Home | Cooper Center | Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service

ACCESS. COLLABORATION. COMMUNITIES. IMPACT

Guided by these four values, the Cooper Center is reimagining what public service means, how the work is carried out, and who is included in the conversation. Through our research, leadership development programs, and local government engagement initiatives, we continue to work toward our vision of good governance, equity, and resilience in every Virginia community.

HSLP Applications Open: Apply Now

Sorensen Institute is now accepting applications for the High School Leaders Program. HSLP is a two-week program that takes place on the grounds of UVA. Participants who successfully complete the program earn three hours of graded college credit. Apply now.

Economic geography of Virginia

Hamilton Lombard, a demographer with the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, points out that Virginia has the largest income gap of any state in the country. In fact, 33 counties or cities in Virginia have a larger income gap with our wealthiest county than can be found in any other state.

Apply to a Local Government Equity Clinic

The Cooper Center and the School of Data Science offer Equity Clinics for local government practitioners in Virginia to help equip them with tools to promote good governance, equity, and resiliency.

Cooper Center Energy Transition Initiative

Strategic Plan: Reimagining Public Service

Through this five-year plan, the Weldon Cooper Center aims to build on our historical strengths, while joining forces with the increasingly diverse group of stakeholders and leaders working diligently to improve public life in Virginia and beyond. Through collaboration, innovation, inclusion, and attention to impact, we aim to engage the University in making the Commonwealth a national model for good governance and resilient communities. View the plan.