UVA Partnership for Leaders in Education Launches Search for Next Executive Director

The University of Virginia today announced the launch of a national search for the next leader of its renowned UVA Partnership for Leaders in Education.

A joint venture of the UVA Darden School of Business and the School of Education and Human Development, UVA-PLE is a national model for the power of combining leadership development and educational strategies to improve school and student performance and better position pupils for success in life.

UVA Partnership for Leaders in Education Executive Director William Robinson.

Following more than a decade of leadership that has vaulted the program to new heights, Executive Director William Robinson announced this month that he would transition to a new role serving Darden and its Sands Institute for Lifelong Learning.

“Leading PLE has been a lifetime honor, and I am deeply grateful to have served alongside so many dedicated partners,” Robinson said. “Together, we have built something truly special, helping leaders drive enduring shifts in educational systems and advance extraordinary outcomes for underserved students.”

The search for Robinson’s successor will be directed by Isaacson, Miller, which this week posted the position job description and invitation for applications and nominations.

Founded more than two decades ago, UVA-PLE offers leadership development to educators across the country. Experts from UVA’s graduate business and education schools and successful practitioners work directly with superintendents, principals and other school leaders to assess conditions, develop action plans, and involve stakeholders at all levels.

The teams identify challenges and recommend solutions unique to each school system, with issues ranging from reducing absenteeism, strengthening instructional supports, enhancing teacher recruitment and expanding student access to post-secondary opportunities.

The results speak for themselves. Among the 190 districts and 900 schools from 34 states that have participated in UVA-PLE over more than two decades, 50% of recent partners achieved double-digit gains in math or language arts in only three years, far outperforming national trends, and peer reviewed studies show demonstrable impact. The partnerships have improved outcomes for systems serving 3.5 million students.

“In its 22 years, the UVA-PLE program has established a legacy of meaningful impact for school systems across the country, and we are excited to begin the next chapter that reaches even more students and school system leaders,” said Ashley Williams, CEO of the Sands Institute for Lifelong Learning at Darden.

In August, UVA-PLE announced its 22^nd cohort of participating school systems.

“UVA-PLE is thriving, with a purposeful and high-performing team and a strong, diverse network of consultants, faculty, and alumni, with deep impact across the country,” said Robinson, who has served UVA-PLE for 15 years, including the last 12 as executive director. “Now is the right time for me to step aside.”

In his new Executive Fellowship role at the UVA Darden Sands Institute for Lifelong Learning, Robinson will focus on initiatives at the nexus of education and the workforce to promote opportunities for young adults. In this role, he will continue contributing to PLE’s strategy, philanthropy, and coalition building, while advancing partnerships to strengthen leadership, strategies and regional approaches that expand student pathways amidst societal and technological shifts.

UVA-PLE’s vision is to be the leading national organization for advancing leadership capacity and insights to help teams create transformational conditions in which previously underserved students achieve lasting success.