Founded in 2018, Capitol Leader’s initial focus was on educating and equipping legislative staff at the state level. Today, with a focus primarily on legislators, Capitol Leaders works with Americans for Prosperity Chapters in 12 states to develop policy champions capable of bringing transformative change to their states. Among the many benefits of the program is its focus on connecting participants to a community of like-minded lawmakers who collaborate on policy goals that encourage equal rights, mutual benefit, openness, and self-actualization for all Americans.

Our program is a product of Americans for Prosperity, one of many organizations within the Stand Together Community. The educational programming is thoughtfully designed and structured to develop the skills and qualities vital to the success of leaders at the state level. Over time, each session builds on the lessons of previous sessions to build transformative leaders who can impact their states to remove barriers to success across the four key institutions of government, business, education and community.

The short answer is “no.” Capitol Leaders does not require anyone to hold particular policy positions as a condition for attending our events. Nor do we instruct our program participants to vote for any particular political candidate.

As a non-partisan 501(c)(4) organization, we are tax-exempt social welfare entity. But being non-partisan does not mean that we do not have opinions about specific policy solutions or that we are not completely straightforward in regard to Americans for Prosperity’s (AFP) stance on a particular topics.

Capitol Leaders staff and contributors include policy experts,  former lawmakers, state and federal congressional staffers, communications consultants, and other subject matter experts to help you excel in your chamber. Several of our key roles are described below:  

• Program Fellows are former lawmakers or high-ranking staffers who contribute part-time to the program
• Program Facilitators are experienced instructors with strong policy and advocacy backgrounds.
• While Americans for Prosperity state chapter staff are not employees of the Capitol Leaders program, they play an integral role in ensuring that each session is tailored to the specific needs of elected officials in their states. 

For more detailed information on the individuals who drive the success of Capitol Leaders, follow this link capitolleaders.org/about-us/ to the biographical page of our website. 

 As a state legislator you are being asked to solve increasingly complex problems relating to issues like state budgeting, funding of higher education, economic development, and a host of other challenges. In addition to these challenges, you are tasked with acclimating to your new role, intracaucus issues, learning legislative procedure, and the challenges of impacting your district. One critical reason these issues persist is due to the lack of a comprehensive leadership development program that is available to state lawmakers.

Capitol Leaders addresses these issues in a way that is helpful to lawmakers from election day to their retirement from office and beyond. For the most part, our competitors provide only temporary solutions such as one-off trainings, policy white papers, conferences, and trend reports. While helpful in some situations, these programs do not offer the comprehensive and targeted solutions necessary to equip lawmakers in key areas. Also among our offerings are topics such as decision-making tools, media training, policy roundtables, gaining influence as a new lawmaker, and staff training. These training opportunities are available to you through Capitol Leaders on a year-round basis throughout the duration of your time in office.

The first step in holding a Capitol Leaders event is to visit our website via this link capitolleaders.org and fill out the contact form.  This form will alert Capitol Leaders staff and  the Americans for Prosperity Director in your state.  Capitol Leaders staff will then follow-up with you to put a plan into action regarding an event in your state. 

FORMAT: The majority of our events are conducted live.  But online and on-demand options are available as well.  

CONTENT: As a starting point, the Capitol Leaders Program offers its Foundation Series for new legislators.  The Foundation Series is a pre-packaged product which, if completed in its entirety, provides participants with all the building blocks of a principles-based approach to effective leadership and policymaking.  This content is focused on topics such as The Benefits of Vision, The Fundamentals of Successful Media, Becoming a Policy Champion, Building Influence as a New Lawmaker, Leadership under the Dome, State Budget Essentials, and The Science of Persuasive Communication. For a complete listing of Foundation Series courses contact us at info@capitolleaders.org.

The short answer is “yes.”  In addition to the Foundation Series described above, Capitol Leaders offers Legislative Labs.  These labs are custom designed events which feature a variety of policy experts from inside the Stand Together Community as well as external experts who bring in-depth knowledge on a host of topics which are pertinent to state lawmakers.  

There is a wide array of articles, videos, and blog posts authored by our internal policy experts and former state legislators on topics such as the pitfalls of state budgeting, recognizing and promoting good policy, the latest policy solutions in criminal justice reform, and tips on building influence as a new legislator. Also, we offer unique posts which provide insight on topics that are of particular interest to new legislators such as building influence through committees and coalitions and handling hostile media encounters.