Well to Lead
The Well to Lead: ECE Leadership Summit was a health and wellness purpose-driven convening designed to support early childhood education (ECE) leaders in strengthening their own health and wellness as a foundation for effective leadership.
Dr. LaShunda Morris
The presentation begins by identifying the "invisible" forces shaping Georgia's ECE landscape. We define hegemony as the societal expectation that leaders must prioritize standardization and corporate efficiency over human connection. The session concludes by teaching leaders how to foster Psychological Safety, by creating an environment where staff feel safe to fail and speak up, leaders build a resilient, positive culture that naturally resists the external pressures of the field.
Affiliate Director, GAEYEC
Dr. Cindy Shackelford
This training will provide strategies for purposeful management of time in servant leadership while also focusing on strategies for self-care as a servant leader in child development and early childhood education.
Dr. Delton DeVose
Leadership in early childhood education often requires leaders to consistently pour into others while managing high levels of responsibility, emotional demand, and workplace stress. This interactive and wellness-centered session will provide practical tools to help leaders recognize signs of burnout, improve emotional awareness, strengthen communication, and create healthier leadership habits without sacrificing their own well-being.
Using principles from the INSIGHT Framework, participants will explore strategies for intentional leadership, emotional regulation, stress management, reflective communication, and maintaining balance while supporting staff and organizational needs. Attendees will leave with practical tools they can immediately implement in both their professional and personal lives.
Laura White
Most leaders walk into a classroom believing they’re there to help. Most teachers experience that same walk-in as something very different. In this session, Laura draws on her experience on both sides of the observation door — as a classroom teacher who has felt small under a leader’s silent gaze, and as a coach who has learned what it takes to truly see the educators she supports.
Together we’ll unpack why traditional observation often leaves teachers feeling unheard, unseen, and exposed, and we’ll explore a different way — one rooted in buy-in, dialogue, and reciprocal feedback. Leaders will leave with concrete language and practices that turn observation into partnership and feedback into a shared conversation: the kind that strengthens teachers instead of shrinking them.
Dr. Dina Walker-DeVose
Empathy is a critical leadership skill that supports stronger relationships, improved communication, and healthier workplace environments. In this interactive session, participants will explore what empathy is—and what it is not—while learning practical strategies to apply empathy effectively in their leadership roles. Attendees will leave with actionable tools they can immediately use to foster more supportive, responsive, and resilient teams.