Our process combines deep experience in leadership, governance, organizational culture, and communications to help schools navigate complexity with confidence. We help create clarity, build connections, and turn strategy into action.

Align & Advance Strategic Planning

Strategic planning should strengthen leadership, build trust, and create momentum for the future.

And one of our differentiators is that we also give you the tools to confidently communicate your exciting new vision.

Our Align & Advance process brings together broad community engagement from board workshops to customized community surveys, strategic analysis of your current circumstance, and communications expertise to help schools identify their highest-impact opportunities. The result is a clear strategic direction, confident leadership, and a compelling story that resonates with current and prospective families, donors, and the broader community.

Learn more about the process and download our overview.

Align & Advance: Strategic Sprint

Sometimes what leaders need is a streamlined process to create clarity, make confident decisions, align the community, and focus on the opportunities that matter most.

Our Align & Advance Strategic Sprint is a focused engagement possible to complete in six months, designed for schools seeking to sharpen priorities, prepare for a new chapter, or refresh their strategic direction.

We combine community engagement, strategic analysis, and messaging expertise to help your school:

• Create a compelling strategic vision and up to five strategic priorities

• Gather and interpret meaningful community feedback

• Strengthen institutional messaging and positioning

• Align strategy, communications, and organizational decision-making

The result is a practical roadmap that helps leadership move forward with confidence while ensuring your community understands—and supports—where the school is headed.

We are proud to partner with Caravan Brand Partnersin both these offerings to integrate strategic planning with brand and communications expertise, ensuring your vision is both well designed and well communicated.

Other Ways We Can Help

• Leadership transition planning and support

• Enrollment and advancement strategy

• Organizational diagnostics for complex leadership challenges

Building Better Teams retreat facilitation
Spend a full or half day with a leadership team, board of trustees or faculty leaders increasing trust and creating better connections for more effective collaboration, problem solving and overall team performance. No trust falls or personality tests, our approach centers on coaching the team in processing a real issue facing your school or organization while highlighting principles that will improve your group dynamics. Virtual workshop version available. Read more about our approach to team retreats here.

Keynotes and Speaking Engagements
Julie presents on topics related to leadership, emerging trends and school change for groups across the United States, including NAIS, TABS, NEASC and the Association of Academic Leaders Forum. She is happy to work with you to speak onsite or virtually on any topic that has appeared in the Talking Out of School newsletter. Contact us for more information.

Executive Coaching
Executive coaching provides heads of school and senior leaders with a confidential space to think through complex situations, clarify priorities, and increase their effectiveness collaborating with a board. We believe coaching can be a uniquely powerful leadership development experience, increasing leaders’ capacity to create positive impact on a school and supports sustainability in an incredibly demanding job. We take on a limited number of coaching clients each academic year and offers annual retainers and other coaching packages. Reach out for more information.

Leadership Development Programs

The Boss Skills Lab - a virtual course in management skills (open to anyone in a management position)

Fall, 2026 theme: Tools for Productive Conflict

The Boss Skills Lab is designed to introduce concepts based in organizational psychology that are both “bite sized” and significant enough to move you forward. It will allow room to process these concepts in small groups with peers and then return to your job and experiment applying the concepts and building your skill set.

We’ve spent many years in board rooms and we “get it.”

The times we live in demand more of everything from heads and boards and inspired institutional leadership is more necessary than ever, starting with good governance practices.

We take into account the complicated ways day-to-day operations and governance intersect as well as the stress on trustees occupying several different roles at once within a community.

Our training, advising and support, with options for stand-alone workshops as well as ongoing coaching, honestly acknowledges complexity and aims to provide trustees with skills and tools to productively partner with heads of school.

Facilitated Head of School Evaluations

An annual head’s evaluation by the board is not just governance best practice - it’s a key opportunity to create an avenue for honest feedback, setting the stage for leadership growth, a more satisfied and effective head of school and increased trust between the board and the head. A facilitated head’s assessment is customized for your school’s needs and can include a combination of 1:1 interviews and surveys. Reach out to chat about the possibilities.

Governance Training Sample Workshops

Principles of Independent School Governance: Mission, Money, Momentum

Balancing Board and Community Membership

Practical Board/Community Communication Skills