Elisa B. MacDonald
Skillful Intentional Team Leadership
LEAD teams with intention.
GROW leaders' mindset and skills.
IMPACT teaching and learning.
Invest in team leaders* to strengthen teacher practice,
impact student learning, and shape school culture.
* District coordinators, PD specialists, principals, department chairs, instructional coaches, teacher leaders
Some think of me as, "The Team Lady."
Developing team leaders might be what I do, but
what I am about is collaboration that results in better learning outcomes for teachers and students.
I partner with districts and organizations to empower educators to lead high-functioning, high-impact
teacher and leadership teams.
Through decades of experience facilitating teams and training hundreds of leaders, I discovered the critical importance of viewing teams through two lenses: how you work together (what I call function), and the outcomes of your collaboration (what I call impact).
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I first published this concept in 2013 in my bestselling book, The Skillful Team Leader, and expanded on the concept in my 2023 bestselling book, Intentional Moves, which holds nearly 150 strategies for leading high-functioning, high-impact teams.
A Skillful Intentional Approach to leading your colleagues starts with you.
Elisa is ready to support you and your school leaders.
*Teacher leaders, coaches, department chairs, curriculum coordinators, PD specialists.
"Every school system should have an Elisa MacDonald."
- Mary Bigelow, Middle school science teacher leader with 28 years teaching experience.
Chief Academic Officer with Principal
Executive VP for Instructional Coaches
"Elisa played a pivotal role in our school being awarded a $900,000 School Redesign grant from the MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. She was incredible at leading our Turnaround Team of teacher leaders and administrators in a meaningful, engaging process that resulted in writing a sustainable improvement plan that was a true representation of what our staff, families and community envisioned for our school. Several years later, we are making gains as we implement the plan."
"...our network of instructional coaches found Elisa's insights to be right on target and they wanted more. Elisa tailored each professional learning experience to our specific needs and afterwards, our instructional partners, principals and lead teachers shared that it was exactly what they needed to move forward..."
Cathy Gassenheimer
Executive Vice President
Alabama Best Practices Center
Department Chair on Leadership Team
"... the retreat provided an opportunity to discuss, brainstorm and think deeply about our administrative leadership team without distraction. Elisa balanced learning with real conversations, and I left feeling hopeful and optimistic. The retreat solidified that we are high-functioning and it is ok to be on a continuum."
Beth S.
Counseling Department Chair
Brian Turner
Chief Academic Officer
New Bedford Public Schools
