UVA Darden Executive Education & Lifelong Learning

We are celebrating the successful conclusion of another International Foodservice Distributors Association (IFDA) Executive Development Program!

Over the past year, this exceptional cohort came together for two immersive modules, building the skills to think strategically, navigate change, make sound decisions, and lead with greater impact.

Congratulations to this outstanding group of leaders! Thank you for your curiosity, engagement, and commitment to learning. Wishing you continued success!

A budget conversation with a stakeholder who won't move. A vendor contract that needs one more concession. A direct report asking for more than you planned to give. These are the negotiations that make up a manager's week, and most people are winging them.

Our Strategic Negotiation program replaces that guesswork with practice. Over five days in Charlottesville, professionals from novice to experienced step into live, face-to-face negotiations with peers and build a style rooted in their own strengths, guided by negotiation experts Professor Marc Modica and Mario Moussa.

For talent development leaders, sending a manager here is an investment that will pay ongoing dividends. One negotiator who prepares well changes how a budget conversation goes, how a client relationship holds up under pressure and how a team resolves conflict without it escalating.

The next session runs from September 14-18 and there's still time to join. Learn more and register: https://www.darden.virginia.edu/executive-education/strategic-negotiation

As AI becomes increasingly embedded in daily life, some scholars and industry leaders argue that its next phase should be shaped by purpose.

For Roshni Raveendhran, who teaches in our Servant Leadership program, that means building AI that allows people and societies to flourish by supporting three fundamental psychological needs: autonomy, competence and meaningful connection with others.

Read more about how purpose-driven AI can foster human and societal flourishing: https://ideas.darden.virginia.edu/purpose-driven-AI-for-human-flourishing

Get to know Professor Ayana Younge, who teaches in our online Leadership Essentials program. An expert in leadership and organizational behavior, her research lies at the intersection of emotions, social hierarchy, and interpersonal processes; her passion for cultivating positive relationships at work are what drive her questions.

Ayana also studies how an organization’s social hierarchical context may play a role in shaping emotion perception within interpersonal relationships. Building on this, she has a growing pipeline of research on the impact of (in)authentic gratitude perception at work, and factors that influence the perception of emotional authenticity, broadly speaking.

Read more about her: https://www.darden.virginia.edu/faculty-research/directory/ayana-younge

Darden experts are exploring the balancing act between AI’s promise and perils through research on how AI systems promote human flourishing — and squash it.

Professor Roshni Raveendhran has found that people often feel safer venting to AI than to another person, since a machine carries no social judgment.

Professor Luca Cian has found something more unsettling. When AI treats someone unfairly, they become far less likely to call out unfairness elsewhere.

Both are asking the same question from different angles. As AI moves deeper into hiring, monitoring and daily conversation, what is it doing to our trust, our autonomy and our sense of right and wrong?

Read the full article: https://bit.ly/3RQEfqk

If you're building a leadership pipeline, technical skill was never the hard part. The hard part is teaching people to build trust, manage stakeholders and influence outcomes when they don't have formal authority over the room.

That's the exact moment where many high-potential employees stall. They get promoted for their expertise, then struggle the first time their success depends on getting buy-in from people they can't simply direct.

Our online, self-paced Collaboration and Influence program closes that gap. Over five weeks, your people work through stakeholder mapping, ethical principles of influence, strategic communication and negotiation prep, guided by Professor Bobby Parmar. Learnings are also reinforced through AI-powered simulations that let them practice high-stakes conversations before they're navigating the real ones.

Register today for our August 3rd start date: https://managementonline.darden.virginia.edu/programs/collaboration-influence/

Darden Professor Young Hou started a coffee company to answer a question CEOs can no longer avoid: what does it actually cost a business when its leader takes a public stand?

His latest research uses a real product, a real purchase decision and a surprising twist on what actually drives political consumerism. The findings challenge a common assumption about why consumers reward or punish a brand.

For any leader wondering whether staying quiet is still an option, this one is worth the read: https://ideas.darden.virginia.edu/how-CEO-activism-influences-consumer-choices

The Princeton Review's 2027 rankings are out and Darden has been ranked No. 1 for Best Professors for the third year in a row!🎉

“Being recognized once again for the best professors in the country is an extraordinary honor, but the breadth of these results tells an even fuller story — of exceptional teaching, a demanding and deeply supportive community, and people across Darden committed to helping students thrive. They are a testament to the strength of the School and the momentum carrying Darden into its next chapter," says Interim Dean Mike Lenox.

And it's worth noting that the same faculty shaping our degree programs also lead and teach in Executive Education, bringing that same excellence to every level of learning at Darden!

Read more about the 11 categories Darden earned Top 10 placements in this year: https://news.darden.virginia.edu/2026/07/15/uva-darden-earns-11-top-10-rankings-in-the-princeton-review-including-no-1-for-best-professors/