Daniel Parrillo’s resume is filled with leadership experience.

He served as deputy chief of the Johnston Police Department for more than four years before joining the administration of Cranston Mayor Allan Fung in 2017. Late last year, he became Fung’s director of administration.

But he says a recent opportunity to further hone his skills will serve him well as he looks to continue his career in public service.

In September, Parrillo took part in a weeklong executive skill development program – titled “Driving Government Performance: Leadership Strategies that Produce Results” – at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

The cost of his attendance – roughly $9,000 in tuition and housing – was paid for through the Hassenfeld Family Foundation Rhode Island Public Service Fellowship.

According to the foundation’s website, the fellowship – for which one or two Rhode Islanders are selected each year to take part in one of eight programs at the Kennedy School – is designed to “support promising leaders working in public service in Rhode Island” and “provide enhanced public management training to individuals committed to the public welfare.”

“It was really intense, in-depth … I think it’s going to help me as a leader here,” Parrillo said of the experience.

Parrillo said he had previously applied for the fellowship on two occasions – once while still with Johnston Police, and again after taking on the new role in Cranston.

The program in which Parrillo participated ran from Sept. 22-27 and had 55 participants, including 17 international students. They came from various positions and agencies – employees of FEMA, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, for example, along with a city manager from California, the deputy chief of police from San Francisco and an airport official from Ethiopia.

“It was a wide variety of people with different experiences coming together … It was really thought provoking,” Parrillo said.

Parrillo said classes from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, followed by dinner, team meetings and preparations for the next day’s instruction. He said the work centered on the review of various case studies, with the primary takeaway being the importance of communication and a “mission-centric” approach in making local government effective.

“I think communication and building relationships were the two things … the foundation for any kind of leadership,” he said.

Parrillo said he intends to bring the lessons he learned during the program back to Cranston. The application of those lessons, he said, will take a number of forms – finding ways to serve more residents at the Cranston Enrichment Center, for example, or working to enhance the city’s permitting process.

“I think hopefully it’s going to have a trickle-down effect,” he said.

Looking ahead, Parrillo – who resides in Johnston – said he would like to return to the Kennedy School for additional training. He praised Fung as being “wholly supportive” of municipal directors pursuing professional training and development opportunities.

He also hopes to continue serving in local government in a capacity similar to his current role.

“I love the position I’m in right now. I love working for Mayor Fung … I think I’m best served in that [kind of] capacity as opposed to the private sector or anything else,” he said.