The Center for Creative Leadership (CCL)®, a top-ranked, global leadership development organization, has published 2 books, one for educators and one for children, about Social-Emotional Leadership.

Built on more than a decade of research, Social-Emotional Leadership is CCL’s framework for nurturing effective youth leadership and is centered around the experiences of teachers, parents, education administrators, and over 12,000 students in grades 3–12 across the U.S.

Our findings show that young individuals demonstrating Social-Emotional Leadership possess self-awareness, understand the consequences of their actions, and collaborate effectively with others. Strengthening students’ Social-Emotional Leadership leads to increased engagement in school, a stronger sense of belonging, and even improved academic performance.

“The more that young people can understand and develop effective leadership skills today, the greater the impact they will have on the world around them in the future,” says Dr. Micela Leis, one of the authors of the books. “Today’s youth are tomorrow’s leaders. The journey toward leadership doesn’t need to start in adulthood — it can, and should, begin now.”

The first book, Social-Emotional Leadership: A Guide for Youth Development, co-authored by Leis and Susan Reinecke, describes the 14 research-based attributes that are central to youth leadership, and it offers tools such as discussion questions, journal prompts, and sample activities. These resources are designed to support adults in developing Social-Emotional Leadership in youth, both within and outside the classroom setting. Teachers, counselors, youth leaders, and parents can use this book as a guide for enhancing and cultivating student leadership skills.

“This book is a joy to read,” Professor Sara Rimm-Kaufman of the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia says. “Teachers will find this to be an exciting and practical guide on how to cultivate leadership skills in their students. The range of classroom activities, journal prompts, suggestions, and resources are contemporary and engaging … This next generation faces many global challenges. The lessons in this book will help … so they can take action and work toward a better world.”

The second book, Building Bridges: Leadership for You and Me, also authored by Leis and Reinecke and illustrated by Keith Hobgood, is a children’s book meant to serve as an introduction to leadership for youth, primarily between the ages of 4 and 10, in a fun and engaging way. Also based on CCL’s Social-Emotional Leadership framework, it describes the leadership values, mindsets, and skills in a format digestible for children while telling the story of kids displaying leadership as they work together to build a bridge.

Mike McRaith, Associate Executive Director of the Vermont Principals’ Association notes, “This … new book … helps take a fresh perspective on what it means to be leader. As a parent and as an educational leader, I … appreciate that it explains how leadership can come in many different forms, and takes teamwork, not just one person … getting to be boss. It explains 14 different leader traits — and how those traits are all needed in a group of people working together. It is fun, easy to read, well-illustrated, and overall — a great book to have at home and in the classroom.”

Leis and Reinecke’s work on this book was recently featured in the news, further highlighting the importance of their contributions to the field. Publishing these works is part of continued efforts by the community and societal impact team at CCL to understand and invest in the leadership development of youth and students, with the goal of building the capacity of all young people to have a greater impact on themselves, their peers, and their world.

Teach For America (TFA) North Carolina and the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL)® have announced a new statewide partnership providing exclusive access and leadership development programming for over 2,200 diverse Teach For America alumni throughout North Carolina. The recipients of the leadership development include K-12 teachers, school and district leaders, nonprofit leaders, and other educational leaders.

Teach For America has a goal of doubling its impact in the communities it serves across North Carolina by 2030. The strategy to accomplish this goal includes not only attracting and placing corps members in classrooms across the state, but also catalyzing over 2,200 alumni impacting the state’s educational ecosystem. The partnership with CCL will provide access to transformational leadership development programming to promote the growth and retention of critical leaders in North Carolina’s K-12 educational space.

TFA North Carolina’s alumni network team will lead the engagement of alumni to access this partnership and benefits beginning as early as January 2022.

“During this unique and challenging time in K-12 education, we know this relationship will allow us to support the retention and further development of the dynamic, outcomes-driven, proximate, and equity-minded TFA alumni leaders that are impacting over 150,000 kids daily in rural and urban communities across the state. As we march towards our 2030 goal, building partnerships at a statewide level allows us to accelerate that progress in direct support of our alums through their career lifecycles,” said Dr. Monique Perry-Graves, TFA North Carolina’s Executive Director.

“We are excited to enter this partnership with the Center for Creative Leadership to provide access and leadership development to our alumni across the state taking full advantage of the access to CCL’s campus headquarters in Greensboro, NC,” she added.

The partnership includes:

• Discounted access for TFA alumni in North Carolina to world-class leadership tools and programs from CCL, including both virtual and face-to-face development opportunities.
• Cohort-based leadership programs tailored to the unique needs of TFA focused on alumni teachers, nonprofit leaders, and school and district leaders. 
• TFA-sponsored cohorts of alumni for leadership development opportunities powered by CCL, including resilience-building skills training beginning in January 2022. 
• The opportunity for TFA alumni to become certified to deliver powerful CCL content at their schools and organizations.

