Emerging Leader Academy

The Emerging Leader Academy is a year-long, intensive program designed to empower new to practice Public Defenders to become leaders in indigent defense throughout Pennsylvania. The Academy focuses on Public Defender values, mindsets, roles, responsibilities, and advancing the mission of client centered public defense. Together the Emerging Leaders will join a community of PA Public Defenders who are passionate and dedicated to our cause. 

Emerging Leaders learn to provide the best possible defense while concentrating on representing the whole client. The program breaks down every aspect of representation, evaluates and discusses processes, best practices, how we can improve, and how we can lead others around us to improve. The program has been designed to create a long lasting and stronger infrastructure for Pennsylvania public defense. 

At the conclusion of the program, graduates receive certification of completion of the Public Defender Association of Pennsylvania Emerging Leader Academy. In addition, graduates will be invited and encouraged to attend future Emerging Leader Academy events to serve as faculty and mentor attorneys.

This program is intensive and requires significant commitment. The Academy includes four different parts:

• In person trainings, including: 
  • Introductory Bootcamp
  • Motions Workshop Weekend Conference 
  • Theory of the Case and Voir Dire Weekend Conference
  • Public Defender advancement symposium
• Twice-monthly online training and collaborative meetups
• Mentorship and development support across Pennsylvania
• Enrollment and tuition to attend the Advanced Evidence Program through Temple Law. (This is an online program).

The Emerging Leader Academy is open to any attorney at a Public Defender office in Pennsylvania who has been practicing for 0-3 years, who is passionate about the mission of indigent defense, and is committed to joining a community designed to support and foster a culture of providing the best possible representation to our clients. Participants are required to attend the initial bootcamp, in-person training workshops, all monthly training and collaboration sessions, and the advancement symposium.