2026-27 Ascend Academy
Tuesday, May 12, 2026 (3:00 PM - 4:00 PM) (EDT)
Description
Ascend Academy is an advanced leadership lab where experienced ESA leaders sharpen judgment, build trust, and lead responsibly as generative AI reshapes decisions, teams, and organizational culture.
Through dialogue, peer problem-solving, and practical exercises, participants strengthen the human capacities that matter most in a technology enabled world: judgment, clarity, trust, and responsible decision-making. Ascend Academy offers advanced practice with a trusted peer community, focused on questions that will shape leadership in the years ahead.
Facilitated by Dr. Eric Solomon, a cognitive psychologist, professor, and former executive at YouTube, Instagram, Spotify, and Google, Ascend Academy includes two in-person convenings, four virtual leadership labs, and a national virtual leadership roundtable. For AESA leaders ready for the next stage of their development, Ascend Academy offers advanced practice with a trusted peer community.
Images
Program Investment includes meals at in-person events:
- $3,425 per person
National Leadership Roundtable: “Mindset Over Machines” May 12, 2026 | 3:00–4:00 PM ET (Virtual) Dr. Solomon introduces the five principles and opens the conversation about what it means to lead with mindset, not just tools.
Two in-person, two-day convenings hosted by AESA member agencies. Participants are responsible for their own travel and hotel; meals are included.
- September 14–16, 2026 — Dallas, TX
- April 26–28, 2027 — Asheville, NC
Four virtual 90-minute leadership labs (2:00 PM ET)
October 13, 2026
November 19, 2026
February 16, 2027
March 16, 2027
Ongoing peer dialogue and leadership reflection throughout the year