Applications for the 2025-2026 cohort for the ACCP Professional Leadership Development (APLD) program are now being accepted. The APLD program is designed to provide members with an opportunity to learn leadership principles within the framework of ACCP governance through the perspectives of both elected leaders and staff. Led by Directors Miranda Andrus, Pharm.D., FCCP, BCPS, and Marcia Buck, Pharm.D., FCCP, FPPA, BCPPS, together with established leaders within ACCP who serve as faculty and mentors, APLD will prepare participants for service as leaders within ACCP as well as the pharmacy profession.

The program will begin with an in-person session during the 2025 ACCP Annual Meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota, October 18 to 21, followed by 1 or 2 interactive 1-hour virtual sessions per month consisting of leadership topics and group discussions. It will be focused on ACCP core values and build on established leadership principles, including those from leadership texts used by the ACCP Board of Regents, which will then be reinforced and practiced through participation in the virtual sessions and capstone projects. The content will be divided into 4 sections:

• Creating a Leadership Foundation: Self-Discovery and Team-Building will begin with an in-person session to introduce participants to the program and provide them with the opportunity to meet their mentors and the members of their capstone project group while discovering how their strengths benefit them as leaders. Subsequent virtual sessions will include a discussion of the leadership tools used by the Board of Regents.
• Leadership within ACCP: Structure and Governance will focus on ACCP’s history, core values, mission, and strategic plan. Participants will learn about ACCP’s responsibilities as a professional association, compare the focus and governance of the 2 Boards within ACCP, and review the process for creating a strategic plan.
• Leading Teams and Change Management will build on the teachings in the first 2 sections to examine the traits necessary to provide organizational leadership and advance clinical pharmacy as a profession.
• Leading a Professional Association will focus on the participant’s role in leading a professional association and working with both staff and volunteer members. Participants will discuss the differences in leadership in the workplace, associations, and community as part of the process for developing the knowledge and skills needed to serve in leadership roles.

APLD members will also work in groups to complete capstone projects, assisting ACCP in achieving initiatives from the current strategic plan while also their honing leadership skills. These projects will be presented during a special session at the 2026 ACCP Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City to APLD members, faculty, and mentors, as well as members of the ACCP Board of Regents, senior staff, and members of the incoming APLD class. After the capstone presentations, members successfully completing the program will receive program certificates.

Associate and full members of ACCP who have served in an ACCP leadership position (eg, PRN officer or PRN committee chair, state or regional chapter officer or committee chair, ACCP committee chair or vice chair) or who hold a leadership role in their workplace and are interested in pursuing future opportunities, including elected office or other appointed roles in ACCP, are encouraged to apply. The program is provided without cost; however, participants will be responsible for obtaining the 3 books used in the program and for the costs associated with attending 2 ACCP Annual Meetings (2025 and 2026). The APLD application consists of a current curriculum vitae and a letter of intent focusing on the applicant’s leadership experience and future goals. Applications must be submitted by June 1, 2025. Applicants will be notified of acceptance on or before August 1, 2025. For questions about the ACCP Professional Leadership Development program, please email [email protected].