2025 Leadership Institute for Women and Gender-Diverse Leaders

The Credo + AAC&U Leadership Institute for Women and Gender-Diverse Leaders equips participants to lead more courageously, authentically, and effectively. It creates a leadership development space where the weight of patriarchal structures is just a little bit lighter than is typical across culture and society.

AAC&U and Credo share a passion for building and supporting an increasingly diverse leadership pipeline across higher education. The Leadership Institute is focused on the development of leaders who identify as women and gender diverse. The Leadership Institute is open to all higher education leaders regardless of gender identity.

The 2024 institute focused on the theme “Leading with Hope,” and included a mix of panel discussions, attendee-presented sessions, time with industry experts, and space for leader-to-leader conversation and reflection. The institute focused on building a community of exceptional leaders during this time of intense challenges in higher education.

Who Should Attend?

This institute is for senior leaders in higher education who identify as women or gender-diverse leaders. Participants generally are experienced leaders who are members of the campus leadership team and/or have titles like President, Provost, Vice President, Dean, Chief of Staff, Associate Deans, and Associate Vice President.

AAC&U offers other leadership opportunities for leaders with other titles and roles in higher education—including the Forum on Transformational Leadership, which is designed to prepare leaders in higher education with the knowledge, tools, and courage to meet complex challenges and create change at their institutions.