The New Leadership Academy, housed at the University of Utah, is a unique nationally recognized leadership development philosophy and program that prepares leaders with the knowledge, tools, and courage to meet the complex challenges associated with equity, diversity, and inclusion in higher education and beyond. 

Unlike “diversity training” as it’s been typically understood or practiced, the New Leadership Academy (NLA) prepares those in formal and informal leadership positions to lead with equity in their roles. In addition to developing leaders that look like and come from the communities they serve, NLA draws from theory to reframe leadership as a set of skills that can be taught and applied to practice. The NLA Fellows Program serves as a laboratory and model for what leadership development centered on leading for equity can look like, knowing that issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion should be a central consideration for all issues facing leaders.

The New Leadership Academy Fellows Program has over 160 Fellows and alumni from over 80 different institutions and organizations; four university Presidents, Chancellors, or Provosts; 21 Vice Presidents, Vice Provosts, or Vice Chancellors (including Assistant and Associate); 19 Deans, Associate and Assistant Deans; 44 Directors, Assistant and Associate Directors; and dozens of professors and others.

In addition to its ongoing partnership with the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education (AAHHE), the New Leadership Academy has developed and delivered its curriculum and complementary workshops to the American Council on Education, Wells Fargo, Huntsman Cancer Institute, Strada Education Network, Utah System of Higher Education, American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) Millennium Leadership Institute and many others.