2026 Elevate Leadership Development Program

Description

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April - October, 2026
San Diego, California

CalCSA is proud to present the Leadership Development Program - Elevate Child Support Leaders to Lift Families, specifically designed for our members in local child support agencies. In collaboration with Grays Peak Strategies, you are offered a six-month short-term program in 2026 aimed at enhancing leadership skills.

Program Expectations:      

For the best results, it is important to attend all sessions. It is critical to be present for the Elevate Orientation session as it sets up important details and expectations for the entire program. Each session builds upon the previous one so missing a session may be difficult.

Pre-Program

You will be asked by Grays Peak Strategies, the facilitators of Elevate, to complete a more detailed questionnaire about your experience and goals for the program, several leadership assessments, and other documents before the first session. All of these are integral to the program and your success. Please note the deadlines so that you give yourself ample time to thoughtfully complete each one.

Pre/Post Session

Between the scheduled sessions, please plan on spending one to two hours either on follow-up work from the session, pre-work before the next session, readings, your personal leadership development goals or meeting with peer groups. All of this will be clarified during the Orientation session.

Want to learn more?

Click here to view a recording of a previous information session
Password: d0#SS3bP

Program Schedule

*Notice: All in-person meetings will take place at San Diego DCSS 

(3666 Kearny Villa Rd., San Diego, CA 92123)

Meet the Facilitators

Veronica Riley:  Veronica has worked in various capacities in the county, state, and private sector. Most of her career has been devoted to the child support industry. She was the Assistant Director of the San Joaquin County Department of Child Support Services from 2017-2023. She has extensive experience in state and local government, policy development and implementation, and training. 

Maria Sturdivant: Maria is a seasoned public-sector leader and trainer with more than two decades of experience in child support operations, staff development, and organizational performance. Prior to her retirement, Maria served in multiple supervisory and leadership roles with the Alameda County Department of Child Support Services, where she was widely respected for her ability to coach teams, translate policy into practice, and build confident, and capable staff.  

Liz Bullard, Executive Consultant: Liz is an experienced executive coach and leadership development professional with over 30 years of experience focused on enhancing individual and organizational performance through effective communication. Liz partners with leaders to provide executive coaching, customized leadership development, facilitation, organizational development and team building solutions. She has over 20 years in various roles with the Colorado Judicial Department where she led the development of the Judicial Executive Development Institute for new and emerging leaders as well as the Judicial Executive Leadership Development Program for executive leaders.  She created and facilitated soft skill workshops for over 3500 employees in such areas as Facilitation Skills, Coaching/Mentoring, Team Building, Communication, Motivating Employees, Building Trust, Crucial Conversations, and Leading Change.

Liz was a Training Manager for Intel Corp where she created one of the first Supervisor Training programs for Plant Supervisors.  In addition, she served in Management Analysts positions with the US Air Force in Germany for five years as well as the US District Court in San Antonio, TX. She believes everyone leads from where they are in the organization.  Her philosophy is “Leadership begins with WHO you are and then moves to WHAT you do.”  Through assessments, feedback, facilitation and coaching she partners, supports and challenges individuals and teams to capitalize on strengths, increase trust, align goals and build collaboration all in service of reaching their highest potential. 

Liz holds a B.S. in Business Management from New Mexico State University and a M.S. in Systems Management from the University of Southern California. She is a certified professional coach through the Coaches Training Institute (CTI) and a credentialed Professional Certified Coach (PCC) through the International Coach Federation (ICF).  She is certified to interpret and facilitate multiple leadership assessments as well as being a certified Organizational Workshop facilitator.

Program Goals

The goal of the Elevate Leadership Development Program is to prepare and develop Child Support Professionals to adapt and grow their leadership skills. This program is ideal for any professional relatively new to their role (<1-5 yrs) and/or any professional interested in developing their leadership skills.

Registration Includes:

• Direct Supervisors of each Elevate participant will be invited to an optional 1-hour virtual orientation session prior to the start of the program to get an overview of the program and discuss ways they can play a key role in the participant’s success.
• Twelve classroom days spread over 6 sessions of the program including both in-person and virtual sessions
• All materials of the program during and after the program
• Three 1-on-1 virtual executive coaching sessions on leadership strategies
• Graduation ceremony

 Deadline to Register:   March 13th, 2026

FAQ

Fees

Registration Fee: $8,200

*The registration fee is subjected to be decreased based on the total number of attendees. You will be invoiced after the registration deadline with the total amount due.

Administrative Fee: $50

By completing this registration, you understand expectations and agree to fully participate in the Elevate Leadership Development Program. Upon registration, you will receive an email with more details from Grays Peak Strategies. If you have any questions, please contact Bradey (bresulta@csdaca.org)

Cancellation Policy

• Elevate registration may be canceled with full refund (less a $500 cancellation processing fee) provided written notification is received any time up until four (4) weeks prior to the start date.
• A 50% refund is available for Elevate registration provided written notification is received between two (2) weeks to four (4) weeks prior to the start date.
• An agency may substitute a participant for a registered participant up to two (2) weeks prior to the start date (less a $500 cancellation processing fee plus completed assessment fee).
• No refunds will be granted within two (2) weeks of the Elevate start date. In the case of emergency/extenuating circumstances, special requests may be considered on a case-by-case basis.
• A $450 non-refundable fee for completed assessments by a cancelled participant will be charged to the agency.
• Refund requests must be submitted in writing to: Claudia Cannizzaro at claudia@grayspeakstrategies.com AND administrative@csdaca.org