Applications for the 2025-2026 SAME Leader Development Program closed in December 2024. The class members selected will begin their year-long training at the 2025 JETC next May.
Financially supported by the SAME Foundation and facilitated by the Leader Development COI, SAME’s Leader Development Program helps cultivate talent from within the Society’s membership to develop leaders for the future of the A/E/C profession. The program encourages the growth of the next generation of leaders through hands-on training, study, and engagement in new opportunities. All individuals also complete an independent or collaborative utilization project that must be focused on a key need or interest-area of SAME or the A/E/C profession.
The Leader Development Program is a year-long commitment, which runs from JETC in May to the following JETC a year later. SAME members with at least one year of membership as of the application deadline (~December 1), and with at least five years of progressive professional experience, may apply.
Welcome to SAME’s 2025-2026 Leader Development Program Class, just announced in March! The 20 members will begin their year-long journey in May at the 2025 JETC in Louisville, Ky.
Applications for the 2026-2027 LDP Class will open in fall 2025.
Leader Development Program Impact
$133,092
Funding provided by the SAME Foundation for the LDP in 2023
120
Average hours of dedicated leadership training each participant receives over the course of the year
76
Total graduates from the Leader Development Program as of 2023
50
Number of successful Utilization Projects delivered by LDP participants as of 2023
From the 2023 SAME Foundation Impact Report
Never before in history has our A/E/C community faced as much change as we do today. The SAME Foundation is working to ensure that our nation has a continuous pipeline of qualified and committed engineering and STEM leaders to address our complex national security and infrastructure-related challenges. None of us can address the challenges facing the engineering community alone. But if we each do our part and pool our resources together, we can help develop the future leadership our nation needs within the A/E/C profession.
Col. John Mogge, Ph.D., RA, F.SAME (Dist.), USAF (Ret.), President, SAME Foundation (2017-2019)
LDP: Leaders to Watch
The 2024-2025 class of SAME’s Leader Development Program includes a diverse group of participants from across the Society. Now in its sixth year, the Leader Development Program is financially underwritten by the SAME Foundation, and serves to nurture leadership skills in high-potential mid-career members through speakers, training, group exercises, and utilization projects intended to advance a key issue within the engineering community.
During the Board of Direction meeting at the 2023 JETC in San Antonio, three members of the graduating LDP class (Brandi Smith, Brec Wilshusen, and Camille Murray) briefed their utilization project on the SAME Knowledge Network they developed over the past year.
The project seeks to address the gap in accessing industry experts by leveraging the larger membership to create the SAME Knowledge Network, to be housed in the new SAME national website. The Knowledge Network will provide a database that can be utilized to identify subject matter experts. In part, it is the group’s intention to pilot the project through a Speaker’s Bureau to be deployed for the Resilience COI initially, and then within other COIs. More information will be available in the coming months as the capability is refined and implemented.
Later in the week, ahead of the LDP graduation on May 3, two program alumni, Colleen Rust and Lt. Cdr. Kevin Remley, USPHS, made a presentation (inset) to the JETC audience about their utilization project, “We Must Go To Them,” which is focused on STEM outreach to Alaska Native/American Indian youth, and was subsequently selected for a grant by the United Engineering Foundation. In the last year, a handful of SAME Posts (Albuquerque, Tulsa, Anchorage, and Panama City), additionally supported by funds from the SAME Foundation, have begun to execute We Must Go To Them—now the STEM Pathways initiative—and are making an impact in encouraging more Alaska Native/American Indian youth into engineering and related careers.
Leader Development Program Overview
Program Curriculum
The SAME Leader Development Program is a year-long commitment, broken into three overarching themes:
Know Yourself
Know Your Team
Know Your Future
The opening classroom session at JETC (May) is facilitated by a professional experienced in the science of personality strength assessment and leadership coaching with the goal of identifying how each candidate’s perception of the world around them informs their decision-making, and ultimately defines their values and beliefs, and their approach as leaders.
The opening classroom session sets the outline for the rest of the year. Each class will consist of about 20 participants, with representatives from each SAME region.
Mentors
Participants will select a mentor to help shepherd their professional development throughout the year.
If you do not have a mentor in mind, ask your Post President, Regional Vice President, or Leader Development COI for suggestions. The Academy of Fellows has offered to make themselves available to LDP participants as mentors as well.
Objectives
Support the development of the next generation of military, government, civilian, and industry leaders for the Society and our nation.
Understand individual strengths and how to apply these strengths to achieve success.
Understand team concepts including roles, responsibilities, accountability, and groups.
Develop leadership skills through training, assignments, a service project, and other opportunities.
Foster engineering leadership for the nation.
Key Outcomes
Following completion of the program, participants will gain a series of skills and confidence in preparation for increased leadership responsibilities:
120 hours of formal leadership training
A perspective larger than their organization
Ability to understand and embrace change
Incorporate the perspectives of peers, customers, stakeholders, and industry partners
Ability to make timely, sound, and risk-based decisions
Understand how leaders articulate and use vision and values
The power of diversity
Promote cooperation, coalition team building and networking
Develop knowledge and skills necessary to form relationships, teams and partnerships
Develop an understanding of mission, vision, and challenges of partnering agencies and stakeholders
Learn to think strategically
Program Participation
Who May Apply
Members of SAME with at least one-year membership as of application deadline, and with at least five years of progressive professional experience may apply.
