A semester of applied leadership learning culminates in a student‑led poster session
Students present and discuss a research poster on a whiteboard while a small group stands nearby and listens in a classroom setting..

Every semester, students in “PUBP 4140 – Foundations of Leadership” explore leadership through real-world application. Designed to prepare students to lead meaningful, sustainable change, the course examines leadership theories in complex, real-world contexts. 

A central component of the course is the development of a case study that students present in a poster session at the end of each semester. Working alongside community partners from the City of Atlanta, students examine contemporary social challenges and conduct research to gain an understanding of how to frame the problem and its complex, systemic causes– including economic, political, social, cultural, and individual influences. Each project incorporates leadership theories and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations as students develop realistic, practical recommendations designed to address the problem. 

As part of the Spring 2026 semester, the “Architects of Change: A Real-World Case Study” poster session brought students together to showcase their collaborative analysis and developed recommendations for complex social challenges. The event welcomed a cohort of students from the Institute of Science Tokyo (Science Tokyo) – a public research university in Tokyo, Japan – participating in Georgia Tech’s 2026 Global Leadership Training Program. 

Real-World Case Study topics this semester included, but were not limited to: 

  • Substance Abuse Treatment into Public Health Safety and Initiatives 
  • Expansion of Atlanta’s Urban Farm Program into Food Desert Neighborhoods 
  • Reducing the Financial and Regulatory Risk that Prevents Large Hospital Systems in Atlanta from Expanding their Role to Sustained Capital Investors and Permeative Supportive Housing 
  • A Regionally Coordinated, Transit-Oriented Development Model Integrating Affordable Housing and Economic Mobility 
  • A Unified Neighborhood Strategy to Address the Digital Divide in Education 

The session sparked meaningful conversation around contemporary issues and perspectives on leadership, including multi-disciplinary and systems-oriented approaches – all trademarks of PUBP4140’s mission to shape emerging global leaders and prepare them to approach future challenges with clarity, intention, and confidence. 

At its core, the course is grounded in a message that instructor Stacey Doremus hopes students carry with them beyond the classroom: 

Not only do we believe in your capability to make an impact, but we believe in your individual and unique capacity to serve the world. The world needs your contribution.

Students sit in a classroom while a presenter speaks at the front; Collin Delargy, Assistant Director of Housing Innovation Lab for the City of Atlanta, sits in the front row listens alongside the group.
Students sit in a classroom while a few students speak at the front of the room in front of a screen displaying a presentation slide.
A cohort of students from the Institute of Science Tokyo pose for a group photo in a classroom, standing and kneeling in two rows in front of a projection screen.