JLO staff and subject matter experts (SMEs) contributed to the overwhelming success of the Institute for Security Governance’s (ISG) first iteration of “Securing the State: Building Institutions for National Security”, a four-week in-residence course, held in Monterey, California this summer. The course aimed to provide participants with the necessary knowledge and skills in Institutional Capacity Building to enable them to address the challenges with whole-of-government planning. Fifteen mid-to-senior level, interagency leaders from nine partner nations participated in the course. This enthusiastic group was comprised of four women and 11 men from a diversity of backgrounds including a president’s chief of staff.
There were two key features of the content for this course. First, to comply with the DoD Strategic Framework Implementation Plan of the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Act of 2017, JLO SMEs completed a review and revision of all 61 instruction modules, 11 simulation activities, and the Table-Top Exercise (TTX) to ensure that the curriculum included WPS topics and issues. Second, SMEs ensured that challenges and considerations concerning climate change were woven into the design of the TTX and the overarching scenario.
The course methodology featured expert presentations from ISG faculty, guest lecturers, and JLO SMEs, facilitated discussions, and small group activities. The curriculum was supplemented and reinforced daily in structured simulation activities surrounding a fictitious nation, where participants tested their knowledge and prepared for a final whole-of-government TTX. Participants also had the opportunity to discuss challenges in their professional lives during daily "coffee conversations". At the end of the course, participants presented possible approaches to resolving these challenges by incorporating themes from the group discussions and the curriculum.
Participants and instructors gather for afternoon "coffee conversations", daily peer-to-peer discussions where participants could share relevant challenges in their professional lives.
Participants working through one of the 11 simulation activities, which were synchronized with the academic topics of the day and coordinated with the final Table-Top Exercise.