Workshops, Presentations
& Retreats

Clients hire me to design and lead workshops or retreats that create space for honest dialogue. Whether working with faculty teams, leadership groups, or boards, my sessions leave participants feeling more connected, empowered, and ready to move forward.

How I Help

Below is a curated sample of presentations and workshops. Others available upon request. Reach out and we will customize a workshop or presentation to meet your school's needs.

Leadership Teams

  • The perspective of someone not in the school can sometimes help teams strengthen their communication and work together more effectively. Whether it’s a leadership team retreat to re-boot in January or the the Middle School faculty who need more support to build trust with one another in order to better serve students and parents, I am prepared to help groups talk and listen constructively to reach their goal.  

  • Sustainability for School Administrators; many school leaders struggle with balancing the long list of professional obligations with time to be fully present in the life of the school; this workshop asks participants to articulate and prioritize real and imagined obstacles and to problem solve collaboratively.

  • Stories help build stronger teams; even groups that have worked together for some time many not know each other well. Using a combination of  prompts and journaling, this workshop helps groups build trust and community.

  • What to do when everyone in the school is grumpy? This workshop offers an injection of hope for leadership teams through role-playing and flipping typical scripts; problem-solving through laughter helps everyone re-set. 

  • An Empathetic Approach to Balancing Multiple Constituencies.

    In this workshop, participants consider the ways in which a single decision can have unintended consequences and the ways in which the cube approach helps the team function more deliberately.

  • Every day, teachers give feedback to children on their performance. Why do we, as school leaders, hesitate in telling the truth to colleagues to help them grow or improve? And why is it so hard to document that feedback in a way that feels fair, firm and friendly? How can we create strong cultures of accountability to ensure our practices with adults align with the work we do with children every day? This workshop offers case studies, practical strategies, and the opportunity for healthy venting! Clarity and empathy take center stage in this work.

Faculty

“Ann leads from a place of curiosity, guiding groups toward the kind of transformative insights that can only come when they participate in perspective-taking and genuine exchange. She'll help you step into a place of vulnerability and authenticity so that you can think with breadth and depth, grapple with complexity, and stay open and engaged even when the path forward isn’t yet clear. The result is not movement for its own sake, but rather progress grounded in shared purpose.”

Megan Weiskopf
Director of Teaching and Learning
Co-Director of Laurel’s Center for Research on Girls
Laurel School

  • Parents like surprises less than they like anything else and they want to know a teacher really knows their child. But faculty sometimes feel apprehensive about telling all the truth in conferences or comments. The first part of this workshop offers opportunities to role play and improvise, giving participants the chance to practice new scripts and get some real-time feedback about their communication styles. The second half looks at how to write great comments, including an exploration of how AI can help and a hit list of words to avoid in describing a student's performance.

  • Too often we expect teachers, who shine with kids, to be able to prep a great presentation–in this session, I will offer some do’s and don’ts and allow folks to practice with me for my feedback and the constructive feedback peers also attending the workshop can provide. Topics include: upspeak, verbal fillers, how to rehearse; standing on both your feet, unconscious physical patterns, etc.

  • This workshop explores the challenges and opportunities of supervising those you with whom you work closely; topics include preparing for tough conversations; holding people you care about accountable; parent communication; not everyone will be happy with the decisions you make; and how to kick a tricky situation upstairs when you’ve done all you can do.

  • Taking “Feel the fear and do it anyway,” as our mantra, this workshop examines the reasons we avoid particular conversations in schools and how to break the silence. Through a variety of exercises, Participants will consider multiple perspectives, cultivate curiosity, stay present, and unpack both their critical responses and emotional reactions as they grapple with tough, complicated topics.  

Groups of Heads, Associations & Boards

  • This presentation/workshop draws on the wisdom of those assembled to consider strategies for coping when the worst happens or when a school situation goes off the rails. Learning from one another is often the last thing busy heads have time for, but in my experience, these opportunities are precious and help us build our capacity for managing through crises.  

  • How can we better invite parents and alums into contemporary understandings of school life and culture?  Are there ways in which we can “translate” the experience of today’s students for those who may be many decades distant from their own school experience? This workshop invites participating to crowd-source solutions and consider a variety of story telling techniques that inspire empathy, curiosity and understanding. 

  • My work as a Head of School and as a trustee for several organizations gives me great empathy for the work of governance. Together, let's design the retreat your board craves to re-set or to move forward. 

I’m pleased to be partnering with NBOA and NBOA Advisory Services to soon offer Governance Trainings and Retreats.
More information coming soon!

“When I want a partner to think through a new idea or an unruly challenge or something sticky, I call Ann. She helps me see a new perspective, question a direction, or confirm a gut instinct. She’s the best.”

Brad Rathgeber
President & CEO
One Schoolhouse

Parents

  • Being a great parent in an independent school is a new experience for many parents. This talk offers tips about how to be the parent that every teacher and school leader hopes to have in the school--let me demystify what it means to be a terrific parent who works in partnership with the school on behalf of their child. I first wrote a piece on this subject for the Huffington Post; in this presentation, I expand on that topic.

  • What will it mean for your family to send a graduate off to college? My ten years as a college advisor, 21 years as a head, and the mother of three children who have made a successful transition to college give me a unique and empathetic vantage point on what it means to prepare for one more child leaving the nest.  In this talk, I offer practical and philosophical advice, encourage parents to ask questions, and talk about the push me-pull you of the transition from high school student to first year college student. 

“Ann's presence and involvement in our daughter's life had so many important features: she taught her to work very hard as a reader and writer, to think deeply, and finally to translate it all into how to live life meaningfully and joyfully.”

Jonathan Leiken
Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer & Secretary
Dollar Tree, Inc.

Let’s talk.