The Leadership Academy is a left-of-center non-profit consulting organization that provides services to schools and organizations to aid in the production of systems that promote equal outcomes for their students, teachers, and leaders. ¹ It promotes concepts and ideas developed by Ibram X. Kendi, a left-wing advocate for racial issues similar to critical race theory (CRT), and others in education and is involved in work with school districts, schools, and organizations across 37 states and 240 school systems. ^{1 2}

It is supported by multiple left-of-center foundations such as the Chan Zuckerberg Foundation and income derived from services provided to schools, state education funds, and other organizations. Services provided include equity or equal outcome audits, recommendations for changes in strategy and assistance in implementing those changes. ^{3 4}

Founding and Structure

The Leadership Academy is a left-of-center organization founded in 2003 as the NYC Leadership Academy on a platform provided by the Aspiring Principals Program that was used in New York City schools to train 600 principals most of whom were women and people of color. Over time LA has trained 10,000 leaders in over 240 school systems and educational organizations in 37 states and Washington, D.C., that has impacted over 8 million students. ^{5 1}

Founding partners of The Leadership Academy included the Gates Foundation, the Hearst Corporation, the U.S. Department of Education, and the New York State Education Department.

The Leadership Academy provides programs in four areas of work: school equity assessments, which provides a framework to evaluate the state of equal outcomes in a school or school district; equity audits, a diagnostic tool to determine the state of equal outcomes and strategies to improve them; strategic equity planning and implementation; and customized professional learning. These are offered as revenue generators to supplement income from contributions and grants. The Leadership Academy offers 18 programs that support those areas and provide a continuous pipeline of activity once a school or organization has begun to work with them. ^{6 3}

Activities

The Leadership Academy operates the Western Michigan Leadership Academy (WMLA) in a partnership with a group of Western Michigan school districts that is focused on developing school leadership that effects change in their districts that delivers equal outcomes for students using services from LA including Coaching for Equitable Practice and Equity. ⁷

The Leadership Academy’s penetration of schools is illustrated by its work in Nevada. It operates or operated projects for the Nevada Department of Education, Clark County School District (the fourth largest in the United States), Nye County School District, and the Mineral County Schools. ⁸

The Leadership Academy conducted a webinar designed to promote the concept that administrators and teachers of color are better able to lead students of color. The premise of this work is that 53% of students are of color while 20% of teachers, 20% of principals, and 7% of superintendents were of color. ⁹

The Leadership Academy produced the ABCs of Equity, a dictionary of terms used in its programs, designed to provide common language for its work. Definitions for antiracist, assimilation, colorblindness, colorism, racial inequity, racism, racist, racist idea, and racist policy endorsed definitions provided by Ibram X. Kendi, a leading advocate of radical-left racial ideologies aligned with critical race theory. ¹⁰

The Leadership Academy developed and offers a Portrait of a Culturally Responsive School System, a tool comprised of 150 questions designed to disrupt systemic racism and decenter dominant culture (neither term is defined by LA). ¹¹

The Leadership Academy was selected by the Wallace Foundation in a $102 million project conducted in partnership with the Bank Street College of Education and Bank Street Education Center, an organization that supports the principles of antiracism, to support Baltimore City, Maryland Public Schools; Columbus City, Ohio schools; District of Columbia public schools; Fresno Unified School District, California; Jefferson County, Kentucky school district; Portland, Oregon public schools; San Antonio, Texas independent school district; and Winston Salem/Forsyth Counties, North Carolina to develop principal pipelines to implement each district’s vision of equal outcomes. ¹²

Funding Organizations and Partners

The Chan Zuckerberg Foundation, a contributor to a variety of left-of center organizations, granted $675,000 to The Leadership Academy. Other contributors include: the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, which funds left-of-center causes including LGBT interests and educational curriculum development; the Bainum Family Foundation, which funds left-leaning organizations; the Wallace Foundation; the Douglas and Maria Devos Foundations, which funds Western Michigan Leadership Academy; the Steelcase Foundation, which funds Western Michigan Leadership Academy; the American Association of School Administrators (AASA), that opposes school vouchers and supports equal outcome policies; and the Carnegie Corporation of New York. ⁴

