The National Guild for Community Arts Education (the Guild) has offered cohort-style leadership development for community arts education practitioners since 1985. Across more than 20 cohorts over the past 16 years, participants have strengthened their leadership, built relationships with peers across the field, and gone on to serve in community arts education leadership roles as well as Guild staff, volunteer, and board leadership.
CAELI (Community Arts Education Leadership Institute) is the Guild’s national leadership development program for executive and senior leaders across community arts education. The 2026-2027 cohort will focus on leading and managing through times of uncertainty, giving participants space to strengthen their leadership practice, work through real organizational challenges, and learn alongside peers navigating change across the field.
For 2026-2027 CAELI will bring together one national hybrid cohort of up to 24 executive and senior leaders. The experience will combine virtual learning and coaching, peer learning and national networking, optional regional engagement opportunities, a 360-degree leadership review, and a culminating in-person retreat in June/July 2027.
Who is CAELI for?
The 2026-2027 CAELI cohort is focused on Executive-level leadership in community arts education. We are seeking current and emerging leaders who hold significant responsibility for leading organizations, teams, programs, strategy, or major areas of work, particularly during times of change and uncertainty.
Participants may include Executive Directors, CEOs, senior administrators, department and program leaders, and other senior decision-makers working across nonprofit organizations, government agencies, education, philanthropy, and allied sectors.
We recognize that executive leadership does not always come with an Executive Director or CEO title. Applicants should be able to demonstrate meaningful leadership and decision-making responsibility within their organization, practice, or community.
What You’ll Experience
- Strengthen self-reflective executive leadership practice, especially when leading through uncertainty, transition, and organizational change.
- Identify core values and examine how they influence behavior and decision-making.
- Deepen understanding of intersectionality and how personal perspectives and biases influence leadership practice.
- Build mindfulness, embodiment, and collective-care practices.
- Strengthen healthy boundaries, relationship building, and practices for engaging conflict.
- Translate developmental goals and 360-degree feedback into an actionable leadership plan with coaching and peer support.
- Build meaningful relationships with a national network of community arts education peers.
- Connect individual leadership development to the future of the community arts education field
- Develop executive presence through individualized coaching focused on how you communicate, carry yourself, use your voice and body, and show up with intention across different leadership settings.
Participant Commitment & Investment
CAELI is a cohort experience that depends on consistent participation and relationship building. If selected, participants are expected to actively engage throughout the full program, including virtual learning sessions, coaching, peer learning activities, cohort reflection and preparation, and the culminating in-person retreat.
The 2026-2027 cohort experience is expected to begin in November 2026 and continue through June 2027. The in-person retreat is currently planned for June 2027 and will run approximately 5-7 days. Final retreat dates and location will be shared as soon as they are confirmed.
The participant investment for the 2026–2027 CAELI cohort is $3,000. This supports the full CAELI experience, including virtual learning, individualized coaching, executive presence development, the 360-degree leadership review, peer learning and networking, and the culminating in-person retreat.
Financial assistance may be considered based on demonstrated need and available funding. Applicants should not let cost prevent them from applying, and requesting assistance will not affect consideration for the cohort.
Application and Selection Timeline
The Guild is intentionally allowing approximately six weeks for applications and review. Applications will be reviewed by the CAELI coaches/facilitators and Guild team with the goal of creating a strong national cohort representing a range of executive leadership experiences, organizations, communities, and perspectives across community arts education.
| September 24, 2026 | Applications Open | Applications for the 2026-2027 CAELI cohort will open in late September, alongside outreach through Guild networks, partners, alumni, and the broader community arts education field. |
| Late September-November 4, 2026 | Applications + Review | Applications will remain open through November 4, 2026. The CAELI coaches/facilitators and Guild team will review applications throughout the six-week application period and complete final review after the deadline. |
| Mid-November 2026 | Cohort Selection + Announcement | Applicants will be notified of their status in mid-November. The Guild anticipates publicly introducing the cohort shortly after selections are finalized. |
| November-December 2026 | Onboarding + Cohort Launch | Selected participants will receive enrollment, financial assistance, onboarding, and program information. The cohort will begin with a virtual welcome and orientation, introductions to faculty and fellow participants, and initial learning and peer connection. |
| January-April 2027 | Virtual Learning + Coaching | Participants will engage in virtual learning, coaching, peer learning, reflection, and application of their leadership development within their organizations, practices, and communities. |
| June/July 2027 | CAELI In-Person Retreat | The cohort will culminate in a 5-7 day in-person retreat focused on leadership reflection, integration, relationship building, and connection to the broader CAELI alumni community. Exact application deadlines, notification dates, retreat dates and location, participant contribution, financial assistance, and payment deadlines will be confirmed before enrollment. |
360-Degree Leadership Review
CAELI includes a 360-degree leadership review as part of the cohort experience. The purpose is developmental, not evaluative: to give each participant a fuller picture of how their leadership is experienced by people who work with them from different perspectives.
Feedback will be used alongside coaching and reflection to identify strengths, patterns, and areas for growth while leading through uncertainty and change.
As part of the application, applicants will be asked to confirm their willingness to participate in the 360-degree review and identify potential respondents who know their leadership in different contexts.
Final respondent selection, instructions, confidentiality, and timing will be shared with accepted participants during onboarding.
Accessibility and Application Support
Our goal is to make the application process as accessible as possible.
Applicants may submit personal reflection responses in written, audio, video, or another approved accessible format. Applicants who need accommodations or would like to discuss another way to complete the application may contact the Guild’s CAELI team.
Please connect with us via email at administrator@nationalguild.org
Applications Are Open!
Take the next step in your leadership journey with the 2026-2027 cohort of the Community Arts Education Leadership Institute, CAELI
Apply by November 4, 2026.
