We work with leaders to disrupt racism, inspire staff, and champion rigorous learning.
Our programs focus on cross-school cohorts and school-based support, often paired with individual coaching.
Pillars of Work
Antiracism
We support leaders to see themselves and their schools differently. Through brave conversation, they explore how to lean into their values to disrupt patterns of racism.
People
We guide participants to discover their most authentic selves and develop meaningful relationships with the people they lead. We do this through emotional intelligence and adaptive leadership.
Academics
We partner with leaders to raise the bar of rigor and cultivate the genius in students. Our approach to planning and data is model agnostic and works with any curricular vision.
Which Program Is For You?
DC Executive Leader Cohort
The DC Executive Leader Cohort is a nine-month, cross-school program focused on developing future school leaders of color in DC. Facilitated by our team and featuring top experts in their fields, we focus on adaptive leadership, technical leadership, and building community — all while understanding the role of race and racism in ourselves, schools, and society. The program includes:
One-on-one coaching
Peer collaboration
Customized leadership development projects
Practice-based sessions
Curated in-person gatherings
By the end of the program, participants will:
Notice and disrupt patterns of racism in themselves and in their schools;
Distinguish between adaptive and technical challenges;
Understand their leadership role in enabling change;
Gain a community of peers to increase leaders’ collective impact; and
Be ready to run a school or network as an executive director.
Who: Executive-level leaders in managing, director, director, head, and chief-level roles, and accomplished principals who have the potential to transition into executive-level leadership in the next 1-3 years are invited to apply.
How much: Tuition cost is $7,500. Apply by April 1st, 2024, for $6,000 early bird pricing!
Need more information? Review our EdEx program overview.
Apply: Applications for DC Executive Leader Cohort are now open. Click here to apply by April 22.
DC School Leader Cohort
"DC School Leader Cohort changed my life and my practice. The cohort reshaped my intentions around this work. All of the levers were new to me and greatly shifted my impact as a school leader."
— 2017 alumni member
DC School Leader Cohort is an 18-month, cross-school program focused on developing exceptional leaders in DC schools. Led by our team and an adjunct faculty of national experts, we focus on antiracism, people, and academic leadership skills through:
One-on-one coaching
Peer collaboration
360-degree feedback
Customized leadership development projects
Practice-based sessions
Two-day opening retreat
School visits
By the end of the program, participants will:
Notice and disrupt patterns of racism in themselves and in their schools;
Set conditions for those they lead to thrive; and
Create and maintain instructional systems to maximize student learning.
Program Details
Who: The cohort is open to DC-based principals, vice principals, assistant principals, deans, instructional coaches, or an equivalent role.
How much: Tuition cost is $18,000.
Need more information? Review our one-pager.
Apply: Applications for DC SLC are now open. Click here to apply by March 22.
Teacher Leader Cohort
"I really felt myself grow and change for the better as a leader and a person this year, under Erica and David's leadership and guidance."
— Matt Kerrigan, 4th grade math teacher, Mastery Charter Schools, Philadelphia
Teacher Leader Cohort is a 9-month, cross-school program focused on developing exceptional leaders. Led by our team, we focus on antiracism and people skills through:
Peer collaboration
Practice-based sessions
Group coaching
Connections with Teacher Leaders across the DMV
By the end of the program, participants will:
Begin to notice and disrupt patterns of racism in themselves and during one-on-one conversations; and
Set conditions for teachers on their immediate teams to thrive.
Program Details
Who: The program is open to teacher leaders, grade-level chairs, department chairs, or an equivalent role.
How much: Tuition cost is $1,500.
Need more information? Review our program offerings.
Apply: Applications for Teacher Leader Cohort are now closed. Sign up for our newsletter to stay updated on our programming.
AP Leadership Academy with DCPS
AP Leadership Academy is a 10-month cohort that develops DCPS Assistant Principals who are in their second year and beyond. Participants will grow their adaptive, equity-centered, and emotionally intelligent leadership skills.
