Center for Equity Leadership Online

Self-Paced Learning for Equity Leadership Development

The Center for Equity Leadership Online (CEL Online) is an innovative online learning platform for self-paced leadership development in the areas of equity, complexity, and design.

For nearly 30 years, the National Equity Project has developed, evolved, and implemented our Leading for Equity™ Framework with thousands of leaders across the U.S. This approach to leadership development is rooted in a core belief that anyone, no matter their status or position in any organization or community, can lead. Everyone can contribute and play a role in shaping the world around them.

CEL Online is a growing library of self-paced, online learning courses focused on practical leadership approaches within the interrelated disciplines of equity, complexity, and design. These are the core frameworks and approaches NEP has used in our coaching practice and professional development training over the past 30 years.

While there is no "package" that enables you to do equity work, it takes leadership to co-design and implement equitable and sustainable solutions to the challenges we face. Equity leadership requires making connections and empowering ourselves and others to be learners, dreamers, leaders, and creators to build a future where everyone is valued and cared for. Leaders for equity must see, engage, and act in new ways to influence change in complex systems.

Features include:

  • A growing library of online, self-paced training courses focused on tangible leadership skill development

  • Interactive activities, tools, and resources to deepen your understanding and apply concepts to your own context

  • Frequent checks for understanding to ensure learners grasp key concepts and can apply them effectively

  • Future access to a growing community of practice around equity, complexity, and design praxis.

Course Offerings

Coaching and Managing for Equity

  • Learn the essential foundations for the success of any coaching interaction, regardless of your formal role.

  • Explore interventions and techniques to support you in your coaching relationships to make progress on mutually agreed-upon equity-focused goals. Learn practical coaching approaches to transform inequitable patterns, and reconnect the people you support with their agency to drive meaningful change.

Designing and Facilitating Meetings for Equity

  • Learn a practical framework for designing learning and engagement opportunities.

  • Gain essential knowledge and skills to guide a group through conversations focused on issues of equity and other emotionally-charged challenges.

  • Learn to assess your team's current state and progress, and make informed decisions as you build your group’s capacity to engage in equity-focused work together.

Liberatory Design for Equity

  • Learn how to apply the core components of Liberatory Design: the Liberatory Design Mindsets and Modes.

  • Learn how to apply Liberatory Design approaches to equity challenges you face in your context.

Leading for Equity in Complexity

  • Making progress on equity is complex work requiring new understandings, mindsets, and skills. Explore how complex adaptive systems operate and the implications for leading for equity in education systems.

Promo video: Coaching & Managing for Equity

Promo video: Designing & Facilitating Meetings for Equity

Promo video: Liberatory Design for Equity

Promo video: Leading for Equity in Complex Adaptive Systems

Course Features

  • Videos

    Informative videos guided by expert facilitators

  • Interactive Activities

    Reflective exercises and other practical activities to apply learning

  • Resources & Tools

    Exclusive access to advanced resources and practical tools

  • Humanizing Virtual Experience

    Grounding practices to increase presence and awareness

  • Accountable Learning Journey

    Certificates to track and share your learning journey

Develop Leaders Across Your Organization

We believe anyone can lead for equity. As a self-paced learning platform, the CEL Online library is designed for leaders at every level of systems to gain the skills needed to influence meaningful change in their context.

Course offerings are based on our successful live, in-person and virtual trainings that have been attended by thousands of participants since 2002. These self-paced courses are valuable for a range of education-sector roles, including:

  • School District and County Office Administrators

  • Executive Directors and Leadership Teams

  • Principals

  • Coaches (Instructional, Executive, etc.)

  • Teacher Leaders

  • Managers

In addition, our equity leadership content has proven valuable for sectors beyond education, including philanthropy, healthcare, government, arts and technology.

Fees & Purchasing

The Center for Equity Leadership Online (CEL Online) is currently only available in packages of 4 seats or more. We plan to launch an open-registration option in 2025.

Access to the full library is $1,000/seat for a one-year subscription. This includes access to all current courses and future courses in development. Current courses are:

  • Coaching and Managing for Equity (2 modules)

  • Designing and Facilitating Meetings for Equity (3 modules)

  • Liberatory Design for Equity (2 modules)

  • Leading for Equity in Complexity (1 module)

Discounts are available for bulk purchases and when bundled with other National Equity Project services.

Contact Us

To learn more about purchasing CEL Online seats or how to bundle with other NEP Services, please contact cel_online@nationalequityproject.org.