Over the coming year, individuals selected for the program will participate in a variety of experiences that comprise the NBOA Leadership Academy. Some of the experiences will take place during an in-person program in September in Nashville, as well as in-person during the 2026 NBOA Annual Meeting in Orlando; others will be whole group learning sessions via Zoom; and others will take place in the context of mentor groups or direct mentor/mentee relationships and individual reflections. The experiences are chronologically outlined below, highlighted by color to provide an overview and the progression of the program.
Please note that attending the following two in-person portions of the program are pertinent to the overall learning process of the Leadership Academy. As such, individuals selected for the Leadership Academy will be required to attend both in-person portions of the program.
All individuals selected for the Leadership Academy will be automatically registered to attend the Nashville in-person program. While most meals are covered as part of the program, please note that participants will need to cover their own travel costs and expenses. For more information, including the location of the Nashville meeting, please visit the hotel and travel page. Additional information, including a detailed agenda will be provided in advance of the program.
*A separate registration for the 2026 NBOA Annual Meeting taking place in Orlando, FL is required. Leadership Academy participants will be asked to register when conference registration opens in October 2025. Please also note that Leadership Academy participants must cover their own travel costs and expenses. More detailed information will be provided in advance of the program.
| Color Key | |
|---|---|
| Gray = Mentor/mentee meeting | Red = Mentor group gatherings deadlines |
| Blue = Full cohort online gatherings | Yellow = Individual elements or deadlines |
| Green = In-person gatherings (in Nashville & Orlando) | |
Please note: This is a tentative outline of the experience. Topics, speakers, dates, and/or times are subject to change.
| Date | Gathering / Event / Experience |
|---|---|
| Prior to Jul. 23 | Mentor / Mentee Introductions via Zoom |
| Jul. 23, 2-4 PM ET | Program Full Cohort Orientation & Learning Session #1 with Patrick Schuermann: Leadership Fundamentals, Frameworks & Metaphors-Part 1 |
| Prior to Aug. 20 | Mentor Group Gathering #1 |
| Aug. 20, 2-4 PM ET | Whole Group (online): Learning Session #2 with Patrick Schuermann: Leadership Fundamentals, Frameworks & Metaphors-Part 2 |
| Sept. 3-5 | In Person: Nashville Learning Sessions
|
| ~Sept. 10 | Mentor Group Gathering #2: Finalize Group Project Topics |
| Oct. 8, 2-4 PM ET | Whole Group (online): Learning Session #10 with Patrick Schuermann & Jennifer Hillen: Returning to and Leveraging Our Learning in Nashville |
| Nov.-Dec. | Mentor Groups: Gather as a team as needed about group projects |
| Nov. 12, 2-4 PM ET | Whole Group (online): Learning Session #11 with Quinton Walker: Courage as a Skill for Restorative Leadership |
| Dec. 3, 2-4 PM ET | Whole Group (online): Learning Session #12 with Sarah McIlroy: Innovation in Support of Individual & School Growth |
| Dec. - Jan. | Mentor Groups: Gather as a team as needed about group projects |
| Feb. 4, 2-4 PM ET | Whole Group (online): Learning Session #13 with Donna Orem: Leading Through Polarities |
| Mar. 1, Approx. 1:30-3:30 PM ET | Annual Meeting in Orlando: Pre-Conference Learning Session #14 with Howard Teibel: Innovation as an Organizational Practice |
| Mar. 2, Approx. 1:30-2:45 PM ET | Annual Meeting in Orlando: Leadership Academy Deep Dive Presentation and Poster Session |
| Mar. 2-4 | Annual Meeting in Orlando: Leadership Learning Track |
| Mar. - Apr. | Mentor / Mentee Meetings |
| Apr. 1, 2-4 PM ET | Whole Group (online): Learning Session #15 with Tim Fish: Leading with Strategy |
| Before Closing | Mentor / Mentee Year-end Meeting |
| May 6, 2-3:30 PM ET | Whole Group (online): Closing Session |
These introductory virtual sessions, led by Patrick Schuermann, will allow participants to explore a few select principles of leadership that will provide a foundation for the Leadership Academy experience. Grounded in these principles, participants will share their own leadership experiences and identify a professional goal to pursue during the course of the Academy.
This Nashville session, led by Krystal Clark, leverages participant results from the Clifton Strengths assessment to explore the ways we frame our work, and how awareness of the “balconies” and the “basements” associated with our strengths can be powerful catalysts for personal growth and team effectiveness.
This Nashville session, moderated by Jeff Shields, provides an opportunity for the Leadership Academy mentors to share an array of insights, experiences, and considerations about leadership with each other and program participants.
This Nashville session, facilitated by Patrick Schuermann, enables participants to explore the essence of independent school leadership by engaging in a bit of team-based artistic creation and ideation.
This Nashville session, facilitated by David Owens, provides a framework for participants to understand how their own “innovative style” intersects with the process of innovation, and illuminates how groups might approach the creative process most strategically.
This Nashville session, led by Andy Van Schaack, describes the different approaches that can be taken to engage in research on topics central to the work of leadership, and introduces participants to a set of AI-powered tools that can enhance the work of data collection, analysis and synthesis.
This Nashville session, led by Stacey Floyd-Thomas, delves into the intersectionality of our identity and provides pathways for participants to explore the implications of different approaches to embracing culture and diversity in the work of leadership.
This Nashville session, led by David Laird, enables participants to take a holistic perspective of school-level initiatives and interventions, and provides a set of frameworks and tools to support the work of evaluating and implementing ideas with systemic integrity.
This virtual session will bring back one or two of the Nashville speakers to “check in” on progress as participants have begun the work of applying learning to their own goals and group-based activities.
This virtual session, led by Quinton Walker, will leverage several-research based frameworks that provide different approaches to making success and positive impact more likely, while fostering organizational collaboration and cooperation.
This virtual session, led by Sarah McIlroy, applies a human and organizational development lens to school effectiveness goals to explore ways that independent school leaders can foster positive personal and collective growth.
This virtual session, led by Donna Orem, explores the challenging and important work of leading adaptive change and applies a polarity thinking framework to the work of building school culture and fostering community growth.
Innovation is often aligned with cutting edge technology and new areas of inquiry, such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality and genetic engineering. We speak of our academic and administrative teams needing to be more innovative, but don’t provide a roadmap to develop and enhance these skills, much less put them into action. What if innovation is a human practice that can be learned?
In this workshop, we will explore how to bring an innovative mindset to the ways we work in everyday situations, and learn to cultivate practices that engage our teams, build trust, and allow us to make compelling offers to solve everyday problems and thrive into the future.
This virtual session, led by Tim Fish, explores the intersection of the strategic and operational dimensions of school leadership, providing participants with insight into how to move effectively from imagining to enacting change.
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A tool for independent school professionals to assess the inclusivity of operational policies and processes. Thirteen simple checklists allow school leaders to understand where the school is thriving and where they might improve.
