It’s been more than a year since Osage Nation Congressman Eli Potts completed a credentialed program in public policy at Harvard University, and he’s been busy trying to implement what he learned for the good of the tribe.
Potts is a passionate student of public policy and said there was not one moment during his Harvard studies that he wasn’t thinking about “how best to bring these lessons back to the Osage Nation, to improve how we address issues facing self-governance.”
Following his Harvard studies, Potts applied to another continuing education program—this one focused on Native leadership. He attended Leadership Native Oklahoma, an immersive, short-term class put on by the Oklahoma American Indian Chamber of Commerce that Potts described as “a great opportunity to visit with leaders throughout our region and state.”
Potts said he gained invaluable insights from both his regional, Native-focused education and the Harvard program, and he’s inspired to bring new ideas to Congress.
The Harvard Kennedy School of Government program, called the Public Leadership Credential, was “immersive, intense, and not for the faint of heart,” Potts said. In addition to the financial cost, which the Congressman paid for out-of-pocket, he committed to 20 hours of reading per week, and sometimes more.
“[It] was at times overbearing to complete while working as a Vice President for BancFirst and serving on the Osage Congress,” he said. “However, it was well worth it.”
His public leadership studies at Harvard helped Potts develop his governmental service skill set, through case studies of situations ranging from cultural barriers to corruption. With this analytical work in addition to mentorship from leaders, Potts has gained some insight on how world leaders approach public policy issues.
His Harvard mentors include a former economic development representative from the Afghan government, a human resources executive from a Fortune 500 company, an intellectual property attorney from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, a director from Arizona’s Department of Human Services, a public defender, and state government and labor leaders. The biggest takeaway from the Harvard program, he said, is that now when he faces a problem, he seeks to reframe it within a larger, bigger-picture problem.
Then, he sets about trying to break down the larger issues. “Learning how to strategically break that structure down has helped my career in more ways than I can count,” he said. “What is most impactful is learning strategies to reframe the problems being presented in a new light. This helps with how we approach problem solving and how we approach public policy in general.”
In his continuing education experience at Leadership Native Oklahoma, Potts joined legal professionals, businesspeople and politicians from across both sides of the aisle in a four-day-long course that takes place over several months.
The class is offered through the Oklahoma American Indian Chamber of Commerce and facilitates dialogues with Native business and tribal leaders as well as community partners. The Native-focused teaching was meaningful to Potts, he said, because he got to hear from a broad range of perspectives which were united to “advance tribal sovereignty, in business and for our people.”
After his recent educational experiences, Potts has felt honored and humbled. “I was honored to receive their confidence,” he said, speaking of when tribal and state leaders recruited him to apply for Leadership Native Oklahoma. “[I was] even more humbled when I was chosen to be a participant.”
He continued: “I wanted to participate [in Leadership Native Oklahoma] because I knew it would give me an opportunity to learn more about the economic impact that tribal governments have on the economy of Oklahoma. It was also beneficial to see how other Native-owned business leaders operate and have been able to be successful in their fields.”
Potts’ recent coursework is on top of a master’s earned from the University of Oklahoma in public administration, completed in 2015. He has served in Congress since 2018. In particular, he noted that he feels passionate about serving Osage small business owners.
“I have been able to bring ideas back,” he said. “My hope is that these ideas will one day be adopted.”
