September 2, 2025 – May 22, 2026
In a time when so much is divisive and uncertain, we need public leaders who remind us that connection is power and sharing your genuine self is strength.
Clergy and public speakers, activists and politicians, dancers and sex workers, stand-up comedians and actors—everyone in the public eye—must learn how to actually show up authentically in order to lead well. This is the work of public intimacy—paid labor in which people bring a real, private self into public view. Whether through emotion, spirituality, physicality, or a combination of them, these kinds of leaders share something real with their audiences, creating an intimate, and perhaps transformative, connection.
This work can be profoundly demanding as well as rewarding. Fame, whether it is a matter of being known at the grocery store or dealing with paparazzi at the airport, complicates one’s ability to just live freely in the world. Being known publicly while struggling to have a private self can result in changing careers, burnout, and self-destructive actions. Those of us who do this work have to learn how to share an authentic self, manage our vulnerability and risk, and hold good boundaries in order to thrive in these roles.
This 9-month cohort offers a structure for your development as a leader who works in public intimacy. Learners will meet synchronously two times per month (1st and 3rd weeks) for two hours to learn and discuss aspects of performance, intimacy, authenticity, and work from your own experience. Personal and group journaling prompts between the weeks will provide additional opportunities for reflection and integration. Additionally, each learner will have the opportunity for two 50-minute coaching sessions with cohort leader Rev. Adam Robersmith, DMin, PhD, a scholar-practitioner leading and training in this exciting new field of Leadership Studies.
This cohort will help you to understand the public intimacy work you do, examine how you do it well and how you struggle, and develop strategies for strengthening your ability to thrive in your work. Upon completion of the cohort, learners will be able to access a transcript that notes 60 hours of learning and conferring completion of this unique Leadership Studies certificate program.
