Montgomery Mayor Steven L. Reed was recently named a member of the 2024 Rodel Fellowship Class, the nation’s premier leadership development program for state and local elected officials.
The Rodel Institute is a nonpartisan center for leadership and intellectual growth. Its mission is to strengthen democracy and public leadership in the United States. The Institute’s programs convene diverse leaders from across the country and the political, legal, and policy spectrum to find common ground, build enduring relationships, and encourage the understanding and cooperation needed to move our nation forward.
Each year, Rodel’s signature program — The Rodel Fellowship — selects 24 outstanding state and local-level leaders, divided equally between the two political parties, to come together for a series of multi-day seminars.
“I am honored to join the new Rodel Fellowship class,” said Mayor Steven L. Reed. “The bedrock principles of this program focus on strengthening our democracy through conversation, study, and honest collaboration. I know that the lessons I will take away from my peers across the country will help make me a better leader and a better mayor. I am eager to get started and share more about what makes Montgomery so special with my classmates.”
Former U.S. Congressman Mickey Edwards and entrepreneur, business leader, and philanthropist Bill Budinger launched the Rodel Fellowship as a program of the Aspen Institute in 2005. It became an independent nonprofit organization in 2021.
Over 380 elected leaders have completed the program since its inception. Rodel Fellows have gone on to serve as United States senators, governors, mayors, party leaders, Cabinet secretaries, members of Congress, and the Vice President of the United States. Mayor Reed is the fourth person from Alabama to be named a Rodel Fellow. Previous fellows from Alabama include former State Representative Bill Poole, Alabama’s current Finance Director (2016), State Representative Anthony Daniels (2018), and Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin (2022).
Learn more about the Rodel Fellowship at https://rodelinstitute.org/programs/rodel-fellowship/.
