Welcome to L+D 2025-2026

Written By Carla Silver

The Leadership+Design team is gathering this week in Harwich, MA for our semi-annual retreat, which accounts for a shorter, less content-heavy edition of our weekly newsletter. This is the time of year when all of you are so busy starting your school year, and we get out of your way and instead focus on all the good stuff we want to create at L+D. And, of course, attend to team maintenance. After spending time over the last few weeks launching school teams into their work, we get to do it ourselves! In the meantime, we want to share a few bits of exciting news at L+D.

We are thrilled to welcome Isaiah Noriega to our team. Isaiah is no stranger to L+D. He was a Fellow during the 2023-24 school year and returned to serve as our Fellow in Residence for the 2024-25 school year. Before joining L+D, Isaiah most recently served as Dean of Community and Well-being, Chief Diversity Officer, and Founding Director of the Evergreen Institute at Indian Creek School, where he led initiatives that center student well-being, leadership development, and belonging. With a background in clinical-community psychology, Isaiah brings expertise in mental health and organizational psychology to his work. 

At the heart of Isaiah’s work is a belief in the power of people—their stories, their leadership, and their potential to thrive when truly seen and supported. A certified life coach and trained restorative practitioner, Isaiah blends empathy with strategy to help communities move forward with clarity and purpose. Outside of work, Isaiah enjoys reading, sports, and spending time with his wife. Isaiah currently lives in Houston, TX where he grew up.

Isaiah has jumped right into L+D with current projects at Loomis Chaffee School in CT, Avenues School in São Paulo, Brazil, and Kincaid School in Houston, TX. He’ll be back as one of the Fellowship facilitators this year and he is supporting the L+D Expedition. He’s also launching a new set of hyper-local programs, called The L+D Caravan, with both ISAS (Independent School Association of the South) and AIMS (Association of Independent Maryland Schools) this year, so stay tuned!

We are also excited to announce Cohort 9.0 of the Leadership+Design Fellowship. Each year we offer a year-long experience for school leaders, serving in many different roles and coming from all over the country, who are eager to build their leadership capacity as human centered design thinkers,optimistic futurists and reflective changemakers. The fellows will kick off their year in Denver, CO for the first of two in-person convenings. Over the year fellows meet virtually twice a month with L+D and experience a rich, highly experiential curriculum that supports them in completing a human centered design project at their school. Welcome Fellows!

Annie Fuerst, Director of Innovation, Belmont Day School (MA)

Brady Smith, 8th Grade English Teacher, Rowland Hall School (UT)

Bridget Kelley-Lossada, High School Mentor/Electives, Clubs, Co-Curricular Coordinator; Service Learning Coordinator; Team Leader 7th Grade, Mayfield Junior School (CA)

Chad Green, Dean of Student Life, Shady Side Academy (PA)

Chris Loeffler, Head of Lower School, Wilmington Friends School (DE)

Edgar Arceo, Psychology Teacher, The Thacher School (CA)

Elektra Thompson, Upper School. Executive Functioning Specialist The Lovett School (GA)

Jaimi Boehm, Associate Head of School Wildwood School (CA)

Janelle Sterling, Upper School Dean of Students, Green Hills School (MI)

Leilani Ahina-Dawson, Director of Social and Emotional Health, Iolani School (HI)

Lindsey Seynhaeve, Director of Outreach and Sustainability, Indian Creek School (MD)

Lori Hébert, Director, Blend-Ed Consortium (CA)

Luke Peterson, B. Hollis Hand Chair of the Science Department, Episcopal High School (VA)

Maren Anderson, Upper School Director, The Blake School (MN)

Meredith Morris, English Teacher, Judge Memorial Catholic High School, (UT)

Pia Awal Beirne, Director of Academic Support and Enrichment PreK- 12, The Baldwin School (PA)

Sarah Na, Director of Equity and Inclusion, Germantown Academy (PA)

ShaRonda Sandidge, Head of Early Childhood, The New School (AR)

Sophie Zanders, Middle/High School Counselor and 3rd-12th Grade Human Development Teacher, The Waverly School (CA)

Leadership+Design Partners 2025

Carla Silver

(@Carla_R_Silver) is the executive director and co-founder of Leadership + Design. Carla partners with schools on strategic design and enhancing the work of leadership teams and boards, and she designs experiential learning experiences for leaders in schools at all points in their careers. She also leads workshops for faculty, administrative teams and boards on Design Thinking, Futurist Thinking, Collaboration and Group Life, and Leadership Development. She is an amateur graphic recorder - a skill she continues to hone. She currently serves on the board of the Urban School of San Francisco. She lives in Los Gatos, CA with her husband, three children, and two King Charles Cavaliers. Carla spends her free time running, listening to podcasts, watching comedy, and preparing meals  - while desperately dreaming someone else would do the cooking (preferably Greg Bamford).

https://www.leadershipanddesign.org
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