Hey, you! Want to help run Michigan?

Doug Roberts is director of Michigan State University’s Institute for Public Policy and Social Research, where the Michigan Political Leadership Program makes its home. He is also a former state treasurer.

It’s the Friday night opening of the famed Media Weekend at the Michigan Political Leadership Program.

Two of the state’s sharpest wits – PR star Kelly Rossman-McKinney of Truscott Rossman and veteran journalist John Lindstrom of Gongwer News Service– are preparing the 24 MPLP Fellows to meet the press.

This Friday night, the Fellows are paying close attention, anxious about tomorrow. That’s when they’ll be interviewed, videotaped and critiqued over and over again until their presentation is well-polished.

This is the latest class of the Michigan Political Leadership Program, a program that has helped prepare many of the state’s top leaders over the past 20 years. Among them are a former mayor of Detroit and a former Speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives.

This class includes a former West Michigan mayor, an outreach director, a self-employed attorney, a public health educator, an automotive marketing manager, a board-certified dermatologist and two members of the National Guard who’ve seen service in Afghanistan.

The Fellows are Republicans, Democrats and Independents, and they hail from all corners of Michigan. This group drove from as far away as Gladwin, Kalamazoo, Traverse City and southeast Michigan to spend the weekend training for public service.

Learning to govern

Before next February’s gala graduation, this group of 12 men and 12 women will spend two days a month for 10 months training for public office at every level. They’ll earn a certificate of participation from Michigan State University and bring MPLP’s alumni to just shy of 600.

Sessions will take them from Lansing to Grand Rapids to Detroit and back again, on tours of economic development and community revitalization, and in spirited discussion with each other and some of the state’s leading authorities on the economy, campaign finance, media relations, social media practices and personal leadership.

As this Friday winds up, I can’t resist sharing a story or two of my own. After nearly 30 years in state government, 10 of them as State Treasurer, I have a few stories I can tell.

One of my first television interviews lasted 20 minutes – forever to me – and left my stomach in knots. I needn’t have worried: those 20 minutes were cut to eight seconds. As I told Friday night’s group, there wasn’t enough of my time on TV to justify the butterflies.

Now, as I plan for retirement in 2015, this Media Weekend opening night was bittersweet, cause for quiet reflection and just a little pride.

During my 11 years as Director of the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research where MPLP makes its home at MSU, I’ve seen MPLP nearly double in alumni. MPLP’s two fundraising events – a late February dinner in Livonia followed the next day by a breakfast in Grand Rapids – are among the state’s largest bipartisan events.

We bring in nationally known speakers to the fundraisers, and the events are great draws for the must-hear speakers. We also know that the dinner and breakfast are must-attend events for the networking opportunities alone!

Record of success

Our MPLP graduates include former Detroit Mayor Kenneth V. Cockrel, Jr., former House Speaker Craig DeRoche, former Sen. Wayne Kuipers, House Minority Leader Tim Greimel and Aaron Payment, chairman of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians.

During the election of 2012, 14 MPLP graduates were elected to Michigan’s House of Representatives -- all serving at the same time.

Our Co-Directors have extensive experience in state House leadership and state executive administration. Co-Director Anne Mervenne was a member of Gov. John Engler’s executive office, and Steve Tobocman, a former state House Majority Floor Leader. Our Fellows benefit from their bipartisan approach. Anne is a Republican. Steve is a Democrat.

This summer, we are welcoming applications for the MPLP Class of 2015. Applications are due Friday, Sept 5. There’s more information, plus application forms, on our website. Each applicant is interviewed and the next class announced before a new year of training starts in February.

An MPLP Fellow’s cost is a $1,000 administrative fee, incidental costs and the time and energy to invest in an excellent program. Each fellowship is valued at $12,000, money raised through MPLP’s dinner and breakfast, sponsorships and donations.

I’m proud of our Fellows and our graduates, and I’m proud of our program as it continues to grow and prosper.