Emerging Leaders

About the Emerging Leaders Pathway

Nominations for our 2026-27 Cohort are now open. Start yours today!

Since 2019, Marshall Leadership Institute has equipped over 300 emerging and current leaders, across eight states and 60+ schools, to create schools where all students thrive. In February 2025, we launched our Emerging Leaders Pathway (ELP) nationally to address the current leadership crisis that is rippling through classrooms.

The Emerging Leaders Pathway is disrupting this cycle by preparing teachers for leadership roles with eyes wide open, while remaining in the classroom. ELP is a 10-month cohort program, focusing on essential and enduring leadership skills, self-awareness, and the resilience to thrive in ever-changing environments. By nurturing these qualities, we help leaders develop the competencies needed to lead in high-stakes, high-impact schools and remain steadfast to serving all students into the future. We operate with a fundamental belief in the capabilities and motivations of our school leaders, and in the enduring power of diverse communities.

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Impact at a Glance

  • 85% of Fellows advance into school leadership roles within 3 years.
  • 60% of Fellows represent the global majority.
  • 96% of alumni remain in education
  • 100% of Fellows recommend the pathway to a colleague.
  • 100% of the 25–26 Emerging Leaders agree the program is critical for developing their leadership skills.

The success of ELP stems from a core design choice: we built it from real schools and real classrooms. As operators and facilitators, we translate years of learning from Summit Public Schools and lived experience into practical, human-centered leadership development.

Emerging Leaders: 2026–27 Cohort

Designed to prepare classroom educators for leadership roles with clarity, the Emerging Leaders Pathway is a 10-month, immersive program that blends hands-on leadership training with full-time teaching. ELP offers human-centered, relationship-rich development grounded in four essential leadership competencies:

  1. Emotional Intelligence
  2. Values & Vision
  3. Strategic Problem-Solving
  4. Coalition Building

Across 10 months, cohorts of 10-20 peers from a range of schools and contexts, develop a comprehensive leadership portfolio (EQ growth plan, leadership & coaching visions, PD artifacts) through:

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

Partner & Leader Profiles & Benefits

The Emerging Leaders pathway is one the most strategic investments of PD funds because it strengthens retention, culture, and leadership pipelines by developing high-performing teachers before they burn out or seek other opportunities.

  • Immediate impact: Participants apply new skills in classrooms and teams right away, improving collaboration, culture, and instructional practice.
  • Long-term impact: Alumni step into leadership rooted in your context, reducing recruitment costs and turnover. Partners consistently describe ELP as a sustainable “grow-your-own” strategy that builds a bench of future leaders.
    • Current full-time classroom teacher with a strong desire to advance into educational leadership role/s and a minimum of 3 years teaching experience;
    • Demonstrated potential for leadership, including a record of positive outcomes for students, and a passion for driving positive change within school communities;
    • Committed to working collaboratively in a team-based environment and contributing to a supportive cohort of emerging leaders;
    • Willing to engage in self-reflection, continuous learning, and personal growth throughout the program; and
    • Nominated and financially sponsored by a senior leader from a charter network, single school site or school district.
    • Our most successful partnerships are with schools, charter networks and schools, and districts that value a human-centered approach to developing and supporting leaders. Our partners are committed to supporting the most responsive and effective ways to develop leaders for the ever-changing challenges presented in our school communities, and believe in the power of diversity as a pathway to collective growth.
    • We typically work alongside our partners for several years to innovate, iterate and create pipelines that can be sustained by our partners.

Nominations & Tuition

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    Nominations

    Early Nomination Period: Present–March 27, 2026

    Final Nomination Deadline: May 29, 2026

    The Nomination Process

    1. Senior leaders from a district or network complete the nomination form below (~5 mins) for teachers with high capacity for leadership. Please note, teachers may not apply without a nomination and there are no interviews.
    2. We reach out to your teacher/s directly to complete the registration process, and CC the nominating leader.
    3. We reach out to the nominating leader to schedule check points, provide progress updates and align on goals.
    Nominate a Leader
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    Program Tuition

    Program tuition is $9,800 per participant (due prior to Session 1) or $8,800 per participant for nominations received by 3/27/26 and for partners with 3+ Emerging Leaders. Tuition includes:

    • 8 full-day virtual sessions;
    • 2 in-person convenings with school site visits with classroom observations and coaching simulations;
    • All program materials and meals during convenings (travel and lodging for convenings are the responsibility of the partner school or district); and
    • At least 2 checkpoints with partners to provide progress update and alignment to partner goals.
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    Financial Sponsorship

    We ask that schools fully sponsor their teachers, as leadership development should be a district/network investment, not a teacher burden. All Emerging Leaders are expected to engage in a minimum of 85% of all programming, which includes eight full-day virtual sessions and two three-day in-person convenings that include school site visits. We ask that Emerging Leaders participate in the virtual sessions at a location other than their campus to remain fully engaged.

What Current Emerging Leaders are Saying

 

“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 

 

“Listening to principals and school leaders talk about how they lead and what works for them taught me to be more of myself when coaching or mentoring.”

– Mycha Mason, 3rd Grade Teacher & Team Lead, Breakthrough Public Schools

 

“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. Plus, it connects you with a strong network of diverse peers for honest advice, and the site visits are key to seeing different leadership styles work in person.”

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

 

“It is so hard when teaching to get out of the day-to-day routine within my own school. This group provided me an opportunity to learn, grow, and reflect with other like-minded people looking to take the next step in their careers. I have learned more about myself in these past few months than I ever have in my professional career. I have also learned the leadership skills that I never would have acquired if I did not join.”

– Melissa Dubay, former teacher and current Director of Curriculum & Instruction at DSST, Denver, CO

 

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Nominate an Emerging Leader

Nominations for our 2026-27 Cohort are now open. Start yours today!

Start Your Nomination