The Hart Leadership Program is a distinctive Sanford School of Public Policy program offered to all Duke University undergraduates, including public policy students. With guidance from innovative faculty, it challenges students to practice the art of leadership in public life.
Our Approach
- Courses give students analytical frameworks for grappling with the problems facing our global community.
- Immersion experiences outside the classroom help students see how policy works in the real world.
- Writing and discussion challenge students to reflect critically on their experiences and make sense of them.
- One-on-one mentoring helps students develop the skills, confidence and motivation to translate their learning into action.
Sample Classes
Preparing Public Leaders
"Through innovative teaching and thoughtful community engagement, the Hart Leadership Program has inspired generations of Sanford students to pursue worthy public purposes.” – HLP Director Andrew Nurkin
2024-2025 Hart Fellows
Since 1995, 113 graduating seniors or recent Duke graduates have been awarded the Hart Fellowship. Hart Fellows partner with community organizations around the globe and throughout the US for a 10-month fellowship. The goal of the Hart Fellowship is to create a mutually beneficial, sustainable and ongoing relationship between young leaders and communities. Together, they address complex challenges in innovative ways, allowing the fellows to develop their own vision of ethical leadership.
Ashley Bae
Ashley will spend her Hart Fellowship year in Oakland, California, working to better understand and amplify multi-racial and intersectional coalition building in the reproductive justice movement, with a focus on Asian American mobilization. Through immersing herself in a city with such rich and diverse community organizing history, Ashley hopes to contribute to and learn from the Oakland community in meaningful and energizing ways.
Ayesham Khan
Ayesham double majored in public policy and visual art. They are a passionate artist who has done extensive work in multiple media, including puppetry, theater, drag, spoken word, weaving and painting among others. During their Hart Fellowship, Ayesham plans to bring their artistic voice and storytelling experience to “advocate for the reproductive and health care rights of gender-marginalized communities.”
Corali Francisco-Zelkine
Through the Hart Fellowship, Corali will be traveling to Bahia, Brazil – at the Instituto Cultural Bantu (ICB) – to explore further her interests in education, community, and social justice. This community-based and community-led organization focuses on youth support and racial justice through mentorship, academic tutoring, and Afro-Brazilian cultural practices such as capoeira Angola. During her fellowship, Corali plans to carry out another ethnographic project looking at how the programs offered at the ICB promote community-building and empowerment.
Khilan Walker
During his Hart Fellowship year, Khilan plans to partner with Durham Success Summit. He aims to craft a new curriculum for both teachers and students, with the goals of cultivating inclusive classroom environments for minority students. He has also participated in the Service Opportunities in Leadership (SOL) and Patman Political Engagement Project programs through the Hart Leadership Program at the Sanford School of Public Policy.
Rishab Jagetia
As a recent graduate, Rishab will spend his Hart Fellowship building upon his undergraduate thesis research by investigating how the energy transition is impacting rural, indigenous populations in La Guajira, Colombia. Specifically, he will study how local populations define human flourishing and sustainable development and how these definitions should influence environmental and economic policy frameworks in the country.