Harvard Kennedy School’ department of executive education launched the new executive training program, Strategic Management for Leaders of Non-Governmental Organizations, in the city of Athens, Greece.
This program is the Kennedy School's first Europe-based open enrollment executive training program. The training took place at the premises of Athens Information Technology (AIT) from March 26-29, 2008 with the participation of 43 representatives from non-governmental organizations from 21 countries.
Strategic Management for Leaders of Non-Government Organizations offered NGO leaders the tools, perspectives, and frameworks needed to engage constituent communities and cultivate long-term partnerships and commitments. Through cutting-edge research, case studies, and presentations tailored to the unique needs of NGOs, this program illuminated the many different facets of society relevant to leaders of civil society organizations.
The training program was based on an interactive methodology originally developed by Harvard University. The program’s faculty presented real casestudies and called on participants to find alternative proposals, draw strategies and propose solutions to real problems. Among some of the topics covered were:
Strategy and marketing
Business planning & fundraising
Accountability, networks, collaboration
Financial management
Governance as leadership
Participants included high-ranking members of NGOs and other institutions from Albania, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Greece, Iran, Jordan, Kenya, Morocco, Palestine, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Turkey, among other countries, which represented a wide range of activities in the areas of education, the environment, urban growth, natural disasters, and rights of women, minors, and persons with special needs.
Christine Letts, Senior Associate Dean for Executive Education at Harvard Kennedy School, stated: “We chose Athens to conduct the first open executive training program for two basic reasons: first, for its geostrategic location that facilitates the participation of organizations from all the over the world, and second, due to the good collaboration that we have had over the years with Athens Information Technology, through the Kokkalis Program on Southeastern and East-Central Europe at the Kennedy School of Government. Our wish is to organize this program in Athens annually in order to attract the interest of new organizations from more countries.”
For the past five years, Athens Information Technology (ΑΙΤ) and Harvard Kennedy School have organized annual seminars on negotiation and strategic management, at AIT’s premises in Athens. These programs are attended by high-level executives, government officials and representatives of non-governmental organizations from the Balkans, Southeastern Europe and the Middle East.
(i) The program’s main sponsors were the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Hellenic Centre of Public Administration and Decentralization (ΕΚΔΔΑ), and V+O COMMUNICATION was the communication sponsor.
