Overview

In partnership with the Learning Policy Institute, Learner-Centered Collaborative hosted a four-part webinar series that explored how distributed leadership evolves schools and districts by expanding leadership beyond a single role and cultivating shared responsibility across teams. Designed for school and district leaders, the series highlights real-world examples from district leaders and university researchers who are building collaborative systems that empower educators, strengthen communities, and center learners.

Across the four conversations, leaders gained insights into:

• Building capacity across teams – creating structures that enable teachers and staff to lead in ways that directly benefit student learning.
• Fostering trust and collaboration – moving from top-down decision-making to shared ownership of challenges and solutions.
• Aligning vision with practice – ensuring that leadership decisions at every level reinforce learner-centered priorities.
• Sustaining innovation – developing leadership pipelines and systems that outlast individual leaders and adapt to changing needs.

Questions Explored

• How can leaders create conditions that empower educators to lead, not just implement?
• What structures and practices foster shared ownership of learner-centered change?
• How can districts sustain leadership capacity through transitions and challenges?
• What role do trust and collaboration play in scaling innovation?

Why Distributed Leadership Matters

At Learner-Centered Collaborative, we’ve seen that schools and districts thrive when leadership is a collective effort. Distributed leadership is a way to build resilient, adaptive systems where teachers, students, and communities contribute to shaping the learning experience. These webinars surface practical strategies and lived experiences from leaders who are making this shift today.

Bookmark and Watch the Recordings

• Session 1: Why Now? – with Contessa Orr (Superintendent, Muhlenberg County Schools, KY) and Dr. Andy Johnsen (Superintendent, San Marcos Unified School District, CA)
• Session 2: Understanding Your District’s Enabling Conditions – with Dr. Chad Mabery (Assistant Superintendent, Laguna Beach Unified School District, CA) and Dr. Luis Ibarra (Superintendent, Escondido Union School District, CA)
• Session 3: Asset Mapping for Leadership – with Dr. Leighangela Brady (Superintendent, National School District, CA), Dr. Alan Daly (Professor and Director, UC San Diego), Dave Troutman (PhD Candidate, UC San Diego), and Liz Perry (Learner-Centered Collaborative)
• Session 4: Bringing a Big Idea to Life – with Dr. Michael Loughead (Superintendent, Hampton Township School District, PA) and Dr. Lori Gonzalez (Superintendent, Lamont Elementary School District, CA)

Interested in bringing distributed leadership strategies to your school or district? Connect with us to learn how we can support your team in building collaborative, learner-centered systems.