TEL FELLOWSHIP

TRANSFORMATION HAPPENS THROUGH COMMUNITY

  • Mission

    To cultivate the personal and collective transformation of diverse educational leaders so they can transform schools into just and thriving learning communities.

  • Community

    Join a beloved community of awakened school leaders committed to nourishing and aligning their inner life of mind and spirit with an outer life of service and action.

  • Transformation

    Deep inner shifts in attitudes, beliefs, and thinking are necessary for the positive changes in actions and behaviors that empower leaders to transform schools and systems.

Applications for the next Fellowship will open in January 2026

January 30th Live TEL Info Session

Missed the live TEL Fellowship Info Sessions? Watch a replay of our January 30th TEL Info Session.

Listen to TEL Alumni share how their professional and personal lives were transformed through the TEL Fellowship. 

Experience Transformation

The Transformative Educational Leadership® (TEL) Fellowship is a deeply immersive, year-long experience for a diverse cohort of educational leaders (at least 50% leaders of color) who are committed to growing in a healing-centered, liberatory, and beloved community of practice. TEL Fellows come together to transform through community and create positive change at personal, collective, and system-wide levels in the educational communities they serve. 

With its uniquely high-touch approach, TEL provides the collective support and courageous space to go deep in cultivating the transformative leadership needed to lead in complex, uncertain times. 

Through a process of co-creating a multi-racial beloved community together, Fellows will practice, integrate, and embody their learnings together. The Fellowship cultivates educational leaders who are capable of advancing a socially responsible, equitable, and loving atmosphere of belonging and compassion in their educational communities. 

The Fellowship offers in-person retreats, virtual gatherings, affinity groups, one-on-one coaching, applied practice, and intimate webinars with diverse thought leaders. 

Past thought leaders include: Aaliyah Samuel, Dan Goleman, Elena Aguilar, john a. powell, Martin Brokenleg, Pedro Noguera, Peter Senge, Robert Gass, Tish Jennings, Yvette Jackson, and Zaretta Hammond.

Gain Insights and Strategies from Thought Leaders:

  • Zaretta Hammond

  • Elena Aguilar

  • john a. powell

  • Martin Brokenleg

  • Robert Gass

  • Yvette Jackson

  • Dan Goleman

  • Pedro Noguera

  • Tish Jennings

  • Dr. Aaliyah Samuel

    Aaliyah Samuel

  • Peter Senge

Program Model

  • Opening and closing in-person five-day Retreats in July 2024 & 2025

  • One virtual four-day Retreat mid-year in Feb

  • Two virtual gatherings every month

  • Ongoing, small group co-learning experiences

  • Weekly one-on-one office hours

  • Year-long racial affinity & role alike groups

  • Monthly intimate webinars with diverse thought leaders

  • Participatory leadership, and opportunities to practice skills

  • An Integrative Project (IP) to apply learnings to your community

  • Option to obtain 9 Graduate Level Professional Development Units/Credits through the University of the Pacific

Explore and Develop Skills in:

  1. Transformative Leadership

  2. Social and Emotional Learning

  3. Ethical Decision Making and Nonviolence

  4. Racial, Social, and Ecological Justice

  5. Mindfulness and Contemplative Practices

  6. Inner Wisdom and Embodiment

  7. Systems Change and Collective Impact

Who is this Fellowship for?

  • Superintendents & other District Level Leaders

  • Non-profit and CBO Leaders

  • School and/or District SEL Leaders and Coaches

  • School Site Leaders - e.g. Principals, Mental Health & Wellness School Leaders

  • Higher Education Professionals training the Next Generation of Educational Leaders

  • Teacher Leaders

Listen to what previous TEL Fellows have to say:

  • Retreat Details

    TEL Fellows meet in-person in the beautiful natural settings of upstate NY for two of the three retreats. These gatherings are pivotal to open and close this experience of Beloved Community.

    *Opening In-Person Retreat: July 15-20, 2024 at Stony Point Center

    *Virtual Retreat: February 14-17, 2025

    *Closing In-Person Retreat: July 14-19, 2025 at Stony Point Center

    Virtual Gatherings

    Engage deeply with thought leaders and members of your TEL Fellowship for two Wednesdays a month starting August 2024 and ending June 2025. Times will be 4pm-6pmPST/7pm-9pm EST.

  • Fellowship fees are $5,500 which does not include travel nor room and board for the two in-person retreats at the Stony Point Center. Many districts, schools, and other sponsoring organizations are able to cover the fees.

    Do not let cost deter you from applying if interested. Limited funding is available to highly qualified candidates based on need, thanks to our funders the NoVo Foundation and Rare Impact Fund. A payment schedule is also available to make three separate payments throughout the year-long program.

  • Read answers to our most frequently asked questions. Listen to what previous Fellows are saying and they too may answer your questions.

“A lot of times we are the outliers in our districts. TEL is a community of like minded leaders engaged in similar work. It’s reassuring to know you are not alone.”

— Jill Merolla, SEL Lead, Warren City Schools