2025 Heads, Trustees, & CFOs Conference
Pinehurst Resort
80 Carolina Vista DrivePinehurst, NC 28374
United States
Heads of School, School Trustees, Chief Financial Officers, and Chief Advancement Officers are invited to join us at the Pinehurst Resort for our annual School Leadership Retreat. National thought leaders will provide food for thought, best practices, and opportunities for collaboration while spending time in the picturesque Carolina Hotel. While grappling with the big questions surrounding the changing educational landscape, school leaders will have time away from the day-to-day distractions on a school campus to dive deep into the strategic and generative questions necessary to thrive and grow as an institution of learning.
| Credits | Price | |
|---|---|---|
|
NCAIS Trustee
|
16.00 (CEU) | $550.00 |
|
NCAIS CFO
|
16.00 (CEU) | $550.00 |
|
Non-Member Head of School
|
16.00 (CEU) | $600.00 |
|
Non-Member Trustee
|
16.00 (CEU) | $600.00 |
|
Non-Member CFO
|
16.00 (CEU) | $600.00 |
|
NCAIS CAO
|
16.00 (CEU) | $550.00 |
|
NCAIS Trustee - Wednesday Only
|
8.00 (CEU) | $300.00 |
|
NCAIS Trustee - Thursday Only
|
8.00 (CEU) | $300.00 |
| Credits | Price | |
|---|---|---|
|
NCAIS Head of School Registration
|
16.00 (CEU) | $300.00 |
Agenda
| January 15 | |
| 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM | NCAIS Board Meeting |
| 12:00 PM - 1:15 PM | NCAIS Board and New NCAIS Heads Lunch | Sponsored by Southstate Bank |
| 1:30 PM - 4:00 PM | Governing during Challenging Times Panel | Marc Frankel |
| 4:00 PM - 4:15 PM | Break |
| 4:15 PM - 5:15 PM |
Breakout Sessions
ACSI Christian School Session Advancement Session | Phil Higginson Innovation in Schools | Gardner Barrier and Mike Cobb |
| 5:30 PM - 6:15 PM | Reception | Conference Center Hallway | Sponsored by Critical Response Group |
| 6:15 PM - 7:30 PM |
Dinner | Grand Ballroom | Sponsored by Marsh McLennan Agency, Selective Insurance, and UNUM Insurance
NCAIS Legislative Updates and Q&A with Dave Horne and Josh Grant, Smith Anderson Guest Speaker - Dr. Brett Jacobsen, SAIS |
| January 16 | |
| 6:30 AM - 8:00 AM | Breakfast for Pinehurst Guests | Carolina Dining Room |
| 8:00 AM - 8:30 AM | Registration | Conference Center Foyer |
| 8:30 AM - 8:45 AM | President's Welcome | Eric Bradley | Grand Ballroom |
| 8:45 AM - 9:45 AM | Independent School Trends | Debra Wilson, NAIS |
| 9:45 AM - 10:00 AM | Break | Conference Center Hallway | Sponsored by Truist Bank |
| 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM | How to Change Anyone's Mind: Could There Be a Better Way? | Jonah Berger Everyone has something they want to change. Employees want to change their boss’ mind and leaders want to transform organizations. Politicians want to change policy, startups want to revolutionize industries, and nonprofits want to change the world. But change is hard. We push and push, but often nothing happens. Could there be a better way? This talk introduces a revolutionary approach to change. |
| 11:00 AM - 11:15 AM | Break |
| 11:15 AM - 12:15 PM | Strengthening the Head-Board Partnership for Effective Crisis Communication | Penny Abrahams, ISM Effective communication during a crisis is crucial to maintaining safety, trust, and confidence within a school community. This session focuses on the vital partnership between school heads and board members in helping to develop and execute a robust crisis communication strategy that includes preparedness and practice. Participants will explore key strategies for navigating crisis communication, and maintaining transparency and timeliness in messaging. |
| 12:30 PM - 1:15 PM | Heads Lunch & Business Meeting | Trustees and CFO's Lunch | Carolina Dining Room |
| 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM | Strengthening the Head-Board Partnership for Effective Crisis Communication | Penny Abrahams, ISM, continued |
| 2:30 PM - 2:45 PM | Break |
| 2:45 PM - 3:45 PM |
Breakout Sessions | Choose One
Turning The Board into a Fundraising Machine | Chris Dudley, AdvancementEDU This session will equip leadership with the strategies and tools needed to activate board members to raise more money and expand their network of influence for the benefit of the school. Other Sessions Coming Soon! |
| 3:45 PM | Adjourn | Trustees, CAOs, and CFOs Break | Heads of School |
| 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM | Wine & Wisdoms: Female Heads of School | Villa Parlor Bourbon & Blunders: Male Heads of School | Location TBD |
| 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM | Dinner on your own |
| January 17 | |
| 6:30 AM - 8:45 AM | Breakfast | Carolina Dining Room |