The target participant is an enthusiastic, mid-career professional dedicated to the Society who exhibits the leadership talents and capabilities necessary to become a leader. Most of our candidates have 5-15 years of experience in the A/E/C industry, but we do not have a strict lower and upper limit. We are looking for LDP participants who have diverse experience and are ready for increased responsibilities within the Society and our industry.
Key Responsibilities
Commitment of Time – Selection and participation is a privilege. Participants must commit to the time during and after normal duty day hours. Participants must be able to travel. Participation is entirely voluntary. Most employers cannot afford for staff members to engage in a year-long program where the employee will be away from their office responsibilities. Therefore, this program has been designed to offer optimal benefits using the least amount of out-of-office time possible.
Estimated time required by participants:
JETC – three days (up to eight hours of formal training)
Monthly Webinars and Book Discussions – 20 hours
Monthly Preparation and Reflection – 14 hours
Reading Assignments – 24 hours
Attendance – Program participants will be expected to attend all on-line class sessions, as well as JETC. If a participant misses more than three hours of program sessions, or a mandatory program session, he or she may be dropped from the program.
Utilization Project – Students will design and execute a Utilization Project that leverages relationships and resources of the Society at the local or national level.
Program – Participants will meet with leaders from government, private sector, and academic fields to discuss issues impacting government and explore each topic with special attention focused on building core competencies.
Program Tuition Cost – The SAME Foundation is funding much of the Leader Development Program. Participants will have their JETC registration, travel, lodging, training, and administrative costs paid. Salary, books and all other costs are paid for by the participant or their organization.
Participant Details
Methodology – Training information will be presented through a combination of classroom-style lectures, seminars, simulations and hands-on experiences throughout the program year with participants engaging in detailed class discussions and synthesizing concepts for application in their current leadership roles.
Reading Assignments – Participants are required to read and be prepared to discuss 3-4 books.
Leader Development Program Classes
Meet the 2024-25 Class
Alyssa Agustin, PMP, Sea Engineering Inc. (Pacific Region)
Amber Weber, MBA, Klosh Group (Northern Tier Region)
Bobbi Jo Lang, Tepa LLC (Missouri River Region)
Lt. Chibuzor, Oziligbo, P.E., PMP, CEC, USN
Eva Gonzales, P.E., Pond & Company (Carolinas Region)
Lt. Col. Jack Johannes, P.E., USA (Ret.), Professional Engineering Consultants (Missouri River Region)
Maj. Jesse Davis, P.E., CCM, USA, Fort Leavenworth (Pacific Region)
Kyle Young, PMP, Bluestone Environmental Group (North Atlantic Region)
Lt. Cdr. John M. Nurthen, CEC, USN, Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay (Southeast Region)
CPT Thomas Fakler, P.E., Civil Engineer, Ulteig (Great Lakes Region: Minneapolis-St Paul Post, Fargo, ND)
Summer Gladden CF APMP, LEED AP BD+C, Proposal and Marketing Manager, Leebcor Services, LLC (Middle Atlantic Region: Central Virginia Post, Williamsburg, VA)
LT Kristi Gordon, P.E., CEC, USN, FEAD Director, PWD Meridian, NAVFAC SE (Lower Mississippi Region: Vicksburg Post, Meridian, MS)
Capt Gregory Hege, Chief, Operations Engineering Element, 628 CES (Carolina Region: Charleston Post, Charleston, SC)
LT Christopher Joseph, P.E., LEED AP, USNR, Project Manager, Stanley Consultants, Inc. (Texoma Region: San Antonio Post, Round Rock, TX)
LT Aaron Kotlarz, P.E., CEC, USN, Public Works Officer, Commander, Fleet Activities Okinawa (International Committee, Japan)
Jared Matthews, P.E., Mechanical Engineer, Merrick & Company (South Atlantic Region: Space Coast Post, Merritt Island, FL)
SMSgt Philip McAlpin, Jr., Operations Flight Superintendent, 5th Civil Engineer Squadron (Missouri River Region: Minot Post, Minot, ND)
Ree Miskimon (North Atlantic Region: Baltimore Post, Baltimore, MD)
Capt Arpan Patel, P.E, USAF, Team Chief – Civil Engineer, Air Force Civil Engineer Center (South Central Region: Panama City Post, Burke, VA)
Vinnie Plocido, Senior Planner, WSP (Ohio Valley Region: Pittsburgh Post, Pittsburgh, PA)
Bruce Preston, Director of Operations, TSK Architects (Southwest Region: Phoenix Post, Mesa, AZ)
LT Kevin Remley, P.E., Senior Environmental Engineer, Indian Health Service (Northwest Region: Gem State Post, Fort Hall, ID)
Colleen Rust, PG, PMP, Project Manager, Sundance Consulting Inc. (Rocky Mountain Region: Albuquerque Post, Albuquerque, NM)
Scott Turygan, P.E., PMP; Civil Engineer; US Army Europe, G34 Protection (European Region: Rhein-Main Post, Mainz, Germany)
