What is the Transit Alliance Citizens' Academy?
The program will host a maximum of 60 participants over 7 weeks to discuss the complex linkages between transportation, community development and sustainability.   These complexities and their relationship to the goals of the Denver Metro Region are uncovered in the program through a variety of speakers from the development community, public health sector, municipal government, the Regional Transportation District and many more.

The cornerstone of this unique program is that participants will take their new knowledge and put it in action.  Each session will be designed to be very interactive and participants will be asked to follow-up each session with a homework assignment.  In addition, participants will spend a portion of each class designing their individual action plan that they will implement in their community upon completing the Academy.

Why a Transit Alliance Citizens' Academy?
Metro Denver is emerging as THE learning laboratory for revitalizing our communities through the development of a multi-modal transportation infrastructure.  NO ONE else in the nation is doing what we are here in Denver.  Thanks to voter support of FasTracks in 2004, we will have more than 90 transit  stations in the metro region by the end of this decade.  FasTracks is the Denver metropolitan region’s most important public works project, and the area’s linchpin for regional livability and vitality far into the future.

Who Participates?
The Transit Alliance Citizens’ Academy is limited to a class of 60 who will be selected on the basis of demonstrated leadership ability and commitment to make future contributions to transportation,  community development, healthy living and improving the quality of life in Metro Denver.

Academy Graduates will:
•Actively educate other citizens about transit and its important linkage to sustainability in the Denver region.
•Actively educate others about transportation infrastructure investment.
•Develop and use active listening skills to bring shared meaning to vocabulary associated with sustainable transportation and community development.
•Actively gather, analyze and summarize relevant data.
•Develop new transportation expertise to enable them to take on expanded leadership roles in the region.

When will the Academy Meet?
The Academy will meet on Wednesday evenings from 6 - 9 p.m. for seven consecutive weeks. The fall 2010 Academy begins on Wednesday, September 8, 2009 and ends on Wednesday, October 20, 2010. Meetings will be held at the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, 1445 Market Street, 5th Floor, Denver, CO.

Selection Criteria:
• Participants should live or work in the Denver Metropolitan Region.
• Participants should represent a diversity of interests related to transportation and community development and have an interest in development around transit stations
• Demonstrated leadership qualities
• Ability to participate in all sessions
• Employer consent, where appropriate
• Reasonable representation by geography and by cultural diversity.

Funding:
Participants selected for this program will be provided scholarships from supporting organizations and/or Transit Alliance.   Forty-percent of participants are sponsored by Transit Alliance’s supporting organizations and the remaining 60% from the Transit Alliance’s general fund.  While there is no direct cost to participants, the per person cost of the Academy is $1,000.

Application Process:
Candidates for the Academy apply using the form available here and applications are being accepted and considered for the 2011 Spring Citizens' Academy. Contact Cady Dawson with any questions.