Welcome to the Academic Leadership Institute

Co-founded by Earl Lewis, Director of the Center for Social Solutions at the University of Michigan, and Dwight A. McBride, President of The New School, the Academic Leadership Institute (ALI) seeks to transform rising and established academics into world-class academic leaders.

Through our rigorous Residential Program as well as events throughout the year, the ALI prepares each cohort for the upper echelons of academia like no other institute. We seek to ensure that promising leaders receive a basic foundation in what it takes to lead academic institutions and gain a network of colleagues and mentors as their careers continue to develop.

As colleges and universities move toward creating more diverse environments, they seek leaders whose personal experiences in academe and in the DEI arena will help them to transform higher education to be more equitable and accessible at all levels.

In response to this need, the goals of the ALI are:

• Create a space in which diversity, equity, access, and inclusion are foundational values.
• Build a space of affirmation in which participants can move quickly to a place of professional intimacy and collaboration around shared values and vision for higher education.
• Spark a leadership movement that centers on talent cultivation, networking, and sourcing.
• Generate a shared vision for transforming higher education and developing individuals who are capable of making this change.
• Work to elevate individuals and transform institutions.