• On Campus
    Session Date
    -
    Application Deadline
    Program Fee
    $7100
    Faculty Chair
    Juliette Kayyem
    Program Director
    Christian Flynn
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    The Major Events: Navigating Opportunities and Challenges executive program can be even more impactful when you and your leadership team attend together. To support teams of 2 to 5 participants from the same organization, we are offering a 10% team discount for each person. In order to receive the discount, each participant must submit an individual application to be reviewed for admission. If you have any questions or would like more information about how to apply as a team, please reach out to the Program Director Christian Flynn.

    Program Fee: The program fee includes tuition, housing, curricular materials and most meals.
    Executive Certificate: This program is a core program in the Public Leadership and Economic Development concentration. This program can also be used as a third program for several concentrations in the Executive Certificate series.
    Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs): This program aligns with one or more Executive Core Qualifications.

Program Overview

Major Events: Navigating Opportunities and Challenges is a 4-day, on-campus executive education program designed for public and private sector leaders to help navigate the challenges and opportunities of hosting or sponsoring a major event.

These large-scale, one-time events are characterized by their high costs, high attendance, and transformative potential from infrastructure development to elevating a city’s profile on the international stage. They also come with significant challenges, from the risk of denying economic opportunities to small and local businesses to the potential for harm due to terror, crowd crush, or weather. As one-time events built for short durations, they present the convergence of traditional and new policies and choices, while the pressures on all levels of government, private sector hosts, cosponsors and community leaders are public and time-sensitive.

Led by Juliette Kayyem, a renowned leader in homeland security and crisis management, this program will draw on Harvard Kennedy School’s expertise in transportation, economics, planning, cities and security to equip leaders with the technical, strategic, and policy foundations necessary to confront and manage these challenges.

PROGRAM CURRICULUM

Major Events: Navigating Opportunities and Challenges will guide you through three primary areas of consideration: dual-use infrastructure and transportation planning, event planning and safety coordination, and stakeholder engagement. Through faculty presentations, case studies, and a simulation exercise, you will learn to assess and manage the risks and opportunities presented by megaevents in each area.

In addition to Professor Kayyem’s extensive expertise as a security advisor to governments, international organizations, and private companies, this program features insights and expertise from world-renowned Harvard faculty and expert practitioners on transportation, dual-use infrastructure projects, and public-private partnerships.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

  • Deepen your understanding of all aspects of strategic planning in preparation and execution of a megaevent.
  • Evaluate operational, security, and coordination risks associated with megaevents.
  • Identify opportunities in legacy planning.
  • Develop frameworks and strategies for managing risks and opportunities.
  • Acquire critical skills in strategy execution.

Application Information

This program is designed for a wide variety of leaders preparing for megaevents in their cities:

  • Rising, mid, and senior leaders in government, including elected public officials
  • Business leaders and entrepreneurs
  • Industry leaders and technologists engaged in work around safety in public spaces and movement of people
  • Leaders who work in public safety or national or international security, and are engaged in policies around megaevents
  • International organizations, diplomatic officials, and members of international governments working to establish norms and policies around megaevents
  • Leaders of civic organizations, nongovernmental organizations, and nonprofits representing stakeholders in host cities

View the draft program schedule. Note that module titles, speakers, and sequence may change.

Hear From the Faculty Chair

Juliette Kayyem discusses the Major Events: Navigating Opportunities and Challenges executive program

 

Faculty

Juliette Kayyem Photo

Juliette Kayyem

Belfer Senior Lecturer in International Security

Archon Fung Photo

Archon Fung

Director, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation
Winthrop Laflin McCormack Professor of Citizenship and Self-Government

Linda Henry

Linda Henry

Chief Executive Officer, Boston Globe Media
Dustin Tingley Photo

Dustin Tingley

Thomas D. Cabot Professor of Public Policy, HKS and FAS

Robert Wilkinson Photo

Robert Wilkinson

Senior Lecturer in Public Policy and Leadership

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