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*Because the pilot cohort is small and expected to fill quickly, early applications are strongly encouraged.
Applications are being accepted only for the pilot at this time. The full certificate program is under consideration and not yet guaranteed. The pilot will help us decide whether and how to offer the full program. Pilot participants will receive early access and a discount for the full certificate program if it is confirmed.
Public school systems are under mounting pressure to do more with less - balancing declining enrollment, rising costs, legacy commitments, and ambitious goals for equity and excellence. Strategic decisions about people, time, and money have never been more important. HGSE Unbound and Education Resource Strategies (ERS) are collaborating to test a new learning experience focused on strategic resource management for district leaders. Education Resource Strategies (ERS) is a national nonprofit that empowers school system leaders to make transformative shifts in resources, structures, and practices so that all students–especially those with the greatest learning needs and those furthest from opportunity–attend a school where they can learn and thrive.
Before launching a full, multi-session certificate program, we are inviting a small cohort of leaders to participate in a no-cost pilot session.
This pilot will help us answer key questions:
Your participation in the pilot is an opportunity to shape a potential future HGSE certificate offering focused on strategic resource management and receive access to a high-quality session led by experts from HGSE and ERS.
In the pilot session, you will:
This pilot is designed as:
A standalone experience that delivers immediate value in its own right and;
The testing ground for a potential, more extensive six-session certificate program in strategic resource management
Based on interest, participation, and feedback from pilot participants, HGSE Unbound and ERS will decide whether to:
Develop and offer a full six-session online certificate program and,
Open enrollment for that program in a future term.
Participation in the pilot does not guarantee that the full certificate program will run. However, if we proceed:
Pilot participants will receive early registration access and;
Pilot participants will receive a tuition discount for the certificate program
By joining this pilot, you will:
Learn with and from peers. Engage with a cross-role cohort of senior district leaders who share responsibility for system-level resource decisions.
Gain practical tools. Leave with concrete frameworks and tools for understanding your district's financial and structural challenges and for aligning resources with your strategic priorities.
Shape a new offering. Influence the design of a potential HGSE certificate program so it better reflects the real dilemmas and needs of leaders like you.
Receive priority access and a discount if the full certificate program is launched.
There is no fee for participating in the pilot session.
This pilot is intended for district-level leaders who:
Hold or significantly influence decisions about how people, time, and money are used across the system (for example: superintendents, chief financial officers, chief academic officers, chief talent/human resource officers, chief strategy officers, and other cabinet-level leaders).
Are experienced practitioners who do not need an introduction to school finance and are instead seeking to deepen their strategic, cross-functional leadership.
Are interested in both learning and helping to shape an emerging HGSE-ERS certificate offering.
Participants may enroll as individuals. We also encourage cross-functional teams (for example, Superintendent + CFO + CAO + Chief Talent Officer). While the pilot is an individual learning experience, we will build in some time for district teams who attend together to reflect and plan.
We welcome both individual and team applications.
To be considered for this opportunity, please complete a brief online application. You will be asked to share:
We will review applications for:
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and all applicants will receive a decision within two weeks of submission.
Because the pilot cohort is small and expected to fill quickly, early applications are strongly encouraged.
If HGSE Unbound and ERS proceed with a full certificate program in strategic resource management, we anticipate a six-session online series that would build on the pilot and cover topics such as:
Talent Management and Reimagining the Teaching JobExplore how compensation, career paths, and job design can make teaching more sustainable and rewarding within real fiscal constraints, and how cross-functional teams (finance, academics, HR/talent) can partner to redesign roles and structures.
Managing Enrollment Decline and School PortfoliosConfront declining enrollment and underused facilities. Learn approaches to consolidation, closure, and reconfiguration that protect instructional quality and equity while maintaining fiscal health, and practice strategies for community engagement.
Strategic School DesignExamine how schedules, staffing, and student groupings can be redesigned at the school level to support deeper learning. Consider what district-level policies, processes, and supports are needed to enable and scale strategic school models.
Return on Investment: Deciding What to Start, Scale, or StopApply a "system strategy ROI" approach to compare initiatives using both impact and cost data. Practice making and communicating decisions about which strategies to invest in, refine, or sunset.
Navigating Tough Tradeoffs and Leading ChangeBring the learning together by working through complex tradeoffs under real fiscal pressure. Focus on the leadership work: building coalitions, communicating transparently, and sustaining organizational, political, and cultural change.
*These topics are proposed and will be refined based on what we learn from pilot participants' contexts, priorities, and feedback.
James P. Honan, Senior Lecturer on Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education
James Honan's teaching and research interests include financial management of nonprofit organizations, organizational performance measurement and management, and higher-education administration. At Harvard, he is educational co-chair of the Institute for Educational Management (IEM) and is a faculty member in a number of executive education programs for educational leaders and nonprofit administrators. Honan has served as a consultant on strategic planning, resource allocation, and performance measurement and management to numerous colleges, universities, schools, and nonprofit organizations, both nationally and internationally. Previously, he served as institutional research coordinator in the Office of Budgets at Harvard and as a project analyst in the Harvard University Financial Aid Office. He has also been a research assistant at the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) Clearinghouse on Higher Education in Washington, D.C., and has served as executive assistant to the president of Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Karen Hawley Miles, Founder in Residence, Education Resource Strategies
Karen Hawley Miles is the Founder in Residence of Education Resource Strategies. She has worked intensively with school systems nationwide to analyze and improve their funding systems, school-level resource use, and human capital and professional development systems. This work has two major components: partnering with system leaders to deeply analyze their resource use and then working side-by-side with them to change the resource strategies in ways that improve school performance. ERS focuses especially on helping systems to redesign their funding systems; create new schools that organize talent, time, and technology to maximize learning; restructure teaching to encourage individual and team effectiveness; and develop powerful school turnaround strategies.
Karen has taught school leaders at Harvard University, in school districts, and for New Leaders for New Schools. She has authored numerous articles and co-authored The Strategic School: Making the Most of People, Time and Money with Stephen Frank. She serves as a Senior Advisor to the Aspen Institute Education and Society Program, and she served as a Commissioner on the Equity and Excellence Commission for the U.S. Department of Education.