Running For Public Office:

Emerging Leaders in Public Service  

FALL 2010

Running for Public Office: Emerging Leaders in Public Service is an experiential learning program of the Coro Center for Civic Leadership. Standing for election to a public office is an important form of civic engagement and one of the highest forms of public service. The vision of Running for Public Office is to strengthen citizen participation in public elections and to increase the diversity and level of preparation of candidates running for office in Greater Pittsburgh.

Our goal is to recruit, select, engage and prepare highly motivated individuals to lead successful electoral campaigns in Greater Pittsburgh. The course is open to prospective candidates and campaign staff who are now contemplating running for office.

Coro does not seek to advance any particular ideology, political party or policy agenda. We strive to assemble a class of 20 participants that represents the diversity of Greater Pittsburgh in terms of race, gender, religion, political affiliation, neighborhood location and economic status.







PARTICIPANT SELECTION
Candidates will be selected based upon:

1. Strength of commitment to running for public office or serving in a leadership position in an electoral campaign in Greater Pittsburgh
2. Contribution to the social and political diversity of the Running for Public Office class

1. Completed Application Form
2. Current resume or resume highlights (may be submited in application or as seperate document)
3. Two short essays of no more than 200 words each (see instructions on Application Form)

APPLICATION TIMELINE

August 5, 2010 | Application Submission Date
Application deadline has been extended.  Contact mmckeehen@coropittsburgh.org to inquire about class availablity ASAP.

       
September 13, 2010| Program Begins    

PROGRAM TIMELINE

Running for Public Office will be held from 5:30 - 9:00 p.m. on the following Monday evenings:

September 13, 2010

September 20, 2010

September 27, 2010

October 4, 2010

October 11, 2010

October 18, 2010

October 25, 2010

November 1, 2010

November 8, 2010

November 15, 2010

November 22, 2010

November 29, 2010

Biography: Tom Baker – Adjunct Facilitator for RPO: ELPS

Tom Baker, MA, is the Vice President of Programs for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Pittsburgh. He is the President of Baker Leadership, author of Get Involved! Making the Most of Your 20s and 30s and Get Involved! Give Our Passion, voice of The Best of Get Involved! audiobook, Coordinator of the Baker Leadership Speakers Bureau, and host and producer of Get Involved! Pittsburgh on PCTV 21. He also moderates the monthly Get Involved! Power Hour series in Pittsburgh and is founder of the annual Get Involved! Pittsburgh Service Summit. Since February 2008, Tom has spoken with over 10,500 students, young professionals, and community leaders at 90 colleges, corporations, professionals associations, and civic groups. Over 3,500 copies of Get Involved! have been sold to date and the book is the common reading for all first year students at Carlow University.

Before joining the management team at Big Brothers Big Sisters, Tom previously served as Executive Director of Healthy Teens, Inc., as a Family Recruiter at Three Rivers Adoption Council, as a Career Counselor at Carnegie Mellon University's H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management, and as Director of The Learning Ladder Child Development Center in Lancaster, PA.

In his role at BBBS, Tom oversees a 14 member program staff which serves over 1,100 big/little matches annually. He also coordinates the Young Professional Outreach Board, Male Recruitment Advisory Board, BIG Speakers Bureau, PA Mentoring Children of Prisoners Consortium, and conducts volunteer trainings. His little brother, Preston, is a 2010 high school graduate and will be attending Franklin and Marshall College this fall. Tom was also a site based big brother at Arsenal Middle School last year through the ‘Be a 6th Grade Mentor’ program. Tom was Student Body President and President of Lambda Chi Alpha while earning his Bachelors degree in Elementary Education from Millersville University and served as President of the Associates for Student Development during his graduate studies in Student Affairs in Higher Education at Indiana University of PA. Tom is a graduate of Leadership Pittsburgh LDI Class XV (2008), Coro Pittsburgh’s Emerging Leaders in Public Affairs (2004), and Duquesne University’s Leadership Academy (2004). 

Tom has served on a number of boards for non-profit organizations including Pittsburgh Urban Magnet Project (President), Millersville University Alumni Association, Baierl Family YMCA in the North Hills, North Hills Community Outreach, Greenfield Organization, Pittsburgh Cares, Life Span, Inc.(Secretary), Pittsburgh Singles Volunteer Network (Vice President), Coro Pittsburgh Alumni Council, Pennsylvania College Personnel Association Executive Board, City Theatre Greenroom Advisory Board, Pittsburgh Job Corps Community Council, Regional Internship Center Advisory Board, and National Student Partnerships (Chairman). Tom is currently serving in his second year as the Director of the Mentoring Program for the University of Pittsburgh Berg Center Certificate Program in Leadership and Ethics (CPLE) and also is the Lead Trainer for the Coro Pittsburgh’s Running for Public Office twelve week course. He was Co-Chair of PUMP’s Discover Pittsburgh in 2006 and 2007 and Honorary Chairman of the 2010 PA Special Olympics Winter Games. 

Tom has received several honors for his service and leadership. In 2009, he received the Distinguished Civic Leadership Award from Millersville University and Tom recently was named a 2010 Jefferson Award honoree by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He also has received the 2006 Senator H. John Heinz Community Service Award and the 2004 Pennsylvania College Personnel Association Outstanding Graduate Student award. As a student he received the Class of 1940 School of Education Scholarship, 2000 Jay B. Niesley Student Leadership Scholarship, and was 1999, 2000, and 2001 Millersville University Greek Man of the Year. The Thomas Justin Baker Millersville University Person of the Year award was named after Tom in 2000. He is a proud member of the National Speakers Association Pittsburgh Chapter, Homestead-Amity-McCandless Lodge 582 of Free and Accepted Masons, the Pittsburgh East Rotary Club (President), and lives with his wife, Erin, in Pittsburgh, PA.