What happens when a new head of school steps into a moment of transition and chooses to make strategic planning a community-building exercise rather than a compliance task?

In this episode, Katie Titus, Head of School at Moses Brown School in Providence, Rhode Island, shares how the school reimagined its strategic planning process through deep listening, internal leadership, and thoughtful use of AI. Rather than hiring an outside consultant, Moses Brown leaned into its Quaker values, elevating voice, trust, and shared ownership across the community.

Katie walks through the school's decision to plan for a nine-year horizon leading to its 250th anniversary, while maintaining disciplined focus on near-term execution. She explains how AI was used not to write strategy, but to synthesize hundreds of perspectives, accelerate insight, and preserve the human core of the process.

This conversation offers independent school leaders a practical case study in building a strategy that strengthens culture, models transparency, and turns vision into sustained action.

1. Strategic planning works best when it begins with listening: Moses Brown invested heavily in community conversations before defining priorities, creating trust and momentum from the start.
2. AI is most powerful as a synthesis tool, not a decision-maker: The leadership team used AI to surface themes and patterns, while humans shaped meaning and direction.
3. Internal planning can outperform consultants when culture is aligned: a strong leadership team and shared values enabled the school to fully own the process.
4. Student facilitation deepens engagement and authenticity: Students did not just participate; they facilitated conversations and helped guide community dialogue.
5. Long-term vision enables bold thinking: Planning toward a nine-year milestone created space for ambition while grounding action in clear three-year goals.