New Center for Public Scholarship hosts Emerging Leadership Symposium

College of Leadership & Public Service niche concentration on regional, local and state matters are focus of symposium on July 15.

Keely Hagan | 615.966.6491 | 07/05/2022

Lipscomb University’s College of Leadership and Public Service, recognized across Tennessee  for producing servant leaders in multiple sectors and venues of public service, launched a Center for Public Scholarship this spring that is hosting its first annual Emerging Leadership Symposium, 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m., July 15, at Spark Downtown Nashville. 

“We are deeply committed to civic engagement as a way of teaching, learning and producing scholarship that addresses the most crucial challenges facing communities today,” said Steve Joiner, dean, College of Leadership & Public Service. “Our new Center for Public Scholarship will serve as an academic hub for researchers and practitioners of civic and nonprofit organizations seeking scholarly expertise to better understand the pressing issues of regional, local and state impact.”

The first endeavor of the new center is the Emerging Leadership Symposium, hosted by Kenyatta Lovett, director for the Center for Research in Leadership and Public Service; Rep. Mark White, director of community and government outreach; and Mike Krause, leader in residence. The symposium will include four panels of subject experts addressing rural challenges and opportunities in the state of Tennessee and surrounding states. The event will be followed by a CLPS poll and case study report. 

Attendees will have the opportunity to hear from leaders who are wrestling with challenges they are facing themselves or are preparing to experience in the future. The panel discussions will offer different perspectives on advancing best practices in leadership and public service from researchers and practitioners. Panel discussion topics include:

• Public-private partnership strategies for local leaders involved with the Ford Motor. Company’s new electric vehicle and battery manufacturing plant in Haywood County.
• Regional collaboration navigating federal assistance, interstate partnerships and housing challenges after a natural disaster.
• Global impact on foreign investments on local economies.
• Education-to-workforce challenges for school districts

“I couldn’t be more excited to work on the symposium and the new Center for Public Scholarship alongside Mark and Mike to add a new dimension of impact at the college,” said Lovett. “I’m thankful for the opportunity to join them in walking out the vision of Dean Joiner to take the college to the next level and make it a premier, nationally recognized school. We are a beacon in higher education with our focus on regional, local and state matters across the nation.”