from Staff
Jacksonville University’s Davis College of Business will host the Jacksonville Regional Political Leadership Institute (PLI) Friday and Saturday. Regional and national experts will serve as instructors in subjects such as political campaigning, public issues and leadership.
Speakers will include State Sen. John Thrasher; Preston Haskell, chairman of the Haskell Company; Dr. Donnie Horner, director of the JU Davis Leadership Center; and Mike Hightower (JU class of 1972), vice president of governmental and legislative relations at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida in Jacksonville and Chair of the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce.
“Davis College of Business is committed to high quality leadership whether in the private or public sectors,” said Dr. Joseph McCann, dean of the Davis College of Business. “We are very pleased to support the development of community leadership bench strength.”
The PLI is a mentoring program that pairs business and civic leaders with participants to open doors to networking. McCann, Hightower and Ron Autrey, COO of Miller Electric Company and chairman of the JU Board of Trustees, are all on the executive board of the PLI.
“Leadership development is at the core of what we do, and having some part in the development of Jacksonville’s future political leaders is very exciting,” said Horner.
A nonpartisan program, the PLI encourages and equips prospective public leaders with business-related experience. Students must apply for this and be accepted. Once that is accomplished, there are no costs to the students and no requirements to run for public office. For more information on the program, contact [email protected].