Peer collaboration
Customized leadership development projects
Practice-based sessions
Curated in-person gatherings
By the end of the program, participants will:
Foster meaningful relationships with fellow Assistant Principals and key DCPS stakeholders to promote knowledge sharing, connection, effectiveness, and retention in the role.
Craft and communicate a compelling leadership vision.
Utilize principles of emotionally intelligent leadership to inspire others and manage conflict.
Address and make progress on complex adaptive challenges within their schools.
Develop new strategies and tools to increase equity and anti-racist practices in their schools.
Who: Interested applicants must be DCPS Assistant Principals in their second year and beyond. Applicants must have the support of their Principals, who will be surveyed for their recommendation. There is a brief application, and all participants will have a 30-minute virtual interview with questions provided in advance.
How much: Free of charge until 2025 due to the generous support of our funders.
Need more information? Read our info sheet.
Apply: Applications for AP Leadership Academy are now closed. Sign up for our newsletter to stay updated on our programming.
School Leader Professional Learning Community (PLC)
The School Leader Professional Learning Community, in partnership with Teach for America DC, convenes for 6 monthly sessions bringing charter and district leaders together to observe best practices and grow together through:
Peer collaboration
School visits
Practice-based sessions
Cross-sector collaboration and insights
By the end of the program, participants will:
Build connections with one another to sustain and thrive in their roles.
Participate in school site visits focused on emerging practices for feedback and improvement, both for the host school and the observing leaders.
Program Details
Who: This opportunity is open to all DC-area principals, with priority given to School Leaders in Wards 7 & 8 and TFA partners/alumni.
How much: Free of charge, thanks to the generous support of our funders.
Host schools will receive a $1,800 stipend.
Need more information? Read our One-Pager.
Apply: The Interest Form for our School Leader PLC is now closed. Sign up for our newsletter to stay updated on our programming.
Special Convenings
“[The Dual Language Practice Exchange] gave us a way of looking at how anti-Blackness is perpetuated in systems, where it comes from, and how it works so that we can tackle anti-Blackness in bilingual education. From that work, we changed our hiring practices. We ask in interviews what a candidate’s journey is in antiracism and anti-Blackness. If we don’t tackle antiracism and anti-Blackness in the hiring process, we are going to spend time and money doing that in our institution.”
— Dual Language Practice Exchange alumni
We bring school leaders together to create community and strengthen their leadership. We encourage brave conversation and center the expertise and experiences of leaders during these engagements. Recent special convenings include:
Leading When Change is Constant, a four-session, cross-city cohort, applying the concepts of adaptive leadership to the challenges leaders faced at the onset of the pandemic.
Antiracism Discussion Series, a gathering of leaders from across the country to discuss and act on relevant antiracism tenets.
Dual Language Practice Exchange, a six-session, cross-school cohort for dual-language school leaders, focused on building relationships and problem-solving for challenges in leading their schools.
High School Practice Exchange, a six-session, cross-school cohort for high school leaders in DC, focused on building relationships and problem-solving for challenges in leading their schools.
Open Special Convenings
There are no open special convenings at this time. Connect with us if you have an idea for a special convening and sign up for our newsletter to stay updated on our programming.
Customized Projects
We partner with schools and networks to build customized projects around antiracism, people, or academic needs. Projects begin with listening and understanding the nuances and opportunities of our partner schools and are individualized so participants can implement changes.
Recent customized projects include partnering with E.L. Haynes Public Charter School, Rocketship Public Schools, KIPP NorCal, and Meeting Street Schools.
Connect with us to start a customized project with your school or network, review our program offerings, and sign up for our newsletter to stay updated on our programming.
“School Leader Lab is a great partner to bring in for sustainability and the growth of our model. They helped us think through the leadership needs for expanding our enrollment and our campuses. We utilized School Leader Lab to increase staff retention and, ultimately, student retention.”
— Chelsea Kirk, Executive Director, Goodwill Excel Center, Washington, DC