Confidently You: Women in Leadership

On this episode of Confidently You, we’re joined by a team of women leaders from the Browning School, an all-boys K-12 day school in New York City. Our guests are Jan Abernathy, Chief Communications Officer, Janet Lien, Assistant Head of School and Director of Enrollment, and Kelly West, Director of Admissions. We’re discussing creating a culture within their administration that supports women leaders. Whether they are giving each other their flowers, setting healthy boundaries, or letting go of perfectionism and the scarcity mindset, we can all learn more about the role we each play in supporting the women around us. 

On this episode of Confidently You, we’re joined by Claire Goldsmith. Claire is an educational innovation and strategy consultant for schools and non-profits through her company, Lamplight Education. She is also the Chair of the EMA Board of Trustees. We’re excited to discuss Claire’s career journey, being a thought leader in Ed Tech, and her experiences serving on Boards.

On this episode of Confidently You, we’re joined by Dr. Susan Perry, Associate Head of School for Wellness and Belonging at Forsyth Country Day School in Lewisville, North Carolina, and Senior Consultant for EXPLO Elevate. We're excited to discuss Susan's career, the role wellness and belonging play in our school community, and what potential this new model has to create healthy, sustainable schools.

On this episode of Headspace, we’re joined by Dr. Autumn Graves, Head of School at St. Anne’s-Belfield in Charlottesville, VA. Her leadership extends beyond her own school - Dr, Graves is the Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees of SAIS, she sits on the Board of Directors of the 1911 Group, and is also a Board member of Leadership + Design. We’re excited to discuss Dr. Graves's career and her thoughts on how mentorship, sponsorship, and partnership support successful leadership.

In this episode, we’re joined by Jen Evers, Executive Director of The Heads Network and former Director of Strategic Initiatives & Professional Development at the International Coalition of Girls Schools. We’re going to talk about Jen’s career with independent schools and associations, her future with The Heads Network, and how we can all work together to help women lead authentically. 

On this episode, we’re joined by Whitney Soule, Vice Provost and Dean of Admissions at the University of Pennsylvania. Whitney shares her career journey through higher ed, what she has learned in the first few years of her current position, and how she has led a team through tumultuous times.

On this episode of Headspace, we’re joined by Jodi Grass, the Head of The Oak Grove School in Ojai, California. Jodi has been Head of School for seven years but has been a part of the Oak Grove Community for 17 years. Listen in as we learn more about her path to leadership, how her values align with Oak Grove’s mission, and how she has navigated big changes at a small school.  

In this episode, we’re joined by Donna Orem. Donna became president of NAIS in 2016. Before that, she served as NAIS’s chief operating officer for 11 years. But, she began at NAIS in 1998 as the vice president for educational leadership and later became the vice president for strategic initiatives and research. Now, 25 years later, Donna is heading into the next chapter in her career: retirement. Today, Donna shares her wisdom with us, along with some real talk about the progress toward gender equity of leadership in independent schools and where we can go from here.

Welcome to part two of our conversation with Meera Shah and Amy Richards from Educational Directions. We are Demystifying the Search Process for women leaders in independent schools. In this episode, we’re talking about the nuts and bolts of the process, the role of the search firm versus the search committee, what materials you’ll need to prepare, and how to navigate the process with confidence.

In this episode, we’re joined by Rebecca Taylor, Director of Human Resources at Georgetown Day School. After spending ten years as a Director of Human Resources at an independent school in North Carolina, Rebecca joined GDS in 2022 to help create a comprehensive Human Resources function. We’re going to talk about the important leadership skill of hiring as well as what to think about when applying and interviewing for new positions. We’re also asking Rebecca to share great hiring practices to help build a healthy culture to promote inclusion and retention in your schools.