Professional Development > Academies 

Because equity takes deep acumen. 

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The first academies of their kind—designed for bold, transformative learning with some of the nation’s leading scholars. Over two and a half energizing days, participants engage with rich, research-based curricula that explore culturally responsive school leadership, historical context, and visionary practices for equity and belonging—all in community with fellow educators who care deeply about change.
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Upcoming Academies

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Culturally Responsive School Leadership Legacy Academy

   August 6-7, 2025
   Online - Join from anywhere
   $2000 per seat*

Join us online for an opportunity to experience our original Culturally Responsive School Leadership (CRSL) Legacy Academy. This Academy guides participants to develop core Culturally Responsive School Leadership skills by uncovering historical oppression and learning to disrupt inequitable systems in pursuit of racial equity and social justice.

Registration Deadline: July 15, 2025

*Discount available for past customers and districts with financial need. Email members@crsli.org for more information.

Four academies.
Four dynamic scholars.
Each giving leaders a new set of eyes.

Dr. Muhammad Khalifa
Dr. Jamila Dugan
Dr. Keith Mayes
Dr. Gholdy Muhammad

The Original CRSL Legacy Academy


Featuring the work of Muhammad Khalifa, PhD, author of Culturally Responsive School Leadership

The Legacy Academy, CRSLI’s most foundational learning experience, guides participants to develop core Culturally Responsive School Leadership skills by uncovering historical oppression and learning to disrupt inequitable systems in pursuit of racial equity and social justice.

Genius & Joy Academy


Featuring the work of Gholdy Muhammad, PhD, author of Cultivating Genius and Unearthing Joy
Grounded in Dr. Gholdy Muhammad’s Five Pursuits, this Academy empowers leaders to deepen their instructional leadership and implement culturally and historically responsive education through a humanizing, equity-centered curriculum.

Disrupting Equity Traps & Tropes Academy


Featuring the work of Jamila Dugan, EdD, co-author of Street Data: A Next-Generation Model for Equity, Pedagogy, and School Transformation
In this Academy, Dr. Jamila Dugan and the CRSLI team help leaders uncover the mindsets and systems that limit transformative leadership—and redefine data as a humanizing, equity-centered tool for change.

CRSL for Special Education Academy


Featuring the work of Keith Mayes, PhD, author of The Unteachables: Disability Rights and the Invention of Black Special Education
In this powerful Academy on racialization in special education, participants develop the mindsets, tools, and Culturally Responsive School Leadership skills needed to uncover and disrupt the historical and systemic injustices embedded in special education policies and practices.

An informative process for an illuminating outcome.

With a scholarly approach that goes past the fluff, we’re here to help school leaders use their power and position to create culturally responsive environments. Such profound learning happens when principals, superintendents, and other school leaders gather together in the same learning space to discuss CRSL. Over the course of each leadership Academy, participants will spend their time digging into history and theory, activities and practices, and leadership and systems change.
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A woman with light skin tone attending the CRSLI academy sitting at a desk and listening with interest. In the background a man with dark skin tone writes in a notebook.

Who can attend leadership Academies?
Leadership academies are designed specifically for teacher-leaders, school-based leaders, district leaders, superintendents, and board members. However, other educators and staff (such as equity directors/DEI leaders or non-profit organization officers) can also benefit deeply from our CRSL Academies.


How are Academies structured?  
In-person leadership Academies are 2 consecutive full days + one half day, and are traditionally hosted by the school district participating in the Academy.   

Virtual leadership Academics can either be 2 consecutive full days + one half day, or 5 half-days. 

How do I sign leaders at my school or district up for an Academy?
To attend a leadership Academy, you can either join one that has already been scheduled, or contact us to schedule one that works for your district.

This is more than a team-building exercise. It’s a culture-shifting initiative.

Participants walk away with deep knowledge, readily usable tools, and new skill sets that will lead to both short and long-term shifts in practice. Those shifts lead to schools becoming more humanizing spaces for minoritized students.

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“The Culturally Responsive Leadership Academy brought our district what is missing in most equity professional development - historical context. This combined with the excellent readings and facilitation has genuinely had an impact on how we view our equity work as system work, not just personal work.”

Renee Corneille - Superintendent St. Anthony-New Brighton Public Schools

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Interested in hosting an Academy?