Design thinkers. Futurists.
Change makers.
The Leadership+Design Fellowship is a chance to join a diverse cohort of seekers, mavericks, and questioners for a year of learning, collaboration, and creating the future of teaching and learning.
Be the leader you know you can be.
The Leadership+Design Fellowship engages a diverse cohort of 15-18 school leaders in a year-long partnership with our organization, to serve as co-creators, advisors, evangelists, and capacity builders in their own schools. L+D Fellows will connect with us regularly over the course of an academic year, both in person and virtually, to explore how the habits and mindsets of human-centered designers overlap with the challenges of school leadership in a moment of exponential change and historic disruption.
We work with school leaders to build new skill sets, habits and mindset that prepare them to be creative design thinkers, futurist thinkers, and capable and collaborative agents of change. If you join us as an L+D Fellow, you’ll have a chance to develop your own leadership capacity as well as collaborate with us as we create the future of teaching and learning.
The fellowship focuses on three roles in school leadership that we believe are crucial to leading in this time of ambiguity and uncertainty: change maker, design thinker and futurist. Over the course of the year, we build habits and skills in these three areas and fellows practice these skills in their daily work back at their schools. Regardless of role, all leaders need tools and frameworks to help them navigate uncertain terrain.
“The L+D Fellowship was one of the best professional experiences of my life. It stretched me in ways that I never would have imagined.”
— Hannah Nelson, Fellows Cohort 3.0
Applications for the Fellowship 8.0 cohort are closed for 2024-25, offers will be made April 26.
The Details
Who should apply?
Mid-level school leaders, loosely defined, who are looking to hone their problem-solving skills, think differently about how we do school, and expand their network by connecting and collaborating with L+D’s national network of educational leaders working in hundreds of different schools. You might be a Principal, Division Director, or Assistant Principal, a Department Chair, Curriculum Director, Instructional Coach, Innovation Director, Academic Dean, Grade Level Team Leader, or Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. You might have participated in a Leadership+Design workshop in the past, or felt a kinship with our approach and mission that you've been wanting to pursue.
Whatever your formal role, you're feeling ready to push yourself a little, reach out, and connect with others in new ways.
What does being an L+D Fellow entail?
A two- day opening convening in September, where we will gather in person to connect with one another, learn and practice some of the values and approaches of Leadership+Design, and set goals for our work together in the coming year.
Monthly virtual gatherings where we will discuss readings, videos, or other materials, or unpack field work we’ve done in our own schools. Participants are also placed in a smaller cohort which also meets monthly. Opportunities to connect with other participants happens both through intentional pairings and our fellowship Slack workspace.
A fellowship project through which each member of the cohort will actively hone their own skills as a facilitator, innovator, collaborator, or problem solver. This might take the form of conducting research at your home school and presenting it to your administration, observing and participating with an L+D team in facilitating a workshop, engaging your faculty in a new way of conducting meetings, or some other project of your choice. By the end of the experience, you'll demonstrate your journey through the year with one another and share your personal and professional development as a leader and change maker.
A virtual mid-year check in with your Principal, Head of School, or other Partner where you'll share your progress and engage him or her more deeply in your work.
A closing two-day convening in April where we will once again come together in person to discuss the outcomes of fellowship projects and reflect on insights gained and lessons learned through the year. You’ll also have a chance to help Leadership+Design shape its future programming.
What will I get out of being an L+D Fellow?
A toolbox of habits, mindsets, resources, and strategies for leading your school towards innovation and fresh approaches to teaching, learning, and leadership;
A deep connection to your cohort and a growing network of “L+Doers,” who are committed to moving the needle in education towards retooling to meet students’ future needs;
Coaching and support in your efforts toward creating the future of teaching, learning, and leading at your school;
A chance to serve as our “think tank” and help us shape the future of professional development and school leadership;
Opportunities to facilitate with L+D, practice new ways of leading colleagues, and get authentic feedback;
A free membership in L+Doers Unite, with discounts to L+D programs and other perks.
Fun, play, surprise, human connection, a chance to recharge, and (when in person) good food and snacks.
What will you ask of me and my school in return?
Time and Energy Commitment: If you sign on as a Fellow, we ask that you commit to attending meetings and dedicating your full engagement in the experience over the course of the year. This includes in-person meetings, monthly virtual gatherings, participation on our Slack workspace, and monthly assignments. We promise it will be worth your while.
Deep Engagement in a Project: Your project might take any number of forms, ranging from curriculum development to new initiative design to the creation of a professional development experience for your school or region. Whatever you choose to pursue, we'll ask you to commit to it and work on it throughout the year. This project may be a multi-year endeavor, so the “culmination” may take on different forms and we will ask that you demonstrate progress in a final presentation at our closing convening.
Your Creative Mojo: In addition to building your skills and your school’s capacity, we’ll ask you to help us create new materials and dream up new ways of approaching our work.
Program Fee and Transportation Costs: In addition to providing a program fee, we ask that your school cover the cost of your transportation and lodging for the in-person convenings. We’ll feed you and engage you in thought-provoking work, but we ask your school to get you there.
Support: Chances are, in this fellowship year, you’ll start asking really good questions and want to get pretty experimental in your school. We’d love to get commitment from your school’s administration that they’ll support you in those endeavors. We will ask for your supervisor to sign off on your application, so that we know you will be supported by your school.
When and where are the opening and closing convenings?
We hold the convenings in centrally located cities to ease travel and minimized the impact of time zones. These are the TENTATIVE locations for our two convenings for 2024-25.
Fall convening: September 26 and 27, 2024 (Denver, CO )
Spring convening: April 24 and 25, 2025 (Salt Lake City, UT or Kansas City, KS)
What does the Fellowship cost?
The program fee for the 2024-2025 Fellowship is $3200. Our fee covers the cost of two 2-day convenings, monthly calls, L+Doer Unite membership, materials and supplies, awesome L+D Merch, and support in the development and implementation of your Fellowship project. It does not include the cost of travel expenses.
Are there scholarships available?
We are deeply committed to providing up to 5 scholarships, ranging 25-75% reductions in the program fee, for applicants coming from schools without extensive resources. (Please note that scholarships do not cover the cost of travel.)
Scholarships will be dedicated towards developing a diverse cohort, with particular emphasis on leaders from public or charter schools, as well as applicants who are from backgrounds that are traditionally underrepresented in school leadership roles.
What if I have to cancel after joining the cohort?
When requested in writing, L+D will refund fellowship fees as follows: 75% of registration fee when requested 45 days or more from first day of the fall convening; 50% of registration fee when requested 31–44 days from first day of the fall convening; no refund within 30 days of the first day of the fall convening.
This sounds like it’s right up my alley. How do I apply?
Applications for the 2024-2025 Fellowship are now closed. Applicants will be notified by April 26, 2024. If you would like to be added to a waitlist, contact Tara Curry-Jahn.
Questions? Contact Tara Curry-Jahn.