Building North Carolina's statewide approach to identifying, elevating, and scaling
promising practices.
September 22-23, 2026Wilmington, North
CarolinaCape Fear Community College
Welcome to Wilmington
Our first working session as a Council
Welcome to the inaugural convening of North Carolina's Innovation Leadership Council. This Council brings
together educators and leaders from across public school models, regions, roles, and research settings to
help identify, vet, elevate, and scale promising practices aligned with
Achieving Educational Excellence: 2025-2030.
Tuesday will help us build shared understanding of the Strategic Plan, the ILC goals, and the principles
that should guide our work. On Wednesday, we will move into structured design work across three strands:
Focus Areas & Solicitation, Evaluation & Selection, and
Dissemination & Scale.
A central outcome of our time together will be a first set of preliminary design recommendations. We will
take those recommendations to an October NCDPI Executive Leadership Team (ELT) cabinet meeting to gather
feedback,
then
use that feedback to guide ILC workgroups through the fall and spring.
About the ILC
A cross-sector forum for finding and scaling what works
The Innovation Leadership Council is a cross-sector advisory council established to
support implementation of North Carolina's Achieving Educational Excellence: 2025-2030 Strategic Plan.
Identify
Recommend annual focus areas tied to Strategic Plan priorities and help shape the statewide solicitation
for promising practices.
Evaluate
Develop and apply shared criteria for evidence, context, equity, implementation, transferability, and scale
potential.
Scale
Support statewide learning through stories, case summaries, networks, an annual collection, and
recommendations for replication and scale.
September 2026Kickoff: develop preliminary recommendations and
ELT cabinet meeting questions.
October 2026ELT cabinet meeting: gather strategic feedback on
the three strands.
Fall 2026Workgroups translate feedback into more developed
designs and tools.
Winter 2026-27Finalize focus areas, solicitation, review
framework, and dissemination approach.
Spring 2027Begin the first full cycle of identifying and
reviewing promising practices.
Read the ILC Charter
The Council's founding charter covers its purpose, membership criteria, and governance structure in
full.
The kickoff is designed and facilitated by NCDPI leaders and staff, with logistics
support from the Office of Research and Promising Practices and additional support from NCCAT.
Senior Director, Office of Research and Promising Practices, NCDPI
Leads NCDPI's Office of Research and Promising Practices, which helps schools and agency leaders use
evidence to inform decisions and elevate effective practices.
Research Analyst, Office of Research and Promising Practices, NCDPI
Leads statewide administration of the Teacher Working Conditions (TWC) Survey and Youth Risk Behavior
Survey (YRBS) for NCDPI.
2026-27 Innovation Leadership Council
25 members across all eight State Board regions
Members bring district, school, charter, lab school, higher education, research, and
coaching perspectives across rural, suburban, urban, and mixed/regional contexts.
Get to know your fellow council members. Member names link to
LinkedIn profiles when available, or to another professional profile when a LinkedIn profile could not be
identified. Explore the roster before the kickoff to learn more about one another, and consider connecting with
fellow members on LinkedIn.
Associate Professor of Mathematics and Statistics Education
North Carolina State University
North Central Region
What We Will Accomplish
Three design strands, one shared process
We are not trying to finalize every form, rubric, or communication product in two days.
Our goal is to establish direction, make key design choices, and develop clear recommendations that can
inform the ILC’s next phase of work and NCDPI Executive Leadership Team (ELT) discussion in October.
1
Build a shared understanding of the Strategic Plan, ILC goals, and 2026-27 work cycle.
2
Build relationships and shared norms across roles, regions, and public school contexts.
3
Establish common design principles for the statewide promising-practices process.
4
Develop preliminary recommendations and focused questions for ELT cabinet meeting feedback.
5
Launch workgroups that will refine the design through the fall and spring.
How should the ILC determine which practices are sufficiently promising to elevate statewide, and how
should evidence, context, equity, and transferability factor into that judgment?
Once a practice is selected, what should happen next, and what should distinguish recognition, deeper
dissemination, adaptation, and active support for scale?
Kickoff Agenda
Two days to align, design, and recommend
Tuesday, September 22
Building the Council and connecting the work to the Strategic
Plan
Time
Session
What to Expect
12:00-12:35
Lunch and Arrival
Informal relationship-building and arrival.
12:35-12:50
Welcome and Opening Remarks
Shared understanding of the Council's purpose and the opportunity ahead.
