Thrive 2026 Signature Experience 3

Leadership Aperture: Adjusting the Lens of Mid-Level Leadership

Overview and Purpose

Designed for mid-level leaders and those who supervise them, join us to get equipped with practical tools and fresh perspectives to strengthen leadership practice, school culture, and communication in the communities you serve. Use the metaphor of a camera lens to help bring clarity and adaptability to your practice.

On Thursday, focus on Zooming In: Growth and Coaching. Delve into the role of the individual leader, focusing on feedback, coaching, performance feedback, and personal growth. Drawing on Thanks for the Feedback and Atul Gawande’s TED Talk on the role of coaching, explore strategies for receiving feedback and increasing self-awareness. Practice approaches for engaging in difficult conversations and supporting the growth of others.

On Friday, focus on Zooming Out: Systems and Impact. Expand the lens to the organizational level. Anchored in the adaptive leadership framework of Heifetz and Linsky, Jim Collins’ Good to Great, Frances Frei and Anne Morriss’ Begin with Trust, examine how mid-level leaders influence culture, communication, trust, and outcomes across your school. Consider how to most effectively leverage these roles for organizational success. Lessons from Phil Jackson’s championship-winning teams illustrate how leaders adapt their style to guide high-talent teams, foster alignment, and build sustainable culture. Explore how accountability and performance feedback practices ripple across the broader community.

Presenters

Marlo Thomas

Marlo Thomas is in her eighth year as assistant head of school for equity and inclusion at Georgetown Day School (DC). She has strategic oversight of Counseling Services, the GDS Impact Lab, Athletics, and the DEI Office, supervising the directors and department chairs who lead those teams. Thomas is passionate about supporting and developing leaders, ensuring each department strengthens the academic, social-emotional, and community experience of students.

She teaches the Leadership and Management strand for the NAIS Diversity Leadership Institute and has completed the NAIS Fellowship for Aspiring Heads of School and both the NAIS School Leadership and Diversity Leadership Institutes. Thomas has been a trusted speaker and consultant for schools and organizations nationally and internationally on educational equity, leadership, civic engagement, and organizational culture. Previously, she served as director of diversity and equity education at Roland Park Country School (MD) and as a director at Good Shepherd Services, a Maryland nonpublic, special education (MANSEF) school, where she led programs supporting adolescents and young adults with diverse learning needs and researched and implemented evidence-based approaches to student learning and development.

Mahtab Mahmoodzadeh

Mahtab Mahmoodzadeh is a transformative equity leader, strategist, and educator with over 20 years of experience in independent schools. Her passion is advancing justice, inclusion, and belonging in schools and organizations, fueled by her deep and profound love for children and youth and investment in them. Known for her dynamic leadership, Mahmoodzadeh brings a rare blend of practical expertise, visionary thinking, and deep humanity to every space she enters.

She currently serves as the assistant head of school at Giddens School (WA), where she leads school-wide teaching and learning focused on culturally responsive pedagogy, interdisciplinary and inquiry-based learning, and cultivating cultures of thinking and learning for students and educators. Previously she served as director of diversity at The Overlake School (WA) and held equity roles and taught in schools in Seattle, San Francisco, Boston, and Washington, DC.  

As the founder and principal of Toward1ness, Mahmoodzadeh partners with schools, districts, and organizations—locally and globally—to build equity-focused systems, strengthen leadership capacity, and design inclusive, actionable strategies for change.

Click here to view the full Thrive 2026 Signature Experience lineup.