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2026 NextGen Program

ACEL NextGen is a 12-month national leadership initiative for aspiring educators and professionals  who are ready to step forward, contribute and grow their influence — from wherever they are.

NextGen is built around learning in community. Participants engage in short, powerful provocations, dialogue and collective sense-making, mentor-supported small groups, real problems of practice drawn from their own context. 

Rather than long lectures or fixed content, learning is interactive, practical and responsive — reflecting how leadership actually happens in schools and systems.

Phase 1
Activate

National Online Launch:

  • Cohort connection
  • Small mentor groups formed (facilitated by NextGen Alumni Mentors)
  • Introduction to ‘Leadership Identity’, parallel leadership & collective efficacy
  • Clarifying personal leadership intent
  • Identification of a meaningful Problem of Practice

Alumni Mentors:

  • Model leadership alongside others
  • Share lived experience from their own NextGen journey
  • Support participants to refine their inquiry focus

Phase 2
Connect

Participants engage in:

  • 3 x 90 minute online sessions (out-of-school hours) to complete small group coaching and strategy labs
  • Readings and research provocations
  • Guest leader connections (dialogue-based, not keynote sessions)
  • Peer accountability check-ins

Practice-Based Learning May Include:

  • Work shadowing a school or system leader
  • Observations of leadership practice
  • Testing ideas in participants’ own contexts
  • Reflective journaling and synthesis

Alumni Mentors:

  • Facilitate small-group dialogue
  • Support inquiry design and reflection
  • Challenge assumptions and deepen analysis
  • Share practical insights from their leadership context

 Phase 3

National Conference Immersion

Conference Participation (Required):

  • Attend sessions through a defined inquiry lens
  • Capture insights aligned to their Problem of Practice
  • Meet in mentor groups, and wider NextGen group, during the Conference for structured sense-making and reflection
  • Engage in cross-cohort dialogue with peers and alumni, in particular

Alumni Mentors:

  • Support real-time synthesis of conference insights
  • Guide structured reflection conversations
  • Model professional dialogue and contribution

NextGen Summit
(Held alongside the National Conference)

  • Cohort reflection
  • Sharing leadership journeys
  • Cross-group synthesis of key themes
  • Dialogue between aspiring leaders and alumni mentors

Phase 4
Commit & Contribute

Mentor-supported small groups collaboratively draft:

  • Key leadership insights
  • Emerging tensions and provocations
  • Implications for schools and systems
  • Reflective questions for the profession

National Conference Insight Paper

  • Co-authored by ACEL NextGen Leaders
  • Supported by Alumni Mentors
  • Published nationally
  • Promoted through ACEL channels
  • Contributors formal

Alumni Pathway

Graduates receive:

  • ACEL NextGen Certificate
  • Digital Badge (LinkedIn-ready) for Mentors as well
  • National recognition via ACEL Channels
  • Invitation to become a Future NextGen Alumni Mentor

Phase 8
Future Impact

  • Grow leadership presence
  • Lead national conversations
  • Shape the NextGen community