By Linnette Werner and Corey Seemiller
28 April 2021
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In 2013, ILA’s Leadership Education Academy (LEA) was brought to life with the vision of gathering people together to develop skills and capacities for engaging in leadership education. Only a few years later, the first LEA took place in Orlando, Florida. ILA has now hosted three academies, all offered as in-person, retreat-like events designed to foster collaboration and connection. In 2020, we were scheduled to host our fourth LEA, but with COVID, moving the event online in a meaningful way was not possible with such a short lead-in time. It took two years to design and develop LEA’s in person event, and we did not want to rush the process of reimagining the event online. We all believed instead that spending the next year developing an innovative and virtual LEA for 2021 was more feasible and more intentional. Thus, we have been working tirelessly to put together an event that truly embodies both the cutting-edge content needed for today’s leadership landscape and the innovative pedagogies that model best practices in leadership education.
We are all excited to be part of the LEA team during this time of innovation and adaptation. Pulling together this incredible group of leadership educators to imagine a completely online version of the LEA has been such a fabulous and energizing experience.
The 2021 LEA will take place in a virtual space through both synchronous (Zoom) sessions and asynchronous (Thinkific) sessions over the course of two weeks, from August 2nd-13th. This model is designed to offer participants opportunities for live connection with other educators through half-day sessions that will take place Monday, Wednesday, and Friday each of these two weeks. Asynchronous learning during this time will include self-reflection, application, and a course or program re/design project. This schedule will allow people to participate at their own pace for asynchronous learning as well as come together live online to connect with others in meaningful and intentional ways. In addition, virtual coaching sessions will be available to participants over the course of the two weeks, allowing for mentoring and guidance on any number of topics or initiatives.
We all look forward to this exciting new adventure together! We know LEA will offer an engaging and purposeful experience for everyone who participates.
Below we have detailed a little more about our interests and background as well as what we can connect on! You can register and learn more about all of our facilitators by visiting the LEA web page.
Linnette Werner
You can connect with Linnette during LEA this year on a variety of topics including case-in-point and emergent teaching. She is the co-author of the book Teaching from the Emerging Now (2001) and co-creator of the pVASE framework for leadership problem-solving. Linnette has spent over twenty years teaching leadership and brings experience in senior higher education leadership that includes launching new programs. From 2001-2019, she worked at the University of Minnesota and served as the Director of the undergraduate leadership minor, which was one of the largest academic leadership programs in the nation at over 1800 enrollments a year. In 2019 she become the Associate Dean of Graduate Programs at Hamline University where she is working to launch a new interdisciplinary undergraduate leadership minor. Outside of work, Linnette enjoys a “wabi-sabi” style of life shared with three children, two pets, and her spouse. She lives near St. Paul, Minnesota and enjoys trying out things like having a family bluegrass band, kayaking, total home remodeling (while living in the house during a pandemic), and trying (but failing miserably) to recreate the Great British Baking Show in her own kitchen.
Corey Seemiller
At LEA this August, you can expect to engage with Corey on a number of topics from intentional sequencing and leadership competencies to assessment and social justice. Corey has been involved with LEA since the start and co-developed the idea with Dan Jenkins during a conversation held at Sloopy’s Diner at Ohio State University during the 2012 LEI conference (Check out Corey’s recent podcast discussing this conversation). The two worked tirelessly over the years to build a team, craft a vision, and lead the charge to see this program come to fruition. Corey served as co-chair of LEA with Dan for the 2015, 2017, and 2019 academies and now serves as the curriculum co-chair with Linnette. The task of curriculum co-chair has been a far larger undertaking than initially expected, given the transition from a live 3.5-day event to a 2-week synchronous and asynchronous virtual event.
When Corey is not working with LEA facilitators to transition in-person content to virtual content, she serves as an Associate Professor at Wright State University in Leadership Studies in Education and Organizations teaching graduate and undergraduate students in leadership and graduate students in the Student Affairs and Higher Education program. She has a nearly two-decade background in student affairs and engages in speaking, consulting, and non-profit work. Her research centers on three passion areas: Generation Z, Student Leadership Competencies, and Leadership Educator Professional Identity Development. She enjoys researching, writing, presenting, and teaching on all of those topics…especially exploring the intersectionality between them. In her free time, Corey is an avid hiker (clocking more than 1000 miles in 2020), a parent of a child in Zoom school, a foster kitten litter momma, and karaoke singer (mostly at home these days)!
Both Linnette and Corey look forward to meeting and getting to know the LEA 2021 participants!
