Executive Leadership Academy
The Executive Leadership Academy is designed to optimize human capital and has a proven track record of retaining public education professionals in Nevada and providing a path for career advancement. Graduates have reported a deeper skillset for creative problem-solving, strategic thinking, community building, and the practice of ethical and courageous leadership. The skills gained from the Executive Leadership Academy have led to innovative solutions that improve outcomes for all students. For select capstone projects, an alumni task force collaborates with school districts, the Nevada Department of Education, and state policymakers to develop and implement education policy solutions. Additional capstone projects that impact the broader community may receive funding to initiate a pilot program.
Who Should Attend?
Good-to-great, high-performing education and community leaders who are actively engaged in their profession, have a passion for and commitment to excellence, and value innovative thinking and problem-solving.
Leaders may apply from school districts, charter school organizations, private schools, non-profit organizations, government agencies, and the private sector.
Leadership Challenge
Leaders who participate in the Academy will complete a capstone project, which enables participants to apply the knowledge and skills acquired during the Academy. Capstone projects are grounded in current challenges and/or problems of practice and are completed in small teams of 3-5 leaders. Participants work on various components of the capstone project throughout the Academy.
Executive Leadership Academy Faculty
“I realized it wasn’t professional development, it was really changing the way we think and the way we do business.”
Debbie Brockett
ELA Cohort 6
Executive Leadership Faculty Interviews
Richard Carranza
Chief of Strategy and Global Development at IXL Learning
September 13, 2024
Jamie Meade
Education Consultant | Veteran Educator
March 23, 2024
Dr. Karen Mapp
Senior lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Former Faculty Director of Education Policy and Management Master’s Program at Harvard University.
February 24, 2024
Dr. Liz City
Founding Fellow, Leadership Institute of Nevada
Director of Education Leadership Program at Harvard Graduate School of Education
November 4, 2023
Dr. Rick Hess
Senior Founding Fellow, Leadership Institute of Nevada
Director of Education Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute
October 14, 2023
Dr. Ryan J. Smith
Chief External Officer, Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, LAUSD
September 1, 2023
Dr. Marguerite Roza
Founding Fellow, Leadership Institute of Nevada
Director of Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University
April 23, 2022
Dr. Frederick Hess is a senior fellow and the director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he works on K–12 and higher education issues. The author of Education Week’s popular blog “Rick Hess Straight Up,” Dr. Hess is also an executive editor of Education Next, and a regular contributor to Forbes and the Hill. He is the founder and chairman of AEI’s Conservative Education Reform Network.
Zhan Okuda-Lim is a Ph.D. candidate in Policy Analysis at the Pardee RAND Graduate School and an Assistant Policy Researcher at the RAND Corporation. His research interests include K-12 education policy and equity; the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on educators, families, and students; local and state education governance; student, community, and educator voices in decision-making; school finance and funding; and the mobilization of cross-sector resources to support schools and communities.