This year I stepped out of the classroom and bet on myself, not knowing what would unfold. What I found was clarity, courage, and a community that held me through the leap. As I supported teams around the world, I witnessed collective wins that reminded me why learning communities matter and why collaboration transforms everything. As we close the year, I am reflecting on growth, gratitude, and the power of doing this work together.

When leadership stops being something granted and becomes something grown, the culture of a school shifts. In our final years at the Western Academy of Beijing, our team gave up our individual spaces, blurred the lines between roles, and built a community office where every voice mattered. That’s when shared leadership stopped being a structure—and became who we were.