2026 ACSA Women in School Leadership Forum

Women in educational leadership experience high levels of stress due to gender bias and demands of the job. In a 2026 Women Leading Ed survey, 92% noted stress as a significant problem and 80% conveyed their work-life balance as poor. The focus will be on positive ways to mitigate the effects of job-related stress–compassion fatigue, secondary trauma, and time as a limited commodity–on one’s health, outlook, and productivity through intentional and systematic self-care.

Women leaders are valuable assets and role models, and it is imperative that we keep them healthy and in the position for the long-term (Pennicooke, 2020). Practicing self-care can be beneficial to ensuring their well-being, and can better position them for success and for maintaining optimum health throughout their careers. Additionally, 93% of teachers requested support for wellness from their administrators, and less than 33% of leaders felt confident to do so (Alpaca, 2026), and could therefore benefit from this presentation.

This session will spotlight self-care as a healing-centered approach that can help women leaders to be proactive and to take positive control of their well-being. Participants will learn about, and be engaged in different types of self-care activities. Our women leaders will leave with their own plans, coping strategies, a commitment to implementing daily self-care, and ways to ensure that their staff and coworkers are also attuned to practicing wellness in the workplace and at home.

Women in school leadership face a unique double burden of navigating systemic gender gaps while managing the high-stakes emotional labor of their communities. Resonant Resilience reframes wellness from a luxury to a strategic leadership imperative. This workshop moves beyond theoretical balance to provide practical, somatic tools for sustainable energy and mental clarity.

Participants will engage in a Resilience Audit to identify burnout triggers and explore work-life integration strategies tailored for high-responsibility roles. This session incorporates experiential nervous system regulation. Leaders will participate in a guided seated breathwork sequence designed to lower cortisol and a brief sound therapy immersion using a quartz crystal bowl. This sound experience facilitates deep cellular relaxation and mental reset, demonstrating how leaders can use sensory tools to maintain composure in high-pressure environments. By the end of the session, attendees will shift from the cycle of exhaustion to a state of empowered, wellness-centered leadership.

Key Takeaways:

1. The Somatic Reset: Breathwork and sound-centering technique to regulate the nervous system during high-stress days.
2. Integration Over Balance: Develop a tools that set sustainable boundaries while meeting varying demands.
3. Modeling Wellness: Acquire actionable habits to lead a wellness-centered culture that improves staff retention and collective resilience.