas such as public health and the environment, as well as management skills, including emergency management, decision-making, sustainability, and negotiation to improve stakeholder engagement. 

The Picker Center was commissioned by the Africa Parliamentary Resource Center in Abuja, Nigeria to design and deliver a four-day executive training on Leadership, Governance, and Strategic Decision Making for a cohort of new members-elect of the Delta State Legislature in Nigeria. Government officials participated in workshops on global leadership, development, sustainability, and management innovation in the public sector.

Accelerating Growth in Brazilian Cities was a joint initiative of the Picker Center, the Columbia Global Center Rio, and Comunitas, a Brazilian civil society organization focused on social investment. The goal of the program was to provide mayors of major cities in Brazil with the tools to solve the challenges of complex and growing cities, with a focus on best practices in leadership, public management, smart cities, digital democracy, and innovation. 

The Picker Center developed a ten-day program on Governance, Sustainability, and Urban Renewal for the Taipei City Government for train civil service focused on environmental policy, management innovation, sustainable development, urban renewal and regeneration, affordable housing policy, and good governance in the public sector, with the objective of advancing the government’s vision of making Taipei a more sustainable city. 

In partnership with the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, the Picker Center organized a one-month Senior Management Program. The program was designed for senior executives and civil servants in governmental agencies, non-profit organizations, and the private sector. Sessions over the course of the program focused on management innovation in the public sector.

The Picker Center was commissioned by the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration to design and facilitate an executive Global Perspectives on Governance Program to train 100 senior Indian Administrative Service officials from various ministries of the Indian government. The program focused on management; innovation; public-private partnerships; economic development; and sustainability.

The Picker Center developed a six-year program on Best Practices in Public Management for the People’s Government of Guangdong Province. Cohorts of 35 senior government officials received training on strategic planning, anti-corruption, public-private partnerships, performance management, public relations, risk and disaster preparedness, financial management, economic development, and innovation.

The Picker Center and the School of Finance, Government, and International Relations of Externado University in Colombia jointly developed a number of seminars and short courses for master’s degree and graduate programs in International Business, Capital Markets, and Foreign Trade; Finance, Government and Public Policy; International Affairs; Corporate Social Responsibility; Development; and Sustainability. 

In collaboration with the Graduate School of Management of Technology, Korea University (KUMOT), the Picker Center developed a five-year program on best practices in innovation and technology.  Sessions focused on the state and innovation policy, management innovation, design thinking, big data, strategic innovation and financing in the technology sector, social innovation, and public-private partnerships. 

The Picker Center organized a Senior Executive Seminar for the Vietnamese Government focused on Administration, Environment, and Economics Management. Sessions covered responses to the financial crisis; trends in finance and macroeconomic policy; the global political economy, strategic planning; banking crisis development and resolution; education policy; and economic development.

In partnership with the Algeria National School of Administration, the Picker Center organized a program on Public Management Innovation for civil service officers in Algeria. Participants received training on management innovation and modernization in the public sector, including sessions focused on strategic planning, energy policy, financial management, sustainable development, public-private partnerships, and performance management.

Mujeres por Africa was a program offered in conjunction with the Banco Santander Foundation as part of a series of programs aimed at promoting women in leadership roles in Sub-Saharan Africa.  The program hosted thirteen women leaders and focused on strategies to increase women’s participation in politics. Sessions covered women's empowerment through advocacy and engagement; crisis leadership; innovation; and public-private partnerships. 

In cooperation with the Sun Culture Foundation of Beijing, China, the Picker Center organized a series of seminars on non-profit management and philanthropic strategy and planning. The goal of the program was to assist donors to think strategically about philanthropy, to learn from successful philanthropic models with real impact, and to strengthen capacity building for non-governmental and non-profit organizations. 

In collaboration with the Center for Research and Teaching in Economics (CIDE) in México City, the Picker Center organized a workshop in 2019 for political appointees and senior government officials serving in the new administration of Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. The workshop focused on examining recent developments in U.S. policy in the areas of foreign relations, trade, border security, and economics under the Trump administration.

Since 2015, the Picker Center, in partnership with Peking University, has organized a forum on Innovation in Public Governance, with the goal of improving governance in China and the U.S. at the state and local level. The theme of the Ninth Annual Forum was “Big Data and Governance Innovation”, with sessions focused on digital democracy; laws and regulations for the acquisition and use of data; and the opportunities, challenges, and global governance of artificial intelligence.

In partnership with USAID and the East-West Management Institute, the Picker Center was awarded a four-year grant to help design and implement a world-class MPA program at Ilia State University in Tbilisi, Georgia. Picker Center faculty provided expert advice on course design and instruction; assessed opportunities for linking the MPA program with the private, public, and non-profit sectors; delivered public lectures; and conducted assessments. 

In partnership with the Prime Minister’s office and the State Chancellery of Georgia, the Picker Center developed a two-week advanced management program for top public officials in the Government of the Republic of Georgia. The program focused on strategic leadership, public administration, management innovation, public-private partnerships, economic and financial policy, public relations, and sustainability.

The Picker Center organized leadership and management trainings for senior civil service personnel selected by the Government of Argentina. Two trainings were held in New York City and Argentina, with topics including technology, innovation, policy formulation, and implementation with the goal of assisting participants in generating practical strategies and policy solutions to enhance their respective roles in public governance. 

As Croatia planned to join the Eurozone, the Picker Center organized a two-day workshop in 2017 for the Prime Minister’s Office to assist Croatia in preparing for the exchange of its national currency for the Euro and to undertake the various structural reforms necessary to achieve a successful entry. The format consisted of workshops led by Columbia University professors and experts in the policy process of their country’s accession to the Eurozone. 

In partnership with New York City government, the Picker Center developed a comprehensive Personnel Leadership Institute to train emerging leaders from the NYC Department of Citywide Administrative Services (NYC DCAS) in public management and urban development and provide participants with the best practices and analytical tools to apply in the current Administration. The Leadership Institute occurred annually over ten years.

The Picker Center organized an executive program for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand on Globalization and Public Policy. Topics covered included strategic responses to globalization; the changing nature of global governance; the contemporary international political system; sustainable development; international financial policy, trade, and foreign investment; and issues related to the financial crisis, migration, global pandemics, and transnational crime.

In partnership with the University of Pretoria, the Picker Center developed a Public Sector Management Certificate course. The aim of the program was to equip delegates at Ministerial and Directorate levels within the South African civil service with the necessary skills to achieve the socio-economic development goals of the government's New Growth Path and National Development Plan, with the objective of expanding the program to other African regions in the future.