The Arts and Government?

An unlikely partnership with astounding results

In March 2004, Creative Leaps International will take center stage once again at the George Washington University Center for Excellence in Municipal Management (CEMM) to introduce another assembly of municipal managers to the personal challenges of leadership and integrity in government. 

CEMM is the result of an innovative public-private partnership established in 1997 with the founding premise that municipalities need strong leadership and management capacity within the ranks of government in order to thrive. CEMM helps build that capacity through its three main mission areas: (1) High-quality executive education in leadership and public management; (2) Research on state-of- the-art public management policies and practices; and (3) Expert management advice.

While originally focused solely on the District of Columbia, CEMM is now expanding in scope, bringing the lessons learned in the District to its work with the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG), other local governments, and to local and regional governments internationally. 

Creative Leaps has been a partner to CEMM since its inception in 1997 as adjunct faculty to its executive training programs, performing its signature Concerts of Ideas™ on leadership, integrity and change to each of the 18 assemblies of municipal participants (called ‘cohorts’) that have enrolled in the CEMM program. Using the trademark Concert of Ideas™, Creative Leaps International sets a remarkable tone of innovation and plants the seeds for key concepts in leadership education. Municipal managers are challenged to think creatively, to entertain new perspectives and re-connect with their own deepest values. Following the Concert of Ideas™, the Creative Leaps team leads a three-part de-briefing procedure to help participants process the concepts, emotions and workplace issues sparked by the concert experience. 

Creative Leaps International’s keynote Concert of Ideas, Unless the Mind Catch Fire™, was developed specifically for CEMM in 1997. It has now become a cornerstone in Creative Leaps International’s repertoire of leadership education programming.