12:50-1:20
Achieving Educational Excellence: Strategic Plan Overview
Understanding of the Strategic Plan and where the ILC fits.
1:20-1:40
The ILC Charge and the 2026-27 Journey
Shared understanding of the ILC's role, 2026-27 timeline, and recommendation process.
1:40-2:05
Expertise in the Room
Awareness of member perspectives, expertise, and contexts.
2:05-2:35
What Should the ILC Accomplish?
Initial draft of desired outcomes for the NC Innovation Exchange.
2:35-2:45
Break
Transition.
2:45-3:20
Three Design Challenges
Shared understanding of the three strands and major choices.
3:20-3:45
Shared Design Principles
Initial principles to guide Council recommendations.
3:45-4:00
From Kickoff to Cabinet
Clear charge for Wednesday and the next phase of the Council's work.
Wednesday, September 23
Developing Preliminary Recommendations for NCDPI Executive
Leadership Feedback
Time
Session
What to Expect
8:00-9:00
Breakfast
Coffee and breakfast available in Room 512 as members arrive.
9:00-9:20
Reconnect and Frame the Day
Shared understanding of the recommendation-building task.
9:20-10:15
Strand 1: Focus Areas & Solicitation
Preliminary recommendations for annual focus areas and the solicitation process.
10:15-10:25
Break
Transition.
10:25-11:20
Strand 2: Evaluation & Selection
Preliminary recommendations for evaluation criteria and the selection process.
11:20-12:00
Cross-Strand Sensemaking
Check alignment between the solicitation and selection processes.
12:00-1:00
Lunch and Practitioner Exchange
Surface examples and field perspectives.
1:00-2:00
Strand 3: Dissemination & Scale
Preliminary recommendations for disseminating, replicating, and scaling selected practices.
2:00-2:15
Break
Transition.
2:15-2:50
Workgroups and Next Steps
Review the recommendations, establish workgroups, responsibilities, and next steps through
spring.
2:50-3:00
Closing Remarks
Closing message to the Innovation Leadership Council.
How We Will Work Together
Shared norms, clear documentation
Collaboration norms
Stay curious before advocating.
Distinguish experience from evidence.
Recognize that different contexts may require different solutions.
Critique ideas, not institutions, sectors, or people.
Make room for voices that have not yet been heard.
Surface disagreement rather than forcing consensus.
Keep students and educators at the center of the work.
How your input will be captured
Where the group is leaning.
Why the group is leaning that way.
Important tradeoffs, concerns, or differing perspectives.
What may need ELT feedback or additional work.
At the end of each strand, facilitators will share the emerging synthesis back to the
Council so members can confirm what is accurate and identify anything missing.
Travel, Hotel, Venue & Meals
What to know before Wilmington
Hotel
Hotel Ballast Wilmington
301 N. Water Street, Wilmington, NC 28401
NCDPI will cover your room for the night of Tuesday, September 22, as well as parking associated with your
stay. You may be asked to provide a credit card for personal incidentals.
Abby Pearce will send a form to collect the information needed
to finalize room reservations.
Kickoff Venue
Cape Fear Community College, Downtown Campus
502 N Front St, Wilmington, NC 28401
The hotel is a few blocks from the downtown CFCC campus. Sessions will be held in Room
512. Final arrival and on-site parking instructions will be shared before the event.
Please share dietary or accessibility needs through the logistics form.
Optional Extension
NCCAT Curriculum Leaders Conference
NCCAT will also host its Curriculum Leaders Conference at Cape Fear Community College September 23-25. ILC
members are welcome to extend their visit to participate.
NCDPI lodging coverage for the ILC kickoff is limited to the night of September 22.
Packing reminder: bring comfortable shoes for the short walk between Hotel Ballast and the CFCC
downtown campus, along with anything you need for a full day of collaborative working sessions.
What Happens After Wilmington
The kickoff starts the design cycle, it does not finish it
September 22-23ILC Kickoff: develop preliminary
recommendations across all three strands.
OctoberNCDPI Executive Leadership Team (ELT) cabinet meeting:
share
where the Council
is leaning and gather strategic feedback.
FallStrand workgroups refine recommendations and investigate
unresolved questions.
WinterFull Council refinement and preparation for the first
statewide cycle.
SpringSupport solicitation, review, selection, documentation,
and next-step learning activities.