Leadership

The Leadership Academy’s president and executive officer is Nancy B. Gutierrez. Prior to her tenure at LA, she developed and launched a school superintendent certification program for the New York City Department of Education and was on the board of the Coalition of Essential Schools. She is a member ot the board at the Hunt Institute, which advances political initiatives to promote the concept of equal outcomes in education, Brightbeam, an operating name for the Results in Education Foundation, and Education Leaders of Color (EdLoC), an organization committed to increased representation for those of color in school leadership and serves on the Latinos for Education teaching team. ¹³ Gutierrez is also an adjunct professor at NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. ¹⁴

Finances

The Leadership Academy reported 2018 revenue of $7,894,087. Program service revenue contributed $4,229,725 while contributions and grants delivered an additional $3,656,527. Expenses were reported as $8,305,516 with salaries and other compensation accounting for $5,661,886 of the total. Net assets of Leadership Academy at the end of 2018 were $5,117,108 down from $5,528,537 in the prior year. ¹⁵

According to its 2021 990 form, the Leadership Academy reported a revenue of $10,047,490, expenses at $7,840,528, and total assets of $8,788,213. ¹⁶

1. “Ed Leadership Training for Equity.” The Leadership Academy. Accessed December 12, 2021. https://www.leadershipacademy.org/.
2. “The Abcs of Equity.” The Leadership Academy. Accessed December 12, 2021. https://www.leadershipacademy.org/resources/the-abcs-of-equity/.
3. “Workshops.” The Leadership Academy. Accessed December 12, 2021. https://www.leadershipacademy.org/workshops/.
4. “Our Partners.” The Leadership Academy. Accessed December 12, 2021. https://www.leadershipacademy.org/our-partners/.
5. “About Us.” The Leadership Academy. Accessed December 12, 2021. https://www.leadershipacademy.org/about-us/.
6. “Our Work.” The Leadership Academy. Accessed December 12, 2021. https://www.leadershipacademy.org/our-work/.
7. “WMLA.” The Leadership Academy. Accessed December 12, 2021. https://www.leadershipacademy.org/wmla/.
8. “2022 Largest School Districts in America.” Niche. Accessed December 12, 2021. https://www.niche.com/k12/search/largest-school-districts/.
9. “If You Listen, We Will Stay: A Webinar Hosted by the Hunt Institute + Teachplus.” The Leadership Academy. Accessed December 12, 2021. https://www.leadershipacademy.org/resources/if-you-listen-we-will-stay-a-webinar-hosted-by-the-hunt-institute-teachplus/.
10. “Final Abcs of Equity – the Leadership Academy.” Accessed December 12, 2021. https://www.leadershipacademy.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Final-ABCs-of-Equity.pdf.
11. “Portrait of a Culturally Responsive School System.” The Leadership Academy. Accessed December 12, 2021. https://www.leadershipacademy.org/resources/portrait-of-a-culturally-responsive-school-system-2/.
12.  “The Leadership Academy Selected to Support Eight Large School Districts in Conducting Equity-Focused Reviews as Part of an Initiative to Develop Principal Pipelines for Equity-Centered Leaders.” The Leadership Academy. Accessed December 12, 2021. https://www.leadershipacademy.org/news/the-leadership-academy-selected-to-support-eight-large-school-districts-in-conducting-equity-focused-reviews-as-part-of-an-initiative-to-develop-principal-pipelines-for-equity-centered-leaders/.
13. “Our People.” The Leadership Academy. Accessed December 12, 2021. https://www.leadershipacademy.org/our-people/.
14.  “Nancy B. Gutierrez, Ed.L.D. – Adjunct Professor – Linkedin.com.” Accessed December 12, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancy-b-gutierrez-edld.
15. “NYC Leadership Academy Inc”, Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax, (Form 990), 2018, Part I, Lines 12, 9, 8, 18, 15, 22.
16. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). The Leadership Academy. 2021. Part I. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/30503570/202341329349306009/full