NELA Cohort V & VI

Training on Micro-political Leadership & Strategies

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Tentative Agenda
NC States Friday Institute (Wachovia Room)
1890 Main Campus Drive
Raleigh, NC 27606
1:00pm 6:00pm

I Opening Comments and Introductions (Presenter/Facilitator bios begin on p. 2).

II Review of Micro-political Standard (discussion of what this means, experiences, etc.)

Dr. Henry Johnson and Dr. Tom Houlihan

III Politics in Education: Local, State, and National Experiences

Dr. Henry Johnson and Dr. Tom Houlihan

IV Politics in Education: Business, Legislative, and Non-profit Experiences

Dr. Tom Williams

V Core values, Communications, Culture and Change

Dr. Henry Johnson

VI Mission/Vision and Effective Leadership

Dr. Tom Houlihan

VII Lessons Learned and Still Learning

Dr. Tom Williams

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 Presenter/Facilitator Bios

Dr. Thomas Houlihan

Dr. Tom Houlihan has been a coach with NELA from the beginning of the program. He has
previously served as a teacher, high school principal and superintendent in both Granville and
Johnston counties. In addition, Tom served as Executive Director of the Council of Chief State
School Officers in Washington, DC. Recently Tom was elected to the Granville County Board of
Education. Tom previously served as Senior Education Advisor to Governor James B. Hunt, Jr.,
Governor of North Carolina.

Dr. Houlihan is the first educator in history to hold Cabinet level status in a North Carolina
Governors administration. An author and frequent speaker/consultant, Dr. Houlihan was selected
Superintendent of the Year in North Carolina and was one of four finalists for National
Superintendent of the Year. He has also been honored by his alma maters, Indiana University
and North Carolina State University, as a distinguished alumni award winner for contributions to
education.

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 Dr. Henry Johnson

Henry Johnson is a Senior Consultant with Learning Forward, which was formally the National
Staff Development Council. Prior to his current position, he was a senior advisor on B&D
Consultings education team. He offers innovative approaches and strategies to help educational
systems achieve and sustain improvements in student and school performances. Henry also has
expertise in No Child Left Behind, teacher quality and other growing education issues. Before
joining B&D Consulting, Henry was U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education for Elementary and
Secondary Education after being nominated by President Bush and confirmed by the U.S.
Senate. He has developed a wealth of experiences from more than 30 years of service as a
classroom teacher, local administrator, state superintendent of education and national assistant
secretary of education. Henry also served as State Superintendent of Education in Mississippi
and Associate State Superintendent for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

Dr. Johnson is a member of the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) where he has served
as a member of their Executive Board of Directors. SREB is a leader in education and economic
development for the South. Johnson also serves on various other boards and commissions. Just
prior to joining the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction in 1992, he served as
Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction for Johnston County Schools. In his 30
plus years of experience as a professional educator, Johnson served as Assistant Superintendent
of Schools for the Pleasantville Public Schools in Pleasantville, New Jersey, where he
established their Education Foundation. He was a public school teacher for seven years, a
principal for three years, and the middle school director for two years for the Wake County
Schools in North Carolina. For five years, he worked as Director of Policy Development and
Research for the North Carolina School Boards Association. In the mid-1970s, he worked with
the Department of Public Instruction as coordinator of staff development and as a consultant on

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programs for academically gifted students. Dr. Johnson is married and has two sons and a
daughter.

Dr. Tom Williams

Prior to founding Strategic Educational Alliances, Inc. in late 2007, Tom Williams served the
public schools of North Carolina for thirty-two years. Most recently, he served as superintendent
of the Granville County Schools from 2000 until his retirement on June 30, 2007. In the summer
of 2010, he was appointed the Interim Chancellor of the North Carolina School of Science and
Mathematics. He served over six years as the Executive Director for the North Carolina Business
Committee for Education (NCBCE) under Governor James B. Hunt, Jr. from 1994 Carolina.
Beginning as a teacher/coach in the Wake County Schools, he has been an elementary, middle,
and high school principal in both Johnston and Granville Counties. From 1991-1994, he served
as an assistant superintendent with the Johnston County Schools. After transferring from Boston
College, Tom received his undergraduate degree in Elementary Education from Pembroke State
University and his M.A.Ed., Ed.S., and Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from East Carolina
University. He also had experience serving as an Executive on Loan at the Department of Public
Instruction in the Principals Leadership Institute under the leadership of State Superintendent
Craig Phillips.

Dr. Williams was recognized by Governor James B. Hunt, Jr. with the states highest honor, the
Order of the Long Leaf Pine in 2000 as well as a Distinguished Service Award from the State
Board of Education and Department of Public Instruction. He was inducted into the East
Carolina University Educators Hall of Fame in 2002. In 2003, Tom was first recognized as a

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Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow by the Oxford Rotary Club and in 2007 received
Rotarys second pinning as a Paul Harris Fellow for outstanding community service. In 2005 he
was honored as the outstanding Alumni by the University of North Carolina-Pembroke. Tom and
his wife of thirty-eight years, Lisa, are avid dog lovers and are the proud parents of a rescued
Greyhound, Nija and a rescued Poodle, Homie.