Emerging Leaders

Prepare strong teachers for the leadership schools need next.

The Emerging Leaders Pathway is a 10-month cohort program for classroom educators preparing for future leadership roles.

Schools need leaders who understand the work, know the community, and can lead adults with clarity and care. Too often, leadership transitions become urgent before a strong bench is ready. Emerging Leaders helps partners change that pattern by developing strong teachers before they leave the classroom or step into formal leadership.

Participants remain in their teaching roles while building the self-awareness, leadership practice, and resilience the job requires.

About Emerging Leaders

Since 2019, Marshall Street has equipped more than 300 emerging and current leaders across eight states and 60+ schools. Our Emerging Leaders Pathway exists to address a leadership challenge felt across schools and systems.

Principal turnover affects school culture, teacher retention, and student outcomes. One in five urban schools loses a principal each year, and each transition costs districts roughly $75,000 before accounting for the effects on culture, teacher turnover, and student experience.

Emerging Leaders helps schools and systems prepare earlier. The program gives teachers a structured path to explore and practice leadership with eyes wide open, while continuing to serve students from the classroom.

Across 10 months, participants build essential and enduring leadership skills, self-awareness, and the resilience needed to lead through changing conditions. The program is grounded in a belief in the capability and commitment of school leaders and in the strength of diverse professional communities.

Impact at a glance

The strength of Emerging Leaders comes from a core design choice: it is built from real schools and real classrooms.

Marshall facilitators bring years of learning from lived school experience into practical leadership development. Participants do not study leadership in the abstract. They practice it through problems, relationships, reflection, and feedback connected to the work they are already doing.

85%

of Fellows advance into school leadership roles within three years

60%

of Fellows represent educators of color

96%

of alumni remain in education

100%

of Fellows recommend the pathway to a colleague

100%

of 2025–26 Emerging Leaders agree the program was critical for developing their leadership skills

"I'd absolutely recommend the Emerging Leaders cohort because it's a useful, practical program that helps you avoid learning leadership the hard way. Since the training is run by experienced educators, everything we cover is based in school reality. The program is effective because it uses real-world problems instead of just books, which helps you build skills you can use immediately."

– Aaron Massey, 6th-8th Grade Humanities Teacher, Summit Public Schools

The Cohort

Emerging Leaders is designed for classroom educators preparing for leadership roles with clarity.

The program blends hands-on leadership development with full-time teaching. Participants join a cohort of 10–20 peers from a range of schools and contexts and build a leadership portfolio that includes an emotional intelligence growth plan, leadership vision, coaching vision, and professional development artifacts.

Competencies & Activities

The pathway is grounded in four essential leadership competencies:

Emotional Intelligence
Values and Vision
Strategic Problem-Solving
Coalition Building

Across the program, participants engage in:

Eight full-day virtual sessions with research-backed texts, reflection, and problem-based practice
Two in-person convenings with multi-school site visits and coaching simulations
Partner touchpoints to align leaders, participants, and goals

Emerging Leader and Partner Profiles

Emerging Leader Profile

Emerging Leaders is designed for current classroom teachers with strong leadership potential.

About Emerging Leaders Participants

Full-time classroom teachers with at least three years of teaching experience
Interested in advancing into education leadership roles
Demonstrating positive outcomes for students
Committed to driving positive change in school communities
Ready to work collaboratively in a team-based environment
Willing to engage in self-reflection, continuous learning, and personal growth
Nominated and financially sponsored by a senior leader from a charter network, single school site, or school district

Partner Profile

Marshall works with partners over multiple years to build leadership pathways that are sustained over time.

Our strongest partnerships are with organizations that:

Value practical, relationship-rich leadership development
Are committed to preparing leaders for the changing challenges schools face

"The Emerging Leaders Program challenged me to look within, lead with purpose, and inspire change beyond myself."

– Duran Naiker, 5th Grade Humanities Teacher, Rocketship Futuro Academy

Joining the Cohort

How to Apply

Emerging Leaders welcomes teachers with high leadership potential through a nomination process. Contact us for current nomination timelines and tuition information.

Nominations

Senior leaders from a district, network, or school nominate teachers with high leadership potential. Teachers do not apply without a nomination. After a nomination is submitted, Marshall Street contacts the teacher directly to complete registration and includes the nominating leader in the process. Marshall also schedules partner checkpoints to provide progress updates and align on goals.

Tuition

Program tuition is set by cohort and includes virtual sessions, in-person convenings, school site visits, coaching simulations, program materials, meals during convenings, and partner checkpoints. Travel and lodging for convenings are the responsibility of the partner school, network, or district. Marshall asks schools to fully sponsor their teachers. Leadership development should be an investment for the school, not a teacher burden.