Make an Immediate Positive Impact with Harvard
Build the skills to lead change wherever you are in the world.
The Public Leadership Credential (PLC) is a flexible, fully online program designed to help you lead change in your organization, community, and beyond. Through six-week courses grounded in real-world challenges, you’ll gain practical frameworks and skills you can apply immediately—whether you’re leading teams, shaping policy, or driving change in your organization.
Why PLC?
Flexible Courses That Fit Your Career
100% online and self-paced, requiring just 10-12 hours per week.
Designed by Harvard Faculty
Rigorous curriculum from HKS faculty, built for working professionals.
Earn Lifelong Harvard Alumni Status
Build your global network and unlock HKS Professional and Lifelong Learning alumni benefits upon completion.
A Pathway to a Harvard Master’s Degree
Eligible completers may apply to select Harvard Kennedy School or Harvard Extension School master’s programs through a special PLC pathway.
Upcoming Course Dates
June 2026 Capstone
Course Dates: June 2–12, 2026
Registration Deadline: May 28, 2026
Fall 2026 – Session 1
Course Dates: Sept. 1 – Oct. 13, 2026
Registration Deadline: Aug. 13, 2026
Fall 2026 – Session 2
Course Dates: Nov. 3 – Dec. 15, 2026
Registration Deadline: Oct. 15, 2026
Looking for more information on the PLC?
Join a 30-minute information session to hear from faculty, staff, and alumni. Ask about registration and curriculum, and decide if the Public Leadership Credential is right for you.
The Public Leadership Credential is designed to deliver immediate value on its own—and for some learners, it can also serve as a pathway to a master’s degree.
Eligible Public Leadership Credential completers may apply to Harvard Kennedy School's MC/MPA or Harvard Extension School's ALM in Government through a dedicated pathway. If admitted, your PLC credits apply directly, reducing time and tuition. Both degrees include required on-campus time, connecting your online learning to an immersive Harvard experience.
How It Works: Six Courses Across Three Focus Areas
The Public Leadership Credential consists of six six-week courses in three curricular areas: Evidence for Decisions, Policy Design and Delivery, and Leadership and Ethics. Each curricular area includes two courses and offers engaging, collaborative educational experiences similar to those in our degree programs.
Public Leadership Credential courses are staffed by a team of subject matter experts who convey the instructional presence of our program's expert faculty.
“A” Courses: Build Your Foundation
Start with an A course in the curricular area of your choosing.
Leadership and Ethics: Moral Leadership in Personal Practice
Discover what moral leadership is and how you can leverage personal experience and values into your future practice of moral leadership.
Policy Design and Delivery: A Systematic Approach
Learn more about the foundations of policy design and develop techniques that empower you to design, analyze, and recommend effective policies.
Evidence for Decisions: From Descriptions to Decisions
See the world through a much clearer lens by learning how to leverage descriptive evidence, use analytical methods for complex problem-solving, and weigh the net benefits of decisions.
“B” Courses: Apply & Expand Your Skills
After completing an A course, you can either continue your learning with the B course in the same curricular area or register for an A course in another curricular area.
Leadership and Ethics: Moral Leadership in Organizations and Society
Acquire explicit goals and develop concrete next steps for beginning your practice of moral leadership within the implicit and explicit norms of organizations and societies.
Policy Design and Delivery: Innovation and Scaling
Expand your capabilities by learning how solutions scale and acquiring strategies that enable you to successfully navigate sensitive political and organizational obstacles.
Evidence for Decisions: Causes and Consequences
Gain essential tools to truly detect evidence of the impact policies have on the world and use these findings to craft stronger policies and programs.
Capstone Assessment
Upon successful completion of all six courses, the next step is to complete the capstone. It is the last requirement you must fulfill to receive your Public Leadership Credential.
Capstone Assessment
This cumulative online capstone project combines the tools and concepts gained across all your leadership training in the PLC, empowering you to apply your knowledge in real-world scenarios.
Whatever your goals for change in your community, job, or industry, the Public Leadership Credential offers a series of courses to help you improve your decision-making, leadership, and policy-making skills. Whether you register for one course or complete the entire credential, you will develop a toolkit of skills to take immediate action while you learn. The fully online program is a reflection of Harvard Kennedy School’s mission of improving public policy and public leadership to create societies that are safer, freer, more just, and more sustainably prosperous.
Where can the PLC take you?
Expanding Access, Transforming Systems: Nisreen Qatamish on Leading Cancer Care Reform
“One of the most meaningful outcomes was applying PLC principles to advancing sustainable, national-level public health reforms in Jordan. Using evidence-based analysis, coalition building, and strategic communication frameworks learned through the program, I played a key role in advocating for and contributing to the Government’s adoption of a national cancer insurance scheme that will extend financial protection and treatment access to 4.1 million Jordanian citizens.”
Begin Your Journey
Take the next step toward strengthening your leadership and policy skills with the Public Leadership Credential. Whether you are ready to register or are still exploring, we are here to help you move forward with confidence.