State Legislative Leaders Foundation

What State Legislative Leaders Foundation does

The State Legislative Leaders Foundation (SLLF) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization founded in 1972 and headquartered in Marstons Mills, Massachusetts. It is dedicated exclusively to professional development for U.S. state legislative leaders—Speakers of the House, Senate Presidents, Majority Leaders, Minority Leaders, and Leaders Pro Tempore—across all 50 states. SLLF operates no technology products; its core deliverable is a recurring calendar of in-person conferences and educational programs, including the Spring and Fall Leadership Summits, the National Speakers Conference, the Conference of State Majority Leaders, the New Speakers Orientation, the Melissa Hortman Emerging Leaders Program (delivered at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business), international programs, and state-specific workshops on civility, ethics, and coalition building developed in partnership with the National Institute for Civil Discourse.

SLLF's portfolio is structured around an annual event cadence plus on-demand state-level engagements. Programs are delivered at university campuses (UVA Darden, Stanford), conference venues, and partner sites (The Carter Center), drawing 30–45+ leaders from 25–35 states per program. The organization partners with the Darden School, the Center for Effective Lawmaking (Vanderbilt/UVA Batten), NICD, and the American Swiss Foundation to extend its curriculum without proportional headcount growth. Total staff is in the 11–50 range, led by President Stephen G. Lakis, Director of Curriculum Development and Research Thomas H. Little, Ph.D., and Director of Strategic Outreach Kate Levin.

As a nonprofit, SLLF does not disclose revenue; it is funded through a mix of membership support, event/program fees, and corporate partnerships. No public API, proprietary technology platform, or AI/ML capabilities are offered—the organization is an events- and content-driven nonprofit whose principal asset is a 50-year-old cross-partisan community of sitting state legislative leaders.

Name

State Legislative Leaders Foundation

Legal name

State Legislative Leaders Foundation

Website

https://sllf.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1972

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The State Legislative Leaders Foundation (SLLF), founded in 1972, is a nonpartisan nonprofit that delivers annual conferences, leadership summits, and specialized workshops to state legislative leaders across all 50 U.S. states.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Government Leadership Professional Development

NAICS

Political Organizations (813940), Executive, Legislative, and Other General Government Support (9211), Executive and Legislative Offices, Combined (921140)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Management Services (8741)

akta.pro primary industry

Executive Leadership Summits (C-Suite, Board, Strategy Offsites) (THAHAMAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Think Tanks, Policy Research & Public Policy Institutes (BPAGAFAO), Public Policy, Public Administration & Nonprofit Management Schools (within Business Schools) (EDAHAHAK)

Keywords

• Legislative leadership training
• Professional development programs
• Government leadership education
• Nonpartisan policy forums
• Public policy conferences

Headquarters

HQ city

Centerville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership and Program Fees: SLLF operates as a nonprofit organization serving state legislative leaders through educational programs. Revenue is generated through membership support, event registration fees, and potentially corporate sponsorships for programs.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The State Legislative Leaders Foundation (SLLF) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that provides professional development programs for state legislative leaders across all 50 states. Its core offerings include annual leadership summits, conferences, orientations, and specialized programs such as the Melissa Hortman Emerging Leaders Program held at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business, covering public policy, leadership skills, civility, ethics, and bipartisan collaboration.

Product overview

The State Legislative Leaders Foundation (SLLF) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization offering a portfolio of professional development programs for state legislative leaders. The core offerings include annual conferences (National Speakers Conference, Spring Leadership Summit, Fall Leadership Summit, Conference of State Majority Leaders), specialized orientations (New Speakers Orientation), the Melissa Hortman Emerging Leaders Program at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business, international programs, and state-specific workshops on civility, ethics, and coalition building developed with the National Institute for Civil Discourse. All programs focus on objective examination of public policy issues and essential leadership principles across partisan lines.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Melissa Hortman Emerging Leaders Program: An annual program at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business for emerging state legislative leaders, recently renamed in honor of Speaker Melissa Hortman.
• Conference of State Majority Leaders (CSML)
• National Speakers Conference
• New Speakers Orientation
• Leadership Summits (Spring and Fall)

