District Leadership Fellows
Applications are open for the 2025–2026 cohort of the District Leadership Fellows, a hybrid in-person and online strengths-based leadership development program run by the Institute for Leadership Impact at Southern Methodist University. Established and emerging district leaders who are collaborative, motivated to create change, and who have a strong desire for personal leadership growth are invited to apply.
As District Leadership Fellows reach the mid-point of their program, it’s time to take a look back at their leadership journey to date.
This October, SMU welcomed the 2024-2025 cohort of District Leadership Fellows to campus for their highly anticipated Fall Retreat. After a month of virtual collaboration, the Fellows eagerly gathered in person for two days of interactive learning, goal setting, and meaningful discussions about leadership within their districts.
A new cohort of school district leaders have been welcomed into the SMU District Leadership Fellows program, a hybrid in-person and online leadership training program for school district superintendents and district leaders run by the Institute for Leadership Impact at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.
The 2023-2024 cohort of District Leadership Fellows has wrapped up their year-long program and it is time to take a look back at their year.
“The District Fellowship Program has been an invaluable experience. The immersive experience coupled with mentorship and networking helped me to embrace collaborative leadership and honed my strategic thinking. Engaging the program empowered me to lead with purpose!” Dr. Veronica Perkins, Superintendent, Blytheville School District
Applications are open for the 2024–2025 cohort of the District Leadership Fellows, a hybrid in-person and online strengths-based leadership development program run by the Institute for Leadership Impact at Southern Methodist University. Established and emerging district leaders who are collaborative, motivated to create change, and who have a strong desire for personal leadership growth are invited to apply. Throughout the program, fellows will apply learning from cohort meetings, peer group meetings and interactive tutorials to a real-world challenge in their districts.
The 2023-2024 cohort of District Leadership Fellows gathered at SMU to engage with speakers and panelists, to share their project updates, and to look ahead to the spring semester.
Over the last three sessions, the District Leadership Fellows have been developing their Active Listening skills. The cohort first learned the basis of Active Listening which is OARS: Open-ended Questions, Affirmation, Reflective Listening, and Summarizing. The Fellows then applied this skill by interviewing each other in breakout rooms.
The 2023-2024 cohort of District Leadership Fellows met at SMU for their fall retreat.
District Leadership Fellows were welcomed to SMU for two days of learning, connecting, collaborating and reflecting. After beginning the program online, Fellows welcomed the chance to meet and learn in person.