The Leadership Academy

The Leadership Academy The Leadership Academy prepares educators to lead boldly, change systems, and expand what's possible for every student.

OUR VISION

We envision a nation where every school and school system is intentionally built to ensure children of every race, ethnicity, language, and other identity characteristics have what they need to achieve academic, social, and emotional success.

09/17/2026

Feedback is a critical part of how leaders support growth in others, but giving more of it isn’t always the answer. What matters is giving feedback that is specific, constructive, and focused enough to act on.

It’s also why feedback is so central to our approach to coaching and developing education leaders. Leaders need opportunities to receive and reflect on feedback themselves, while strengthening their ability to use it to support growth in others. Done well, feedback creates space to reflect on practice, make adjustments, and see the impact of those changes over time.

Maria Cristina Rodriguez, a recent participant of our NYC AP Academy, shares what that can look like in practice. By becoming more specific and intentional with the feedback she gave teachers, she saw a difference in how they responded and in student growth.

How are you making feedback a meaningful part of your leadership practice?

We’re celebrating a special full-circle moment for our President & CEO, Nancy B. Gutiérrez: her induction into the East ...
09/15/2026

We’re celebrating a special full-circle moment for our President & CEO, Nancy B. Gutiérrez: her induction into the East Side Union High School District's Thomas P. Ryan Hall of Fame, recognizing alumni whose leadership, achievements, and contributions inspire the next generation.

For Nancy, the honor brings her back to East San José, the community that shaped her and remains central to her life and work. A graduate of William C. Overfelt High School, Nancy grew up in a family with deep roots in East Side schools and later returned to serve the community as a teacher and principal.

That connection is also at the heart of "Stay & Prevail," the book Nancy coauthored to challenge the idea that young people must leave their communities to succeed. The book reflects a conviction rooted in Nancy’s own story: that communities like East San José should be places where young people can build the futures they envision for themselves.

As Nancy shared in reflecting on the honor: “Everything I’ve accomplished began with people in East San José who believed in me.”

Congratulations, Nancy, on this well-deserved recognition and an honor that brings your story back to where it began.

“Coaching is not about growing one person. It’s about becoming a system that believes in learning.”Last night, our Presi...
09/11/2026

“Coaching is not about growing one person. It’s about becoming a system that believes in learning.”

Last night, our President & CEO Nancy B. Gutiérrez returned to Santa Cruz, where she began her own leadership story as a University of California, Santa Cruz student, to deliver the keynote at the Santa Cruz County Office of Education’s Administrative Kickoff. The event brought together 150 administrators from across the county to start the new school year around the theme “Everyone a Coach.”

Nancy shared how coaching can become a powerful lever for learning and growth across an entire system, drawing from her own leadership experiences and The Leadership Academy's groundbreaking book, Coaching Education Leaders, of which she is a co-author.

Thank you to Santa Cruz County Superintendent Dr. Faris Sabbah and Associate Superintendent of Educational Services Dr. Marcia Russell for the warm welcome and for bringing together leaders from across the county for this important conversation. It was especially meaningful to see Nancy back in a community that holds such a special place in her own story.

Strong principals need strong support. That’s why developing principal supervisors is such an important part of strength...
09/10/2026

Strong principals need strong support. That’s why developing principal supervisors is such an important part of strengthening leadership across a school system and, ultimately, improving the learning experiences of students.

Our Principal Supervisor Actions That Transform Student Learning brings that work into focus. Grounded in our Leadership to Learning Pathway, the tool identifies the actions supervisors can take to strengthen principal leadership, connect district priorities to the realities of schools, and keep student learning at the center.

Download the free tool: https://www.leadershipacademy.org/resources/principal-supervisor-actions/

The tool also grounds our Transformative Principal Supervision program, where supervisors deepen their practice alongside peers from across the country. Our next cohort kicks off in just a few weeks and seats are limited!

Secure your spot now: https://www.leadershipacademy.org/services/transformative-principal-supervision/

Leadership vacancies may be inevitable, but scrambling to fill them doesn’t have to be.Strong leadership pipelines are b...
09/08/2026

Leadership vacancies may be inevitable, but scrambling to fill them doesn’t have to be.

Strong leadership pipelines are built intentionally, by identifying promising educators, investing in their development, and creating clear pathways into leadership roles across a school system.

That work can’t start when a principal, assistant principal, or system leader position opens. Developing strong leaders takes time. It requires opportunities to build the skills and experience needed for increasingly complex roles, along with a clear understanding of what strong leadership looks like across the system.

When districts make that investment, they build a deeper bench of talented educators who are prepared to step up when opportunities arise. They also create greater continuity across leadership roles, with people moving into new positions already grounded in the priorities and expectations that shape their system’s work.

How strong is your leadership pipeline today?