Products and services

• New Speakers Orientation

Quantifiable outcome

• SLLF's Emerging Leaders Program graduates have been selected for prestigious leadership programs, with 5 graduates selected for the Governing Institute Women in Government Leadership Program (out of only 10 legislative participants)

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• National Institute for Civil Discourse (NICD)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSLLF formed a partnership with NICD to develop programs and workshops offered to state legislative leaders across the country focused on civility, ethics, and coalition building. Sessions include civil engagement workshops, training for new members, ethical behavior conversations, and coalition building exercises.
• The Darden School of Business (University of Virginia)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSLLF partners with the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business to deliver the annual Melissa Hortman Emerging Leaders Program. The program offers rising state legislators expert faculty instruction and leadership development at the Charlottesville, Virginia campus.
• Center for Effective LawmakingminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-sponsored by Vanderbilt University and University of Virginia Batten School, CEL offers interactive sessions on strategies and tools for being an effective legislator, including defining agendas, building coalitions, and engaging partners within and beyond the legislative institution.
• American Swiss FoundationminorGTM or Marketing PartnerThe American Swiss Foundation's annual Young Leaders Conference brings together 50 rising star Americans and Swiss for a week in Switzerland of intensive discussion and exchange. SLLF shares information about this opportunity with legislative leaders for potential participation.
• The Carter CenterminorOthersThe Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia serves as a venue for SLLF's Fall Leadership Summit events.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Aspen Institute: Nonpartisan educational and policy studies organization running high-profile leadership programs (e.g., Aspen Strategy Group, Rodel Fellowships). Comparable because it convenes senior leaders across sectors with nonpartisan, residential-style executive programs analogous to SLLF's leadership summits.
• National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL): Larger, established nonpartisan organization serving all state legislators across the U.S. NCSL is comparable because it offers professional development, convenings, and policy research for state legislative leaders, the same core audience SLLF serves, but at a broader scale and with a wider mandate.
• The Council of State Governments (CSG): Multistate, nonpartisan association serving all three branches of state government, including legislators, executives, and judges. Comparable because it provides leadership development, policy research, and convenings targeted at the same state-level public officials SLLF serves.
• National Governors Association (NGA): Bipartisan organization providing policy and leadership development for U.S. governors. Comparable because it is a parallel nonpartisan leadership-development organization serving a related but higher-level set of state political leaders, with similar convening, training, and partnership models.

Regional players

• National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP): Nonpartisan professional organization for state health policy leaders. Comparable because it provides similar convening, training, and technical assistance for a specialized subset of state policy officials, operating with a similar nonprofit, nonpartisan, education-and-convening model.

Emerging players

• American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC): Membership organization of state legislators focused on policy development. Comparable because it also convenes and provides programming for state legislators, though via a more conservative, ideologically aligned model versus SLLF's strict nonpartisan posture.
• United States Association of Former Members of Congress: Nonpartisan organization for former U.S. members of Congress focused on civic education and leadership. Comparable because it shares the nonpartisan, leadership-development, and convening model with SLLF, targeting an adjacent audience of elected officials and political leaders.

Others

• Darden School of Business Executive Education (University of Virginia): Executive education arm of UVA's Darden School hosting leadership programs. Comparable because it is the institutional partner that hosts SLLF's flagship Melissa Hortman Emerging Leaders Program, providing curriculum and faculty in an analogous high-touch executive-education format.

Direct peers

• National Institute for Civil Discourse (NICD): Nonpartisan organization focused on civility and effective governance in American political life. Direct peer because NICD is an actual SLLF strategic partner delivering joint civility, ethics, and coalition-building workshops to state legislators, operating in the same content and audience space.
• Center for Effective Lawmaking: Joint Vanderbilt and UVA Batten School initiative providing research and training on effective legislating. Direct peer because it co-sponsors SLLF programming, working with the same audience on legislative effectiveness, coalition building, and agenda setting.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/SLLForg
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Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about State Legislative Leaders Foundation