PPA Project Manager Anna Fischer Colby is among 24 individuals chosen in 2025 for the Michigan Political Leadership Program (MPLP). Program Fellows will participate in 10 months of bipartisan learning this year. MPLP, in Michigan State University’s Institute for Public Policy and Social Research (IPPSR), stands as one of the nation’s foremost organizations for training new leaders. It recruits leaders—equally divided between the major political parties—from around the state and sends them through training in leadership development, policy analysis, and the complexities of good governing.
Since its 1992 founding, MPLP has selected nearly 800 people to take part in weekend training. More than 50 percent of MPLP’s alumni are serving, or have served, in elected or appointed office.
“PPA has long been a supporter of MPLP and its important work—including providing practical policy and personal leadership development training. At no other time in our state’s history is bipartisan policy leadership more necessary than today,” says Dan Quinn, PPA’s chief strategy officer, who is also an alumnus of the program. Former PPA CEO, current Senator Sam Singh, and PPA affiliated consultant Gary Heidel are also program alumni.
Ms. Colby has extensive experience in public policy development, research, and evaluation. She focuses on food systems and anti-hunger policy and has additional experience in the areas of health care, housing, homelessness, and child care policy. Ms. Colby earned master’s degrees in public policy and in geographic information science and technology from the University of Southern California.