| 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM | Leadership Matrix Model | Michelle Bostian This session provides independent school heads with strategies to excel within complex matrixed organizational structures. As traditional hierarchical frameworks evolve into matrixed models, providing greater clarity around the scope of roles becomes crucial for effectiveness. Participants will explore key principles of leadership adaptability, fostering collaboration, and cultivating autonomy, with a focus on how clear role definitions contribute to the success of matrixed frameworks. |
| 10:30 AM - 10:45 AM | Break |
| 10:45 AM - 12:00 PM | Leadership Matrix, Cont. |
| 12:00 PM - 12:00 PM | Adjourn Discounted golf pricing is available to NCAIS conference attendees on Friday afternoon. Call reservations to set your tee time. |
Room Rates: Single Occupancy: $269.00++, Double Occupancy: $159.00++
Room Reservations:
Use this link and code: NCAIS Leadership Conference
Group Code: 110134
Password: 979014600
OR
Guests are also welcome to call the dedicated conference number for reservations or questions - (888) 806-2774
Our room block is being held until December 16, so please make your reservations before this date to receive the reduced room rate.Resort Accommodations: Guest rooms may be assigned to the Carolina Hotel, Holly Inn, Manor Inn. Carolina Villas, or Golf Course/Lake View Condominiums. Resort will make every effort to satisfy specific accommodation requests.
Resort Service Fee: A 10% resort service fee will be placed on each package rate on a nightly basis. This includes use of the Fitness Center, on-site transportation, HSIA in guest rooms, valet and self-parking, beach club and outdoor pools (based on seasonal availability), bicycles, afternoon tea in the Carolina, practice putting greens and driving range. The Resort Service Fee also includes gratuities for the bell and door staff. For non-package meals and beverages in any of our dining outlets, an 18% service charge is added to your account Housekeeping and transportation staff do not participate in the resort services fee. Gratuities for any other service staff are at the Group's or each individual's discretion.
Golf:
Golf Fees (includes green fees, cart and range balls); per person, per round
- Course No 1, No. 3 and No 5 $60.00
- Course No. 2 $290.00
- Course No. 4 $230.00
- Course No 6, No 7, No. 8 and No 9 $160.00
- The Cradle Short Course $50.00
Penny joined Independent School Management in 2010 as a member of the Advancement Academy’s Founding Faculty.
Penny began her career in schools in 2001 at Ravenscroft, a Pre-k through grade 12 school in North Carolina. As the Annual Fund Director, she managed all aspects of the school’s annual giving program. Penny later became Ravenscroft’s Director of Communications and was charged with building the school’s communications program from the ground up.
From 2013–17, Penny served as the Director of Admissions & Marketing at Academy at the Lakes, a Pre–K3 through grade 12 school in Florida, where she helped the school reach record application and enrollment numbers.
Penny graduated with a B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and holds a Digital Marketing Certificate from the University of Vermont. She attained ISM’s International Advancement Program—Leader Certification (Iap-l) in 2012.
Jonah Berger is a Wharton School professor and internationally bestselling author of Magic Words, Contagious, Invisible Influence, and The Catalyst.
Dr. Berger is a world-renowned expert on natural language processing, change, word of mouth, influence, consumer behavior, and why things catch on. He has published over 80 articles in top‐tier academic journals, teaches one of the world’s most popular online courses, and popular outlets like The New York Times and Harvard Business Review often cover his work. Berger has keynoted hundreds of major conferences and events like SXSW and Cannes Lions, advises various early-stage companies, and consults for organizations like Apple, Google, Nike, Amazon, GE, Moderna, and The Gates Foundation.
Michelle Bostian is a seasoned executive coach and consultant known for her inviting demeanor and impactful leadership. With a career spanning over 25 years, she has cultivated expertise in designing and implementing tailored leadership programs, steering change management initiatives, fostering team alignment, and crafting visionary plans for organizational effectiveness. Michelle’s work is anchored in unlocking the inherent potential within leaders and teams, empowering them to capitalize on their strengths, unearth their purpose, and attain success.
As founder of AdvancementEDU, Chris Dudley leverages over two decades of experience in higher education leadership, major gift fundraising, marketing, sponsorship sales, business development, and operations to provide high-level advice and strategy for heads of school, college presidents, and chief development officers.
AdvancementEDU partners with independent schools, colleges, and universities to generate revenue for transformational impact. Our clients are guaranteed a relationship built on integrity, excellence and accountability.
