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Welcome to The Trust Leadership Development Academy Toolkit!

This toolkit was designed to address the urgent needs of State, Provincial, and Territorial Associations in a changing marketplace. Diminishing financial resources have had a detrimental impact, especially on smaller psychological associations with traditionally limited resources. These associations struggle to initiate new programs and services that require fiscal resources.

This toolkit provides key information and resources needed to launch a leadership development academy. It guides users in determining program goals and rationale, assessing readiness, defining basic elements, and identifying key leaders and mentors. It also covers creating marketing strategies, selecting program Fellows, organizing program content and schedules, and celebrating and evaluating program outcomes.

In response to concerns about developing new leadership, The Trust SPTA Advisory Council proposed a pilot program. This program aims to help smaller associations develop leadership pathways. Modeled on the Ohio Psychological Association Leadership Development Academy, the pilot program supports associations in building future leadership capacity. It also encourages engagement in professional, association, and state issues affecting psychology and psychologists.

The Trust SPTA Advisory Council includes Carmen Skare, ED, Nebraska; Ray Folen, Ph.D., ED, Hawaii; Martha Turner-Quest, ED, North Carolina; Dustin McKee, ED, Ohio; LaDarion Ammons, ED, Mississippi; and Elise Oehring, ED, Tennessee.

The Ohio Psychological Association, a member of The Trust SPTA Advisory Council, has developed a successful, ongoing leadership development program. It is designed to build a pipeline of leaders for state leadership. The program has a 9-year track record of positive outcomes and lessons learned from key challenges. Its success shows how a sustainable leadership program can be built. We hope that, with support and some customization, less-resourced associations can create and implement their own leadership academies. This will help identify, develop, and engage future leaders. Three founding members of the OPA Leadership Development Academy were asked to develop and deliver a pilot leadership development program for smaller, less-resourced organizations. This work was completed in 2023.

This Toolkit is the result of that pilot project work. It is designed to guide associations through creating their own leadership academies and to address issues in leadership pathways.