ACEL NextGen

Activating Australia’s Aspiring Leaders

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.

This is not a traditional leadership program.
It is a learning network, a leadership laboratory, and a national movement focused on connection, contribution and collective impact.

Who is NextGen For?

NextGen is designed for educators in the early-to-middle stages of their career journey — typically those with 3–10 years’ experience who are ready to grow their influence.

Participants are often:

  • Teachers or specialists beginning to lead beyond their classroom
  • Educators who influence through relationships, not position
  • Professionals who may not yet see themselves as leaders — but are ready to step forward

Join ACEL NextGen

Participation is by Expression of Interest, and Nomination, ensuring the cohort reflects:

  • Commitment to learning and contribution
  • Readiness to lead alongside others
  • Diversity of roles, contexts and perspectives

Minimal time off-site: 3 days, including National Conference and NextGen Summit. 3 x 90 minute online sessions (out-of-school hours) to complete small group coaching and strategy labs.

If you’re ready to learn deeply, collaborate generously and contribute to the future of educational leadership, we invite you to express your interest.

VIEW SELECTION CRITERIA

Grow Leadership Confidence

Build the capability and self-belief to lead with greater influence.

Lead Change With Others

Develop the skills to collaborate and drive meaningful improvement.

Connect Nationally

Join a diverse peer network from across Australia.

Contribute to the Profession

Extend your leadership impact beyond your own setting.

How ACEL NextGen Works

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 formally recognised

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

How to apply for ACEL NextGen

NextGen is a selective national cohort. Being selected for NextGen reflects both potential and readiness to lead alongside others.

Participants are identified in two ways:

Self-nomination (Pathway A)
You may apply directly, sharing your interest in leadership growth and contribution.

All applicants are considered through a selection process to ensure a high-quality, diverse national cohort. Click here

Colleague nomination (Pathway B)
You may be nominated by a principal, leader or colleague who recognises your leadership potential and influence. Click here

Closing dates for applications: 5pm Wednesday 10 June 2026

Express Your Interest / Enrol

The all-inclusive investment for ACEL NextGen is $1,950 (AUD).

This includes:

  • Participation in the full 12-month NextGen journey
  • Mentoring and facilitated cohort learning
  • Guest connections and national networking
  • Attendance at the ACEL NextGen Summit
  • Complimentary registration for the ACEL National Conference
  • Free ACEL membership for the year
  • Certification, digital badging and alumni membership
 VIEW SELECTION CRITERIA