Chris served in senior leadership at High Point University in High Point, NC, during a time of unprecedented growth and transformation. For ten years, as Senior Vice President for Administration and Chief of Staff, he led operational areas, including: security, transportation, food services, maintenance, janitorial, landscaping, construction, events, and community relations, among others. For eight years, he served as Senior Vice President for Development, leading a team that raised $450 million.
Marc Frankel, Ph. D. is a Senior Consultant and partner in Triangle Associates, an international consultancy specializing in higher, independent and international education. A psychologist by training, Dr. Frankel facilitates governance workshops, leadership development programs, and strategic planning in the United States and around the world, and coaches numerous senior leaders in universities and independent schools. His clients include schools in Europe, Asia and North America, including large and small institutions and Tier 1 universities.
Among his accomplishments are the development of evaluation methodologies for governing boards and senior academic and administrative leaders, co-founding the School Leadership Institute for the National Association of Independent Schools, being on the faculty of a major leadership development program for land-grant universities in the United States, and authoring or co-authoring numerous articles and white papers on issues in governance and leadership of schools and universities.
Dr. Frankel is a member of the governing board at the Wildwood School (Los Angeles), and he lives in St. Louis with his wife, Jacqueline. Their son, Alex, lives and works in Los Angeles. Dr. Frankel’s undergraduate degree is from the University of Utah, and he completed his Masters and Ph.D. at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. Dr. Frankel has been part of Triangle Associates for over 20 years
Phil joined ISM as a full-time Consultant in 2023. A nationally recognized leader in philanthropic efforts and a renowned speaker, his expertise is in fundraising and development.
Phil most recently served at Ravenscroft School in North Carolina. In over 20 years with this school, starting as the Director of Development and transitioning to the Associate Head of School for Philanthropy, he helped establish 75 new endowments equating to nearly $14M raised in outright and deferred gifts.
Phil started his career in 1987 at Washington International School in Washington, D.C. Since that time, in his 36 years of independent school advancement work, he has served four additional schools.
At St. Albans School in Washington, D.C., he collaborated on a $15 million capital campaign. At Norwood School in Maryland, he headed development programs that included another $15 million capital campaign. He has also served at Sandy Springs Friends School and Landon School, both in Maryland.
Phil was a founding faculty member for ISM’s Advancement Academy and has served as a planning architect, instructor, and mentor for over 12 years.
Phil has presented at more than 30 local and national conferences, such as CASE, NAIS, NCAIS, AISGW, and NCPG. He served as Chair of the 38th annual CASE-NAIS national conference, served as a member of the CASE District III Board, and is a member of the CASE Laureates.
Phil earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Richmond in Virginia. He holds Leader Certification through ISM’s International Advancement Program (IAP−L).
Brett joined the SAIS team in July 2024, having most recently served as the chief executive officer at The Mount Vernon School in Atlanta. During his tenure, the school experienced exponential growth in enrollment and gained a national reputation for innovation in education. Illustrating this, Mount Vernon’s upper school launched a school-within-a-school model, Innovation Diploma, whose students have served as consultants for Delta, Mercedes, AT&T, Porsche, and the National Center for Civil & Human Rights. In 2012, Brett started an R&D lab known as Mount Vernon Ventures, serving educational communities throughout the world. Over the past decade, Ventures has welcomed over 1,000 teachers and administrators to education visitation days, workshops, and summer conferences. Recently, he founded Mount Vernon Online, an online high school, enrolling its first cohort of students in August 2022.
The transformational story at Mount Vernon was recognized in 2021 by NBOA when Brett received the inaugural Jeffrey Shields Innovation in Operations Award. Additionally, he was highlighted by the Atlanta Business Chronicle as one of the 2017 Most Admired CEOs in the education category. Prior to coming to Mount Vernon, he served as head of school at Second Baptist School in Houston, Texas, where he began his teaching career and deepened his expertise as division head, dean, and development director.
Debra P. Wilson is the ninth president of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS).
From 2019 until 2023, Wilson served as president of the Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS), where she led the organization through a period of growth and supported school leaders in her region through the COVID-19 pandemic. Her SAIS role followed 19 years at NAIS, first as assistant director of regulatory affairs and later as general counsel. In that capacity, she oversaw regulatory and advocacy work for the organization, supported schools in crises, advanced best practices in governance, and created dozens of legal advisories along with other informational resources. Before joining the NAIS staff, Debra was a tax litigator at the Department of Justice.
Speaking frequently on topics such as leadership and governance, school safety and risk, and community health and well-being, Wilson is also co-author of the NAIS Trustee Handbook (10th and 11th editions).
