“It is difficult to envision an investment in K-12 education with a higher ceiling on its potential return than improving school leadership.”
MISSION
We strive to dramatically improve student outcomes in underserved communities by building the capacity of leaders to establish and maintain positive school culture, to promote educational equity, and to inspire their communities.
HISTORY
Before creating Inspiring Educators in 2015, our Founder and Board Chair Belle Linda Halpern co-founded The Ariel Group, a for-profit executive training organization, based in Waltham, MA, with sales of over $10 million annually.
After nearly three decades of successful leadership training, Ariel’s clients include Google, American Express, Boston Consulting Group, Harvard Business School, Columbia Business School, Duke’s Fuqua School of Business, MIT Sloan, and many other Fortune 500 Companies. Together with Ariel’s leadership team, Belle grew the company from a small startup to its sale to Renovus Capital in 2012, increasing its annual sales twenty-fold in the process.
Belle founded Inspiring Educators in 2015 as a nonprofit using the same intellectual property as the Ariel Group. Just as Ariel has become an indispensable asset to the private sector, Inspiring Educators follows the same trajectory for the education sector. IE has worked with charter networks such as Success Academy Charter Schools, MATCH Education, and Uncommon Schools, as well as districts like Boston Public Schools and New York Public Schools. IE’s programs have also been effective for education-focused nonprofits like Teach For America and Communities in Schools.
WHAT WE BELIEVE
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In order for schools and nonprofits to more explicitly disrupt racism, leaders need to demonstrate vulnerability, empathy, compassion, curiosity, the ability to connect, the ability to take in feedback, and the ability to conduct meaningful dialogue.
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Our programs teach leaders how to build positive climates that promote emotional health and wellbeing among students, staff, and families.
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Adults have the greatest capacity to foster student success when they are energized, supported, and have engaged in social-emotional skill-building themselves.
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At times of crisis and uncertainty, we aim to support educators to communicate in ways that are direct, empowering, sincere and empathetic.
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To effectively lead and manage their communities through change, leaders need to model both vulnerability and confidence. A leader’s job is to know and live their authentic values and to be able to communicate them to others.
BLACK LIVES MATTER
Inspiring Educators stands in solidarity with the Black community and those working against racism and injustice. It is our mission to leverage our programs and platform to push towards a truly equitable society.
UNITING AGAINST ANTI-AAPI HATE
We at Inspiring Educators stand in solidarity with our Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities. Our community stands united against racism. And striving for an anti-racist world means working tirelessly to end all forms of structural racism. We must stand united in support and protection of our AAPI friends, family, colleagues, and community members.
“I learned so much and feel more confident than ever in my ability to connect my message with people!”
