End one thing. Make room for what matters next.
PROJECT PHOENIX
NESA Fall Leadership Conference · Pre-conference
October 14, 2026 · 8:30 am-4:00 pm · Royal Orchid Sheraton, Bangkok
Your school cannot keep adding without subtracting.
School leaders are carrying more than ever. The natural response is to add something, but everything you add today becomes an inherited commitment tomorrow, asking already-stretched people to be responsible for yet one more thing.
From ash, to ember, to flight.
Decide what should end
Distinguish what is merely difficult from what no longer serves the school. Examine its purpose, results, resource demands, and symbolic weight.
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Honor what is made possible
Don’t treat the past as a mistake. Name what it contributed, whose work made it succeed, and what to preserve as you move forward.
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Prepare for renewal
Anticipate resistance, involve the right people, craft a credible story, and build the conditions for the next chapter, before announcing the ending.
By the end of the day, you’ll have built your Phoenix Plan.
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One clear initiative to end.
A program, practice, structure, ritual or assumption that may no longer justify its resources.
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A stakeholder resistance map.
Who may view the change as a loss, what they fear, and what they need to see, hear, or influence.
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A story for renewal.
Why the old approach mattered, why now requires something different, and what the change makes possible.
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A 90-day pre-launch plan.
The conversations, evidence, and decisions to sequence before you announce or launch a replacement.
What Registration Includes
Everything you’ll need to leave with a plan.
The full-day workshop
The Project Phoenix planning workbook
Resistance & change-story templates
A complete 90-day pre-launch plan
Coffee breaks & lunch
A post-conference virtual clinic
Come as a Team
Ending something important rarely belongs to one person.
Bring up to three leaders who share the decisions, the relationships, or the implementation.
Who Should Attend
· Heads of school
· Senior and Executive Leadership Teams
· Division and School Principals
· Board-facing, strategy and innovation leaders
· Leaders responsible for culture, change or renewal
Your guides who lead this work every day.
Christian Talbot
President & CEO, Middle States · Co-founder RAIL
Works with school leaders on accreditation, strategy, governance, AI, and the disciplines of wise institutional change.
Dr. Lina Lewis
Associate VP for International Accreditation
Supports international schools navigating improvement, accreditation, strategic renewal, and complex organizational change.
Voices from Previous Project Phoenix Workshops
“I loved the gift of time to spend on launching a ‘new Phoenix.’ The process was super helpful and insightful, and I’m walking away with a great game plan!”
Ashley Crowley, Barnstable Academy
“So valuable conversing with a wide range of educational leaders and thinkers- an exceptional group.”
Jason Sammartino, Malvern Prep
“Collaborating with others from my school on a ‘real’ school issue was very valuable”
Daniele Tellish, Springdale Prep
Choose how your school shows up.
Individual Registration
$249
for one school leader attending independently.
School Team Pass (up to 3)
$499
bring the people who will help sponsor, communicate, and implement the change.
Open to leaders from all schools. Registration is handled directly through Middle States.
Stop carrying yesterday into tomorrow.
Decide what matters now, and release what no longer does. Bring the thing your school knows it should stop doing, and leave with a plan for what comes next.
October 14, 2026 · Royal Orchid Sheraton, Bangkok · NESA Fall Leadership Conference