The state site programs provide the heart of a Fellow's experience in EPFP. EPFP™ provides a common mission and core values, but within those each site is free to, and is encouraged to, create a unique program. Each site tailors its program -- its guiding objectives, content and participants -- to a particular locale, political and social culture, constituency, and set of policy problems and pressures.

Site coordinators design programs to provide a unique mix of learning formats and opportunities (seminars, site visits, book clubs, electronic discussion groups, etc.) according to schedules designed to suit local needs (one day-long training session per month, two four-hour meetings per month, weekend gatherings, etc.). Each site organizes a program designed to maximize the Fellows' learning experience, focusing on the professional needs and interests of participants and capitalizing on local assets and site coordinators' resources and expertise. Program events enable Fellows to examine such issues as effective leadership, implications of demographics for policymakers, the role of interest groups in the policymaking process, delivery of comprehensive services to youth and their families, and collaboration as a strategy and leadership skill.

Most sites begin the 10-month program year with an inaugural event, such as a retreat, for the purposes of orientation, leadership assessment, identifying learning priorities, setting ground rules and building group cohesion. Programs generally begin in the fall, run for approximately 10 months (building on the two national meetings) and culminate in a summer graduation ceremony. While EPFP™'s 12 state sites operate independently, they are linked by collective goals and objectives, a common curricular framework, and joint national activities.

Learning Formats
Fellows participate in varied programs that enable them to develop and refine their leadership capacities and learn about policy. Program sites use some or all of the formats listed below to enhance the learning opportunities provided to Fellows:

• standard seminars;
• salons and small-group discussion techniques;
• informal dialogues with critics and advocates, doers and thinkers;
• site visits to the state capital and exemplary programs;
• group work and special projects;
• simulations, case studies, workshops, book clubs and discussions;
• overnight retreats at the beginning and end of the school year;
• prominent speakers and panels of experts;
• listserve discussions and other forms of electronic dialogue and conferencing; and
• co-sponsored sessions with other leadership development activities