AASA/NSPRA Leadership for Public Trust

Civic Leadership Track

As public education becomes increasingly shaped by political tension, competing community expectations, and heightened scrutiny, leadership teams must be equipped to navigate complexity while maintaining focus, alignment, and trust. This track explores how leaders incorporate communication awareness into decision-making so that actions are understood, supported, and grounded in community context.

Session 3: Engagement as Shared Leadership Work (May 6, 2027 12 - 1:30 pm Eastern)

Engagement is often treated as a communications task rather than a leadership responsibility. In practice, meaningful engagement strengthens decision-making, builds shared ownership, and reinforces public trust.

This session reframes engagement as part of how districts operate, ensuring that leadership decisions are informed by community perspective while maintaining clarity and momentum. Participants will explore how to design engagement approaches that move beyond one-way communication and support understanding and action. This session also focuses on how districts move from gathering input to using that input to shape direction, ensuring engagement informs decisions rather than existing alongside them.

Presenters: Claire Mitzel, Director of Communications & Public Relations and Verletta White, Ed.D., superintendent | Roanoke City Public Schools (Va.)

Pricing for a single virtual session: $299