The Wisconsin Urban Leadership Institute
The Wisconsin Urban Leadership Institute (WULI) is an ongoing collaboration with the largest urban school districts: Green Bay, Kenosha, Madison, Milwaukee, and Racine. West Allis-West Milwaukee joined the WULI during the 2024-25 year with Cohort 6. WULI supports principals in the development of equitable leadership dispositions and practices through a professional learning series, leadership coaching, and networking. Principals complete a final capstone project which documents their progression through the learning series and maps their journey to culturally competent leadership. Each year, approximately 25 principals from participating districts are engaged in this transformational experience.
Partners
WULI is supported by a representative group of national and state partners. Partners serve in multiple capacities as subject matter experts, advisors for curriculum development and design, logistical support, evaluation, and creative partners for long-term planning. From 2018-2021 the WI ESSA Leadership Learning Community (ELLC) served as the statewide advisory committee for WULI.
100 % Wisconsin-based co-facilitation as of 2020
110 principal fellows have completed the WULI to date
History
WULI welcomed the first cohort of principal fellows in Fall 2018. The core curriculum was developed in partnership with The Leadership Academy and 4AM Consulting with collaborative engagement and local knowledge from the “Big 5” district representatives workgroup. In 2021, two additional sessions focused on family and community engagement were added to the “Designing a School Improvement Strategy for Results” series. These additional sessions provide a deeper understanding of intentional and inclusive family engagement. Participating leaders will now engage in 8 high-quality and comprehensive sessions over the course of the year.
Current and past partners include:
- The Wallace Foundation
- The Leadership Academy (New York)
- 4AM Consulting
- Educators Credit Union
- Froedtert Hospital
- Urban League of Greater Madison
- Association of Wisconsin School Administrators (AWSA)
- UW-Milwaukee Center for Socially Responsible Evaluation in Education
- Junior Achievement
Media Coverage
Interview with WI Urban Leadership Institute participants on Unspeakable Truth TV, 2018:
Contacts
For curriculum and eligibility information:
Alisia Moutry, PhD
CEO, 4AM Consulting
For programmatic information:
Kim Means
School Administration Consultant, Title I Continuous Improvement Team
WI Department of Public Instruction