LaLonde, mayor's chief innovation officer, appointed associate dean in College of Leadership & Public Service
Kim Chaudoin | 615.966.6494 |
Lipscomb University’s new College of Leadership & Public Service has appointed leadership and political expert Kristine LaLonde, chief innovation officer for the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, associate dean for innovation and community impact.
LaLonde, who has worked to support innovative people and practices in Nashville’s Metro Government and in the wider community, will help launch the college’s new School of Public Policy, which is set to launch next fall.
“Innovation is key to a university and its larger community staying relevant and making a profound impact on those who are part of it,” said L. Randolph Lowry, Lipscomb University president. “With Dr. LaLonde’s expertise and vision, we have an opportunity to continue moving Lipscomb University toward status as a national model for university-community partnership for the public good.”
Nashville’s Office of Innovation, led by LaLonde, has been recognized by Living Cities, a coalition of the nation’s largest foundations and financial institutions, as one of three cities leading the acceleration of innovation in municipal government. Nashville Mayor Megan Barry said LaLonde has had a profound impact on the city and will continue to do that in her new role at Lipscomb.
“Kristine has been a friend, a neighbor and a colleague over the years, and I’ve been incredibly impressed by her drive and determination to make a difference in our city,” said Barry. “While I’m disappointed to be losing Kristine in the mayor’s office, I’m heartened to know that her new role at Lipscomb will allow her to remain focused on finding new and innovative ways to improve how our government functions and our overall quality of life.”
LaLonde said she looks forward to being part of Lipscomb’s new College of Leadership & Public Service, which includes the Nelson & Sue Andrews Institute for Civic Leadership, which launched Leadership Tennessee along with its other signature community programs, produced with local, regional and statewide partners, including citizen leadership academies on critical issues such as transportation, community leadership programs, customized leadership development and online resources. It also includes institutes in conflict management, sustainable practice, and law, justice and society that create a unique academic model that blends academics and community impact as its core component.
“Building teams that combine passion and pragmatism to create lasting change has been the driving force in my career in politics, government and teaching,” said LaLonde. “I am thrilled to help build a new college at Lipscomb that recognizes the complexity of the challenges we face and is devoted to supporting public servants as they grow as thinkers and doers.”
Barry said Lipscomb’s College of Leadership & Public Service is another way the university will continue to make a positive impact on Nashville.
“Lipscomb University has become a crucial player in helping to address the challenges and opportunities our city faces,” said Barry. “From its participation in our work with neighborhoods to its welcoming of immigrant students, Lipscomb has served Nashville well. I look forward to the city’s further partnership with Lipscomb through the College of Leadership & Public Service and to our work together to bring innovation to Metro government.”
In her new role, LaLonde will continue to facilitate Ideas to Reality, an innovation incubator in partnership with the Nashville Entrepreneur Center, that supports cross-departmental teams of local government employees who take on some of the community’s most challenging issues.
“Lipscomb has a track record for providing the skills and knowledge that leaders from all sectors need to create collective action for complex problems. I am looking forward to helping to build on that foundation to empower and educate a new generation of public leaders,” said LaLonde.
A former member of the Metropolitan Council of Nashville and Davidson County, LaLonde has been on faculty at Belmont, Mount Saint Mary’s and Howard universities. She also served as communications and outreach coordinator for the Harold Ford Jr. U.S. Senate campaign in 2006, and established the Honors Leadership Studies program at Belmont.
“The mission of the College of Leadership & Public Service is to provide a safe haven for emerging and current leaders to learn and practice finding common ground, to create solutions and to implement sustainable positive change,” said Steve Joiner, dean of Lipscomb’s College of Leadership & Public Service. “Dr. LaLonde has unique experiences that will help our new college, and its new initiatives, quickly grow into a place that becomes the model for developing the next generation of leaders serving their communities.”
LaLonde has a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. in history from the University of Virginia. She is president of the Friends of the Library of Nashville and Davidson County, is a former commissioner for the Metropolitan Social Services Commission and has been a part of Leadership Nashville.
About the College of Leadership & Public Service at Lipscomb University
The College of Leadership & Public Service is a college to help shape and practice a different approach to leadership and public service. It provides a theory-to-practice approach to graduate and undergraduate education through its institutes and School of Public Policy. Growing out of the belief that leadership and service must integrate outstanding education with engagement in community, the college is a national leader in connecting education to practice for its students. It also includes the Nelson & Sue Andrews Institute for Civic Leadership and institutes in conflict management, sustainable practice, and law, justice and society. For more information visit leadership.lipscomb.edu.