“In-depth studies in the field of K-12 education confirm that investments in high-quality, research-based leadership development for principals, teachers, staff, and students play an essential role in creating the transformational change needed in education today. That’s because leadership development focuses on the single most important part of any school system, public or private — its people.”

“CCL is thrilled to partner with Teach For America to provide greater access to leadership development for their diverse network of alumni across North Carolina — people who are working across the educational ecosystem to improve education outcomes for all students in our home state,” commented Lynn Fick-Cooper, Vice President of Societal Impact at CCL.

In collaboration with the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL)®, Surry County Schools has defined 3 leadership focus areas — leading self, leading with others, and changing your world — for a first-of-its-kind district-wide leadership development initiative that includes training for teachers, students, school-level, and district-level leaders.

Over the next 5 years, The Edward M. Armfield, Sr. Foundation will invest $400,000 in this CCL-led initiative. The program, also funded by a Surry County Schools federal grant, supports the school district’s mission to foster a culture of leadership that will equip all individuals with the skills necessary to live, learn, and lead as productive citizens.

According to CCL research, leadership development for both students and adults in schools is related to better school climate, improved levels of trust, more collective efficacy, and lower adult attrition rates — all of which lead to improved socioeconomic and academic outcomes for students.

“We believe that everyone has the capacity for leadership, and, as an organization, it is our responsibility to provide leadership development opportunities for all staff and students,” says Surry County Schools Superintendent Travis L. Reeves. “Making leadership development accessible to all will help us fulfill our mission of empowering youth to grow as citizen leaders and to achieve their dreams.”

Fueled by an initial $150,000 grant from the Armfield Foundation, Surry County School System’s partnership with CCL began in 2018 with the development of a leadership framework and pilot leadership academies for teachers and assistant principals. Following the success of this early work, CCL’s K-12 team is working collaboratively with Surry County Schools to provide leadership development opportunities to all administrators, teachers, staff, and students in the district’s 19 schools.

“On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Armfield Foundation, we are so proud to invest in the amazing leaders in Surry County through their partnership with the Center for Creative Leadership. We believe in the power of leadership development and know that our investment is creating real change in Surry County, North Carolina, and beyond,” says Mindy Oakley, executive director of the Armfield Foundation.

“We are so grateful to the Armfield Foundation for believing and investing in the power of leadership development to transform the lives of students, teachers, families, and educational leaders in Surry County,” says Michael DePass, CCL’s director of leadership development for K-12 educational institutions.

“Our mission is to create leaders, and that’s exactly what this program is doing. It’s exciting because it’s not just focused on the people who would typically get leadership development, such as superintendents and principals — but it’s focused on every person in the system, all the way down to preschoolers,” DePass adds. “We’re looking at systemic leadership change across all role groups.”

The Center for Creative Leadership (CCL)®, a top-ranked, global provider of leadership development, serves individuals and organizations throughout Vermont with the support of a major gift from a longtime Vermont resident.

The gift comes from the late Dr. Margaret Waddington, a pioneering neurologist and resident of Rutland, Vermont, who died last year. In 1985, Waddington attended our Leadership Development Program (LDP)® – the longest-running program of its kind in the world – and was transformed by the experience. She became a strong financial supporter of CCL, ultimately leaving a multi-million dollar estate gift to support leadership development for future generations. Waddington stipulated that her gift benefit Vermont residents and organizations.

With these funds, CCL has established the Margaret Waddington Leadership Initiative and other opportunities with businesses, healthcare organizations, government agencies, and nonprofit institutions across Vermont. Since 2017, CCL has partnered with the Vermont Principals’ Association on the Margaret Waddington Institute for School Leaders, a comprehensive leadership training program for K-12 public and independent school principals throughout the state.

Through close collaboration with an array of partners, CCL has provided similar services for principals in many other states with positive outcomes for students, schools, and communities.

The Institute for School Leaders incorporates a blend of face-to-face and virtual learning, including classroom sessions, online learning, and follow-up one-on-one coaching.

“The Vermont Principals’ Association has supported learners and leaders for over 100 years. This gift allows us to realize the goal of providing high-level leadership development to all Vermont principals regardless of school size or budget capacity,” said Ken Page, Executive Director of the Vermont Principals’ Association.  “We’re excited to partner with CCL and like-minded leadership organizations in Vermont. “

“We are greatly humbled by Dr. Waddington’s tremendous generosity and much inspired by her commitment to making leadership development widely accessible for the women, men, and young people of Vermont,” said CCL President and CEO John R. Ryan. “We look forward to partnering with organizations in all sectors of this great state to make her vision a reality.”