CSN’s Fiji Takeover: Leadership Meets the Pacific

CSN is bringing its leadership expertise halfway around the world. The college led the Fiji Executive Public Leadership Course, a two-week program that kicked off June 15 and ran through June 26, delivering world-class leadership training to military and civilian leaders from both Nevada and Fiji.

The course took place at Fiji National University’s Nasinu Campus, hosted by the College of Business, Hospitality, and Tourism Studies. Participants dug into topics like emotional intelligence, cultural awareness, groupthink mitigation and cognitive bias, all skills built to sharpen decision making at the highest levels of leadership.

CSN Business Department Chair Kevin Raiford and CSN Business Instructor Dr. Thomas “Andy” Shoffner led the academic content alongside Fiji National University Professor Dr. Jimaima Lako. The Nevada National Guard rounded out the instructional team, represented by Lt. Col. Chris Leroy and Lt. Col. Robert Kolvet.

The opening ceremony drew a notable crowd. The Honorable Prime Minister of the Republic of Fiji, Sitiveni Rabuka, attended alongside U.S. Embassy Suva Chargé d’Affaires John Degory and Fiji National University Vice-Chancellor Professor Unaisi Nabobo-Baba, along with other officials from both nations.

The partnership highlights CSN’s growing reach in international leadership education, connecting Nevada’s military and academic communities with counterparts across the Pacific. For faculty like Raiford and Shoffner, it’s a chance to bring CSN’s classroom expertise to a global stage, and for participants, a chance to build the kind of cross-cultural leadership skills that matter far beyond any one country’s borders.

More on the program, including additional coverage from Fiji National University, is available online.