Leadership Austin Selected for National Pilot Focused on Collaborative Problem-Solving

Austin is one of 14 Community Leadership Programs nationwide participating in a new initiative to equip leaders with tools to navigate differences and solve complex challenges together

 

AUSTIN, Texas — Today, Leadership Austin announced that it is one of 14 Community Leadership Programs nationwide selected to pilot a national initiative designed to strengthen how leaders work across differences and solve complex community challenges. The pilot will equip Central Texas participants with practical tools to navigate conflict, build trust, and move groups toward solutions, while giving Leadership Austin a role in shaping a model that could eventually inform community leadership development programs nationwide.

“Central Texas is growing and changing quickly, and many of the issues shaping our region require leaders to work beyond the boundaries of their own organizations, sectors, and perspectives,” said Jill Goodman, CEO of Leadership Austin and vice chair of the National Community Leadership Collaborative. “Austin’s spirit of innovation is about our willingness to ask, ‘Is there a better way?’ Let’s ask that same question about how we lead our communities. This pilot gives us an opportunity to develop the people already leading in our communities and, by testing and learning together, refine a new approach to civic leadership.” 

“The decisions that shape Central Texas increasingly require coordination across businesses, nonprofits, government, and our communities.”
-Sujata Ajmera, Leadership Austin Board Chair

Leadership Austin will integrate the pilot into its 2026-27 cohort of 65 Central Texas leaders representing more than 40 ZIP codes, every Austin City Council district and Travis, Williamson, Hays and Burnet counties, with nearly equal representation from the business, nonprofit, and government sectors. Participants will use a collaborative problem-solving curriculum developed by Convergence Center for Policy Resolution to build skills to navigate conflict, build trust, and move groups toward solutions. This transformational leadership development experience combines practical curriculum, facilitated practice, and a cross-sector cohort experience.  

“The decisions that shape Central Texas increasingly require coordination across businesses, nonprofits, government, and our communities,” Sujata Ajmera, board chair of Leadership Austin, said. “Leaders won’t always agree on the solution, but they need the ability to work through those differences, maintain productive relationships and keep moving difficult issues forward. Strengthening those skills across sectors makes our region better equipped to address the challenges that come with growth.”

The National Community Leadership Collaborative and Convergence will gather feedback and measure outcomes across all 14 participating communities to refine an approach that could eventually be used by Community Leadership Programs nationwide. As part of its Lead Across Differences work, Leadership Austin is extending this type of learning beyond its cohorts, bringing these tools and practices across its network of more than 3,600 alumni as well as to organizations, employers, and leaders across Central Texas.

“Collaborative problem-solving is not just a nice-to-have. It is essential civic infrastructure.” – Jill Goodman, Leadership Austin CEO

“Imagine a world where our leaders lead with unity,” Goodman said. “Our communities are hungry for a new kind of leadership, and we are redefining what effective civic leadership looks like. Collaborative problem-solving is not just a nice-to-have. It is essential civic infrastructure. This is a movement to make these practices available to even more leaders across the country, and build the capacity our communities need to thrive.” 

For more information about Leadership Austin, visit leadershipaustin.org. To learn more about the national initiative, visit nclcpartners.org.

 

ABOUT LEADERSHIP AUSTIN

Leadership Austin connects and develops courageous leaders across Central Texas. Through transformative experiences, we help leaders turn individual growth into community impact.

ABOUT NATIONAL COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP COLLABORATIVE AND CONVERGENCE

The National Community Leadership Collaborative builds the national capacity and visibility of Community Leadership Programs so they can grow their impact in communities across the country. Through national strategy, partnerships, research and shared initiatives, NCLC helps locally rooted leadership organizations meet today’s civic challenges. 

Convergence Center for Policy Resolution bridges divides to solve critical issues through collaborative problem-solving across ideological, political, cultural and other lines of difference. For more than a decade, Convergence has brought together leaders and experts to build trust, identify breakthrough solutions and form unlikely alliances for constructive change.