Women Leading Ed

What Women Leading Ed does

Women Leading Ed (WLE) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2018 by Dr. Julia Rafal-Baer that operates the largest peer network of women in U.S. K-12 education leadership, with 600+ members across all 50 states collectively serving approximately 25 million students (one in two public school students nationwide). The organization serves sitting district superintendents, state education agency leaders, charter school executives, and c-suite education officers, addressing structural underrepresentation (women constitute a minority of superintendents despite being the majority of the teaching workforce), gender bias in advancement, sponsorship gaps, and leadership burnout. WLE does not operate a technology platform; its assets are human-capital programs, cohort-based learning, and a research publication cadence.

Name

Women Leading Ed

Legal name

Women Leading Ed

Website

https://womenleadinged.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Women Leading Ed is a nonprofit network serving 600+ women K-12 district and state education leaders across all 50 states via executive membership, cohort programs, an annual summit, and policy research. Founded in 2018, it is funded through membership fees, program tuition, and philanthropic grants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Education Leadership Development & Professional Networking Services

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Professional and Management Development Training (61143)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

DEI, Inclusive Leadership & Cultural Intelligence Coaching (EDABANAJ)

Keywords

• Education leadership development
• Women superintendent network
• Professional development programs
• K-12 executive coaching
• Nonprofit membership community

Headquarters

HQ city

Matthews

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Executive Membership Fees: Annual executive membership charged at $1,500 per year, providing access to all programming, community networking, member resources, and early access to cohort opportunities and summit registration.
2. SEEN Program Tuition: Sustained Education Executive Network program charges $1,500 per cohort member plus additional costs for in-person convenings. This is an 8-month intensive program for sitting superintendents.
3. ESE Network Tuition: Emerging State Executives Network charges $3,000 per cohort member with limited full and partial need-based scholarships available. Travel stipends are provided to offset costs for in-person sessions.
4. Grant Funding: NewSchools Venture Fund awarded grant funding to support WLE's efforts in diversifying education leadership. This represents philanthropic investment rather than earned revenue.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Women Leading Ed operates a paid membership network and series of cohort-based leadership development programs for women K-12 superintendents, charter leaders, and state education executives. Its core paid offerings include an annual Executive Membership ($1,500/year), the annual WLE Summit in-person convening, the yearlong Emerging State Executives (ESE) Network program ($3,000 per cohort member), and the eight-month Sustained Education Executive Network (SEEN) program ($1,500 per cohort member). It also distributes research publications on gender equity in education leadership and partners with the Google GSV Fellowship on coaching.

Product overview

Women Leading Ed is the nation's largest nonprofit network for women in education leadership, offering a platform of interconnected programs and resources. The core offerings include: WLE Executive Membership (year-round professional development and community), the annual WLE Summit (flagship in-person convening), Emerging State Executives Network (ESE - yearlong program for state education leaders), Sustained Education Executive Network (SEEN - 8-month resilience training), and research publications including National Insight Survey series, The Time Is Now playbook, Beyond Mentoring, and A Bold Vision for Education Reform. The organization also partners with Google GSV Fellowship and offers access to the Forum for Educational Leadership. Together, these products form a comprehensive ecosystem supporting women at every stage of their leadership journeys from emerging leaders through executive-level positions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Emerging State Executives (ESE) Network: A game-changing initiative designed to invest in and elevate women state education leaders across the nation. A highly-selective, yearlong cohort-based program combining learning and personalized support for those preparing to step into top SEA roles.
• Sustained Education Executives Network (SEEN)
• WLE Summit

