We The Leaders
57,218 people joined a statewide movement with the willingness, lived experience and desire to contribute.
Join a committed
community of
public leaders
in Tamil Nadu.
Build the skills, judgement and public record to lead meaningful work in your community.
Choose your starting point
Four doors.
One path into public life.
Start where you are today. Each route builds practical skills, field experience and the confidence to take your next step.
01
Get ReadyExplore public life and find the right place to begin.
Explore this route ↗
02
Get Into the FieldLearn organising, data, communication and ground operations.
Explore this route ↗
03
Prepare to ContestPrepare to contest with clarity, discipline and a public record.
Explore this route ↗
04
Lead OthersBuild a reliable team and help more people step into leadership.
Explore this route ↗
The Abdul Kalam Fellow journey
Two classrooms.
One real-world challenge.
Build your foundation, develop leadership capability and then apply it to a public problem over 100 days.
See how the journey works
01 · Classroom2 days
Foundation Course
Find your purpose and set your leadership intent.
02 · Classroom4 weeksLeadership Academy
Build capability through practice, evidence and feedback.
03 · Continued learning100 daysPublic Problem-Solving Lab
Lead a real challenge and demonstrate public impact.
Orientation→Capability→Practice→Public impact
Our vision
A bridge from a movement to prepared political participation.
We The Leaders brought tens of thousands of people to the starting line. The Centre equips them with practical tools, techniques and processes drawn from proven practice worldwide, so they can begin their political journey better prepared to engage the public.
The bridgeDr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Centre for Ethics and PoliticsTools · Techniques · Proven processes
- Orientation
- Capability
- Practice
- Public impact
Step into political life
Engage wider audiences with stronger judgement, practical tools and globally proven processes—adapted for responsible public leadership.
What makes it world-class
Built to the standard of the best public-leadership schools.
Published journey
Orientation, capability, practice and public impact are visible before anyone begins, with evidence reviewed at each stage.
World-class ideas, local practice
Methods drawn from leading policy schools and evaluation labs, taught through Tamil Nadu’s wards, panchayats and real field work.
Free and open
Programmes are free to attend and the reading is open to everyone. Cost is never a reason to be left out.
Tamil first, bilingual
Learning, tools and the ladder itself in Tamil and English — designed for the people it is meant to serve.
A movement is not the size of its list. It is the number of wards where someone trained, named and accountable actually lives.
Start reading
Nothing is gated. Every core resource is free to open and use.
Primer · Phase 01
How local government worksUnderstand wards, panchayats, municipalities and the decisions they make.
Guide · Phase 03
Build your first ward teamFind people, assign roles and begin useful local work together.
Video · Phase 07
Plan a ground campaignTurn voter-contact goals into an ethical, realistic field plan.
Know someone who should be in the room? Every ward has a person who already does the work and will never put themselves forward. Put their name in →
Newsletter
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One short email when there is something worth your time: the launch on October 15, programme dates, events near you and new reading.
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We’ll write to when there’s news. See you on October 15.