About the Booker T. Washington Leadership Institute


BTW Leadership Institute logo

Mission of the Booker T. Washington Leadership Institute

To cultivate transformative leadership of the faculty, staff, and students through a culture of excellence, inclusion, scholarship, and service-learning.

Vision of the Booker T. Washington Leadership Institute

To increase the number of transformational leaders and to prepare for the growing needs of a community that seeks to positively change and improve leadership behavior through a process of self-awareness and self-discovery.

BTWLI Committees
As a part of the BTWLI, TU faculty, staff and students will have the opportunity to apply leadership skills in the facilitation of the workshops.

  • BTWLI Leadership Team
    • Dr. Carla J. Bell, Chair and Dean of Robert Taylor School of Architecture and Construction Science and Management
    • Dr. Olga Bolden-Tiller, Head - Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
    • Dr. Maria Calhoun, Interim Head - Department of Mechanical Engineering
    • Dr. Tamara Floyd-Smith. Associate Provost
    • Dr. Shaik Jeelani, VP for Research/Dean of Graduate School
    • Dr. Thierno Thiam, Head - Department of History and Political Science
  • Host Committee (Coming Soon!)
  • Moderating Committee (Coming Soon!)
  • Ad-hoc Committees
    • Receiving Committee
           Kimberly Porter
           Lisa Johnson
           Cheryl Jackson
    • Logistics Committee
           Christine Bradshaw
           Tiffani Williams
  • Steering Committee (Coming Soon!)

BTWLI Benefits

In partnership with the Office of the Provost and Title III, the BTWLI is happy to provide a number of benefits.

  • A Certificate of Completion will provided to all participants for each session attended in recognition for their participation. 
  • Mini-grants, up to $2500, will be awarded, on a competitive basis, to eligible faculty and staff who satisfactorily complete the annual BTWLI.  Mini-grant awards will be provided for projects that show promise in promoting the culture of excellence, inclusion, scholarship, and service-learning.  More information is available at BTWLI Mini-Grants.
  • Continuing Education Units (CEUs) are available to individuals who complete BTWLI sessions.  For more information, interested persons may contact Dr. Tamara Floyd-Smith.

Legacy of Leadership Training at Tuskegee University

In 2001, through the Continuing Education Program, The Booker T. Washington Institute for Transformational Leadership launched as the only county leadership program in the 67 counties of Alabama that is housed on a university campus under the leadership of Dr. Henry Findlay.  It was the vision of that Institute to create a model leadership environment as one of the pillars of the Continuing Education Program that focuses on transformational and ethical leadership of the highest quality, and leaders trained who are highly qualified to provide effective leadership in their communities. The Institute served as a site for the delivery of education for emerging scholars, researchers, emerging leaders, appointed and elected officials, and economic developers with emphasis on the development of human capital. Through the concept of an "engaged university," partnerships with the community was developed with a view of providing transformational leadership for viable solutions to community problems. The Institute also served as an educational broker for faculty, students, scholars, researchers, and the disseminator of information on leadership for organizational effectiveness.  

Through a series of seminars, the Institute, gained many notable achievements, ensuring that 1) university and local emerging leaders as well as state, regional, and national personnel acquired skills that enable them to perform their job more effectively and 2) efficiently and served as a foundation for Leadership Macon County, which worked to identify and develop leaders committed to community and county growth and progress and were willing to enhance their skills and opportunities for involvement.  The institute also included a youth component called the Summer Leadership Academy for High School Students, designed to equip high school students with leadership skills for use in their schools and communities. During its inception, Leadership Macon County produced two mayors for the City of Tuskegee, one mayor pro-temp, one county commissioner, one revenue commissioner, one local school board chair, and numerous individuals identified for other leadership positions.  Other notable achievements included enrollment of Summer Leadership Academy scholars as enrollees at Tuskegee University (30%), enhanced leadership from students in K-12.