Products and services

• WLE Executive Membership Year-round paid membership program ($1,500 per year) providing women education executives with peer network access, quarterly virtual sessions with influential women leaders, foundational and content-specific learning (finance, AI, negotiation), a goal-setting and accountability series, early access to cohort applications and Summit registration, and member gatherings at national conferences.
• WLE Summit Annual flagship in-person convening (three-day experience) held in Charlotte, NC, offering high-impact speaker sessions, executive-level discussions, strategic networking, and elite leadership coaching for women superintendents, charter leaders, and C-suite education executives.
• Emerging State Executives (ESE) Network Yearlong selective cohort-based program ($3,000 per cohort member, with limited full and partial need-based scholarships and travel stipends) combining cohort learning, executive coaching, individualized placement support, and job-search strategy for women preparing for top SEA/state commissioner roles. Includes free lifetime WLE Executive Membership and Forum for Educational Leadership admission.
• Sustained Education Executive Network (SEEN) Eight-month intensive paid program ($1,500 per cohort member plus additional costs for two required in-person convenings) applying Olympic-level performance training to education leadership, with four pillars (Body, Sleep, Nutrition, Purpose) and coaching from 2x Olympian Lara Dallman-Weiss. Built to help sitting superintendents and senior executives build resiliency and sustain high performance.

Quantifiable outcome

• 82% of women leaders report experiencing gender-based bias in leadership roles (external pressure on dress, speech, behavior)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers16 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Google GSV (ASU+GSV Summit)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 July 2025WLE serves as the 2025-26 coaching partner for the Google GSV Education Innovation Fellowship. WLE's network of current and former top district and state leaders provide personalized coaching to 25+ Fellows throughout the year. This is the third year of partnership. The 2025-2026 cohort includes 32 fellows collectively serving 3.8 million students.
• The Forum for Educational LeadershipcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-founded by Dr. Julia Rafal-Baer, The Forum is designed to support and prepare top education leaders for charter, district, and state roles with special focus on women in leadership. ESE Network members receive admission to the Forum as part of their program benefits.
• ILO GroupminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerILO Group is a women-founded, leadership-focused education policy and strategy firm also co-founded by Dr. Julia Rafal-Baer. While related through founder, they are separate organizations that may collaborate on initiatives.
• COVID CollaborativeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDr. Julia Rafal-Baer served as expert advisor to the COVID Collaborative during the pandemic, supporting national efforts to safely reopen schools, accelerate learning, and strengthen critical support for students.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• ILO Group: Women-founded education policy and strategy firm also co-founded by Dr. Julia Rafal-Baer. Operates in the same K-12 leadership ecosystem and shares founder/governance overlap, serving overlapping client segments (districts, SEAs, charter networks).
• Education Leaders of Color (EdLoC): National network supporting leaders of color in education with a focus on equity and career advancement. Comparable to WLE's mission of advancing underrepresented leaders into top K-12 executive roles.
• Education Pioneers: National nonprofit building leadership capacity across the education sector, including cohort-based fellowship programs for aspiring education leaders. Comparable in talent-pipeline mission and cohort delivery model to WLE's ESE and SEEN programs.
• Chiefs for Change: Bipartisan network of state and district education leaders focused on improving K-12 outcomes. Directly comparable to WLE in target audience (superintendents and state commissioners) and policy advocacy role; WLE's founder Julia Rafal-Baer was previously COO.
• The Forum for Educational Leadership: Co-founded by Dr. Julia Rafal-Baer; designed to support and prepare top education leaders for charter, district, and state roles with a special focus on women. Operationally adjacent to WLE, with ESE members receiving Forum admission as a bundled benefit.
• The Pahara Institute (Aspen): Aspen Institute fellowship program that supports innovative leaders in K-12 education with cohort-based learning. Comparable to WLE's SEEN/ESE cohorts in targeting senior district and charter leaders through selective fellowship experiences.

Broad incumbents

• Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO): National nonprofit representing the public officials who lead state education agencies. Directly relevant as the institutional home of the state commissioners and SEA leaders that WLE's ESE Network targets.
• AASA (School Superintendents Association): The national professional association for school superintendents. Operates as a broad incumbent in the same audience as WLE but serves all superintendents rather than specializing in women or DEI leadership development.
• National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE): Nonprofit representing state boards of education that govern state education policy and SEA leadership appointments. Operates as a broader incumbent in the state-level policy space where WLE's ESE Network places leaders.

Emerging players

• NewSchools Venture Fund: Venture philanthropy funding innovators in PK-12 education, including a national cohort focused on diversifying the education workforce. Directly comparable as a funder of WLE and as an adjacent player in education leadership pipelines.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/womenleadinged
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/women-leading-ed

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Women Leading Ed