Fort Belvoir, Va. –
In December 2017, 22 senior-level employees from DCAA, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), and the Army Audit Agency (AA) embarked on an immersive, premier, and critical journey led by the late DCAA director, Ms. Anita Bales. This cohort became the first graduates of the DCAA’s Director’s Development Program in Leadership on Feb. 26, 2019.
DDPL is an 18-month executive-level program designed to prepare senior-level, career employees for critical leadership positions in the federal government. As the sixth cohort continues into the program, we can see the evolution and growth of DDPL. The program has evolved to a reputable and premier development program, with the current cohort having participants from ten different DoD agencies.
Today, January 22, marks the anniversary of Ms. Bales’ passing, and in honor of her memory, hard work, and dedication to improve the federal government for future generations; we are proud to honor her legacy by renaming the DDPL to the Anita Bales Leadership Development Program.
Ms. Bales’ visionary leadership redefined how we prepare future leaders and the specialized focuses SES require for success. She recognized that the DCAI Fellows Program, that had been the premier development program for decades, no longer met the needs for senior executives and she set out to improve the program. Starting in June 2015, Ms. Bales officially started reworking the program, prioritizing the focus on competencies aligned with the DoD’s leadership framework, external engagement, and strategic mission.
The Anita Bales Leadership Development Program is more than another program to prepare and train prospective DoD leaders. The program’s rigorous curriculum incorporates training from top-tier civilian educational institutions that focus on ten specific DoD Civilian Leadership Development Continuum competencies in seminar format. While seminars and theory help create a solid foundation for senior leaders, Ms. Bales also emphasized the importance of real-world practice. The program is supported by two capstone events allowing cohort participants to relate the competency-based leadership concepts and theories taught at the educational institutions against the context, scope, and complexity of a major command's strategic mission in support of the Warfighter.
The Anita Bales Leadership Development Program continues to embody Ms. Bales’ vision to empower future leaders to drive meaningful change within the federal government. Her legacy lives on in every participant who graduates from this program and those who use these crucial skills and experiences to lead positive change. Nearly half of our current SES and leadership team are graduates of this program and I’m sure there will be many more in the future.
Thank you for your continued support as we honor Ms. Bales and her thoughtful, crucial, and practical contributions to leadership development.