Adams County Commissioner Erik Hansen Awarded Gates Foundation Fellowship

Commissioner Erik Hansen

Adams County Commissioner Erik Hansen was awarded a Gates Foundation Fellowship to attend Harvard University’s Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program. This program is designed to strengthen public officials’ abilities to exercise effective leadership in rapidly changing political and social environments. The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and the Gates Family Foundation have partnered since 1980, each year sending up to five individuals to participate in the program.

“It is an honor to receive this award,” said Commissioner Hansen. “I hope my experience will help make me a better leader and policymaker in Adams County government.”

Senior executives in state and local government are under more pressure than ever to take on increasingly complex problems with fewer resources and a greater degree of public scrutiny. The Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program operates as an interactive classroom, where faculty and participants work together and learn from each other while analyzing case studies of real issues to find solutions to complex problems, bring about change and help people in organizations and communities face difficult challenges.

The Gates Family Foundation's sponsorship of this fellowship stems from the conviction that effective delivery of public services in an era of shrinking resources requires conscious investment aimed at enhancing the quality of management of government.