A federal public health agency recognized the need for soft skills to better execute its mission. A strategic target to bring in more staff that reflected its “minority” client base meant cultural competency would be critical for both internal and external collaboration. Human resources proved intractable, so we partnered with Terracon Consultants to build a voluntary leadership development program entirely within the line. We used cross-functional staff to create design teams and a governance board, and stepped in as program administrator. Goodies include: stakeholder communications, competency modeling, 360 assessment and coaching, process facilitation, e-modules and training, program evaluation, industry benchmarking, cohort management, leadership newsletters.