Explore how we partner with school systems to develop strong leadership pathways: https://www.leadershipacademy.org/services/aspiring-leader-pathways/

“What does it mean to make sure every single student gets what they need to be successful? How is the role of principal ...
09/03/2026

“What does it mean to make sure every single student gets what they need to be successful? How is the role of principal evolving? And how do leaders show up differently and shift systems to create the space for innovation?”

These are the questions our President & CEO, Nancy Gutiérrez, brought to the stage this past spring at SXSW EDU for a live podcast recording of "Tomorrow’s Principal: Don't Stop at Disruption." The full conversation is now live and available to listen to at the link below.

With co-host Gene Pinkard, President of Instruction Partners, Erika Hurtado-Valentino, Founding Principal of the Northwell School of Health Sciences, and Dr. Alex Marrero, Superintendent of Denver Public Schools, the panel brought together perspectives from across school and system leadership to tackle what it takes to lead when the work is changing in real time. They talked about making space for innovation without sacrificing stability, how the roles of principals and superintendents are evolving, and what leaders can do differently to move big ideas through a system in ways that last.

Listen to the conversation from SXSW EDU 2026 here: https://www.leadershipacademy.org/news/recording-now-available-tomorrows-principal-live-from-sxsw-edu-2026/

A new school year is a chance to think not only about what we want leaders to accomplish, but how we will support them t...
09/01/2026

A new school year is a chance to think not only about what we want leaders to accomplish, but how we will support them to grow along the way. Strong coaching creates space for leaders to reflect on their practice, push their thinking, and take on the challenges that matter most.

The Leadership Academy's groundbreaking coaching book, "Coaching Education Leaders," brings more than two decades of our coaching expertise to the page. Through our Facilitative Competency-Based Coaching method, it offers practical frameworks, strategies, and techniques coaches can put to work right away. Stories and scenarios from the field bring the approach to life, showing how powerful coaching can deepen dialogue and support leaders as they navigate complex challenges.

Whether coaching is your primary role or part of how you lead, "Coaching Education Leaders" offers new ways to deepen your practice and make every coaching conversation count.

Make stronger coaching part of your leadership this school year:
https://www.leadershipacademy.org/news/the-leadership-academy-shares-two-decades-of-coaching-expertise-in-new-book/

Our Staff Voices series continues with Ashley Brailsford, Director of Leadership Development.Since joining The Leadershi...
08/27/2026

Our Staff Voices series continues with Ashley Brailsford, Director of Leadership Development.

Since joining The Leadership Academy in 2021, Ashley has supported school and system partners across 11 states and Washington, D.C., helping ensure our professional learning and coaching align with partners’ goals and deliver meaningful results.

Ashley also helps turn partners’ needs into thoughtful proposals, project scopes, and plans, drawing on nearly a decade of experience in client relationships, strategic partnerships, and project management.

At the heart of Ashley’s work is a commitment to helping leaders prioritize students’ academic experiences while fostering “the aspirations of what every child hopes to become.”

Thank you, Ashley, for the thoughtfulness, partnership, and follow-through you bring to our work every day.

That wraps up our Staff Voices series for the summer! We hope you’ve enjoyed getting to know some of the outstanding people behind The Leadership Academy and the work we do alongside education leaders across the country.

What if the most important leadership development in a district isn’t only happening at the principal level?Principal su...
08/24/2026

What if the most important leadership development in a district isn’t only happening at the principal level?

Principal supervisors have enormous influence on how school leaders set priorities, navigate challenges, and grow. But the role itself can be complex, and the people doing this work need opportunities to sharpen their own leadership, too.

That’s where Transformative Principal Supervision (TPS) comes in.

TPS creates space for principal supervisors to step outside the urgency of the day-to-day and examine how they lead. Participants learn alongside peers, challenge their assumptions, and strengthen the way they approach one of the district’s most consequential relationships: the one between a principal and their supervisor.

Because developing principals starts with developing the leaders who support them.

Ready to invest in your principal supervisors? Our next cohort kicks off this fall and seats are filling fast—learn more here: https://www.leadershipacademy.org/services/transformative-principal-supervision/

Our Staff Voices series continues with Jess Cihal, Associate Vice President of Learning & Strategy, who has spent more t...
08/20/2026

Our Staff Voices series continues with Jess Cihal, Associate Vice President of Learning & Strategy, who has spent more than a decade helping school systems turn big ideas about leadership development into structures that work.

Since joining The Leadership Academy in 2012, Jess has partnered with school and system leaders across more than a dozen states to build pathways for teacher leaders, assistant principals, and principals.

She knows the work is landing when she hears leaders reflect back an idea at the heart of her approach: data comes from people. Behind every data point are real stories and experiences from classrooms and hallways, and listening to those stories is essential to building stronger systems.

Before joining The Leadership Academy, Jess spent six years at a K-12 school in San Antonio, following early-career education experiences in Eastern Europe and Central America.

Thank you, Jess, for the insight, rigor, and heart you bring to our partners, our team, and the work every day.

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