Left to right: Panelists at the Ready to Lead event in December 2025 included Jamie Melton Anderson, Councilor, Trussville City Council; Nick Sims, Councilor, City of Homewood; and Crystal Smitherman, Councilor, City of Birmingham.On a chilly day this past December, dozens of the newest elected officials in the Birmingham metro area got a warm reception at UAB’s Alumni House. In all, 38 mayors and city councilors from Jefferson and Shelby counties took part in Ready to Lead: Governing with Impact from Day One. The event offered an overview of public budgeting, ethics laws, public finance and communications considerations and connected attendees with a range of leadership development resources.

In a panel discussion, veteran city councilors offered their advice on getting along with each other, recognizing boundaries and making progress in their communities. Attendees were welcomed by UAB Provost Janet Woodruff-Borden, Ph.D., and heard from speakers including Peter Jones, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration, whose research focuses on public budgeting processes and financial management of local and state governments.

“What I was hearing from a lot of people in the room was, ‘I’m eager to learn everything I can,’” said Kristin Boggs, director of UAB’s Alabama Public Service Training Initiative, which was a co-sponsor of the event. “They said, ‘I am a citizen of my community, and I felt compelled to step forward and be of service; but there is clearly a lot to learn.’ We were hoping to meet them where they were, to affirm their call to public service and to jumpstart an ongoing pursuit of more knowledge.”

Professional development for public servants

APSTI was launched in 2025 in order to provide professional development for public servants and offer them a centralized hub for access to research from UAB faculty, to recognize the exceptional work done by public servants, and to expand the pipeline to public service by inspiring young people. This summer, APSTI will host its second weeklong camp for high school students who are interested in learning more about careers in public service. (Learn more about the camp, and how to apply, below.)

APSTI is supported by the Office of the Provost and the UAB Strategic Investment Fund. “Our mission is about promoting effective, efficient, responsive service to communities,” Boggs said.

Kristin Boggs, director of UAB’s Alabama Public Service Training InitiativeIn addition to events such as Ready to Lead, APSTI has created the Public Service Micro Credential Curriculum — a series of two-hour, in-person workshops that can be combined to earn a micro-credential. The first series, offered in fall 2025, focused on research and evaluation, including conducting surveys and visualizing data. In spring 2026, the curriculum will focus on “People-Centered Management.”

Elevating public service as a career path

Another element of the APSTI mission, Boggs explained, is to “elevate public service as a career path.”

During Public Service Recognition Week (the first week in May) and throughout the year, APSTI promotes “the stories of people who aren’t known — the unsung heroes whose work is vital and yet goes unrecognized,” Boggs said. “We want to show that public servants are doing really good work.”  That includes people such as LaTasha McMath, senior automotive parks clerk for the City of Bessemer, and Tim Lawson, executive director of Magic City Woodworks and a fire chief in the Hoover Fire Department. “We are telling the stories of public servants and trying to change the narrative of what people think about when they think of public servants,” Boggs said.

APSTI also helps high school students grasp the vast range of roles in government and nonprofit work through its Future Public Service Leaders Academy. “The goal is to get students excited about the careers they could have in public service and to help them learn what it means to be an engaged citizen,” Boggs noted.

APSTI piloted the academy in October 2025 with a weeklong program for nearly 30 students from Birmingham City Schools. Participants learned about public service values and careers through simulations of government meetings, service at a local nonprofit, Q&As with professionals working in public service and networking. (Hear from students about that experience in the video below.) Participants also got to engage in nonprofit case studies with representatives from Better Basics, Blazer Kitchen, Bundles of Hope and UAB Sustainability — “people who are solving public problems,” Boggs said.

“My favorite part of the program this week has been being able to interact with people from different backgrounds who help our community,” one student said. Another student commented that the experience helped her see “how many people really care about bettering our community and being engaged with us.”

This summer, the academy returns with a free, five-day camp from June 22-26 that is open to rising 10th, 11th and 12th graders across the Birmingham metro area. It will accept 25 participants. Apply here.

“The academy offers opportunities to practice and see what it looks and feels like to be an engaged citizen,” Boggs said. “We are working to build a pipeline of great public servants.”