A collaboration between local, state and private public safety agencies and 
The 6th Annual Next Generation Leadership Summit at Fitchburg State University is once again coming together to be a catalyst for leadership development among police professionals. This Summit enables participants to build the critical competencies needed to grow as leaders in the public safety arena. Each year the field’s demand for well-educated and better-trained leaders increases. As such, this Summit meets this demand by helping you to build a better understanding of leadership, communication, and executive functioning, and by further helping you learn how to build productive relationships throughout your department and within your community.
Lieutenant Cara Rossi-Cafarelli, the Operations Commander with the Natick Police Department, oversees many areas including the Patrol Division, and serves as the Coordinator for various areas including Training, the FTO Program, and Community Services, just to name a few. She attended our very first Summit and has been actively involved ever since.
Her experiences provide an invaluable perspective into the benefits of the program:
“I have been a police officer for 21 years and I have spent my entire career assigned to the Patrol Division as a Patrol Officer, Patrol Sergeant and now as the Commander of the Division as a Lieutenant. I graduated from UMASS Lowell with a B.S. in Criminal Justice and from Anna Maria College with a M.A. in Criminal Justice Management. I have attended many leadership classes, including a year-long program at Metrowest Leadership Academy, an 8 month program at Roger Williams Univ. NEMLEC Senior Leadership Program, 120 hours with the FBI-LEEDA Triology Program.
Having attended all of these fine programs, I can say with confidence that the Next Generation Leadership Summit has had the most impact on my career. I attended right before I was to participate in an oral board for a promotion from Sergeant to Lieutenant. I was going up against three formidable opponents. After receiving the promotion, I was told that the knowledge I possessed of the Administrative and Leadership aspects of the position was worlds apart from the other candidates
Having presenters from various backgrounds (many not specific to law enforcement), gave us exposure to the 'Business Model’, which is something that most of us had not had the opportunity to be exposed to elsewhere during our career. Most attendees are attempting or aspiring to be leaders in our field. To do so, one must think like the stakeholders and decision makers which includes our Town/City Managers. They are business people and one must be able to communicate with them in their language. I was able to do that.
Thanks to the knowledge and exposure I received during my week at the summit, I not only secured the promotion to Lieutenant, I also made connections with people that I still email today, six years later, for advice and to bounce ideas off of. The people who put the summit together, including Dr. Weiss, are the people who I depended on during the promotional process for guidance and they were there for me, because of the relationships developed during the summit.”
It is so much more than a week of classes. It is relationship building, mind expanding and FUN!
