James B Hunt JR Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy Foundation

Hunt-kean Leadership fellowsthe hunt-kean Leadership fellows (hk fellows) program brings together senior, state-level political leaders who have the skill and will to be effective, reform-minded education policymakers in their states with leading minds in education, Policy, and politics. The hk fellows curriculum is designed to equip participants with the knowledge, relationships, and inspiration they need to engage in critical conversations about equity and lead on education reform in their current roles and as they pursue higher office. Each cohort includes at least 20 hk fellows with each representing a different state and with the cohort maintaining a bipartisan balance.

Cross-state team engagementthe Hunt Institute continues to recognize the value of fostering both inter- and intra-state learning by convening state teams from across the country to discuss topics from across the education continuum. Our content teams have expertise in early childhood, k12, equity, and higher education. These convenings can be topical in nature, such as the 2023 literacy summit, or geared toward convening state teams comprised of governors' advisors/policy directors, state chiefs, higher education reps, legislators, and others to discuss topical issues addressing the education continuum.

State engagementthe Hunt Institute is currently partnering with Illinois, Missouri, new mexico, north carolina, north dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Virginia, and west Virginia to provide a series of programming designed to build the capacity of state legislators as they tackle the education challenges facing their states. In each of its partner states, the Institute hosts a state legislators retreat (slr) and offers ongoing learning experiences to legislators, such as regional visits to innovative and impactful programs across the country and/or a Policy discussion series that, over the shared experience of a meal, successfully connects a bipartisan group of policymakers with key national experts in education policy.our work with current and former governors culminated with a governor's education symposium in Utah. The Hunt Institute is currently conducting a scan of additional states as it looks to expand the slr model. New mexico was a new partner state for the Institute in fy2023.