The Pleasures and Perils of Headship: A Series of Conversations for Women Heads
3-part webinar series
Zoom links sent separately
Event Details
ISAS invites women Heads of School to join consultant and veteran head Ann V. Klotz for a three-part Zoom series focused on the unique challenges and opportunities of women’s school leadership.
All Sessions at 4:00 p.m. (Central Time Zone):
- January 27, Witch or Mom: Boss Women's Dilemmas
- February 19, Mentorship: Building our Team and Loving Our People - Even When They Leave Us
- April 1, Why We Stay: What Keeps Us in our Roles as Heads?
All sessions are on Zoom and will be recorded. Registered attendees will have access to the recordings through May 30, 2026.
Session 1 - Witch or Mom: Boss Women's Dilemmas
Gender stereotypes persist in the way women are perceived in headship. The data confirms that while 80% of school leaders are female, the number of women who head schools has hovered under 40% for decades…especially for women who lead co-ed K-12 schools, and the number of female heads of color continues to lag behind white women heads. From our demeanor to our clothes to our family structures, constituents scrutinize women’s leadership differently than they consider male leaders. How does gender impact our work? When we layer in geography, what other nuances do we need to consider? What’s hard? What’s great? In this interactive session, we’ll share strategies, vent and offer support to one another. How can we be boss-women without being labeled as bossy or b****y? What strategies might we share? How can we help one another? How do we negotiate the public and private faces of headship? We will be sure to save some time to talk about the particular challenges women heads face caring for their children (in our schools or NOT in our schools) or older parents and our partners–if we have them–and how it may feel if we are flying solo as heads. Feel free to send Ann any questions or topics you hope we’ll address ahead of time: avk@annvklotz.com
Session 2 - Mentorship: Building our Team and Loving Our People–Even When They Leave Us
Mentoring the next generation of school leaders is one of the privileges and responsibilities of headship. It can be lonely to lead a team and challenging to meet each individual’s needs. In this session, we will talk about the head’s role in building and nurturing her team–or inheriting a team that is not her own–and how to mentor those who aspire to greater leadership roles.
Session 3 - Why We Stay: What Keeps Us in our Roles as Heads?
In this session, we will swap stories and laugh a bit at the “You can’t make this stuff up” parts of our job. What keeps you coming back to your job–besides the pay check? As a Head, you are the Chief Inspiration Officer. Where do you find inspiration? How do you refuel? All Heads talk about the importance of cultivating resilience in children, parents and faculty, but how do we practice what we preach in our own lives?
Click "Download Agenda" (red button to the right) for descriptions of all 3 sessions.
Click on "Download Agenda" for descriptions of all three sessions.
Ann V. Klotz
Ann has worked in independent schools as a teacher and administrator for more than forty years and is devoted to the intellectual, social and emotional development of children. After two years teaching at Northfield Mount Hermon (where she was a dorm mother for boys!), she was a faculty member at The Chapin School in Manhattan for twenty years, serving in a variety of roles: English teacher, drama department chair, grade-level dean, and Director of College Guidance.
Ann’s tenure as Laurel’s tenth Head of School began in 2004 and concluded in 2025. At Laurel, she taught English in the Upper School and drama in the Primary School. Particularly interested in the public purpose of private school, she was proud to have founded Laurel’s Center for Research on Girls and to have launched the Environmental Justice Semester, both of which use the School’s resources on behalf of girls at Laurel and beyond.
Serving as Chair of the board of The Heads’ Network, Ann is deeply committed to mentoring women to independent school leadership as she serves on the faculty for The Heads’ Network Acclerator. In addition, Ann serves on the board of One Schoolhouse, The 1911 Group, and her alma mater, The Agnes Irwin School.
A writer whose work often centers on the intersection of motherhood and school leadership, Ann is a founder and editor of Well-Schooled: the Site for Educator Story Telling.
She is the founder and President of Ann V. Klotz Consulting, working with school leaders and schools to help them thrive!