EALA New Champions Mentor

Overview:

The Educating All Learners Alliance (EALA) by InnovateEDU has granted a year-long mentorship to support the 2026 New Champion awardees - leaders in education who are actively supporting students with disabilities and learning differences, those from underserved communities, and anyone who has faced barriers to educational opportunity.

The 2026 New Champions mentor will be a consultant who specializes in goal-setting for new leaders. This mentor will work with the New Champions on goal-setting during a virtual retreat and provide quarterly check-in meetings with each grantee over one year.

The Partner Organization:

The Educating All Learners™ Alliance (EALA) is an uncommon coalition of organizations committed to resource sharing and community building that supports the education community's efforts to meet the needs of students with disabilities. We are committed to showing practitioners the path to possibility by providing curated, searchable resources; access to experts; a tech library featuring accessibility features in edtech; and examples from the field.

The alliance is hosted by InnovateEDU, an organization founded in 2013 that accelerates innovation and the development of learning models and tools to improve outcomes for all students. InnovateEDU brings together leaders in education, trains educators, and educates students, with the goal of substantially improving the academic achievement of students in urban public schools.” Their approach amplifies successful instructional practices and promotes student engagement through rich, compelling experiences that accelerate learning.

The Project:

The New Champions Fund is an annual competitive program featuring an unrestricted subgrant and a year-long mentorship for the selected champions. EALA seeks to elevate emerging leaders from various backgrounds who are working to improve access and belonging in education.

EALA is in the process of selecting three 2026 New Champion awardees and is seeking a provider who can serve as the mentor for this year’s awardees. The provider will use their expertise in goal-setting to help new leaders lean into their individual purpose and achieve organizational objectives. This provider will work with the New Champions awardees on goal setting at a virtual retreat, and provide check-in meetings with each grantee 4 times over 1 year.

Key Activities:

1. Virtual Leadership Retreat
   1. Timeline: Late May 2026; specific date to be finalized based on participant and facilitator availability.
   2. Design an agenda for a 4-hour virtual leadership retreat tailored for a cohort of 6–8 participants (New and Returning Champions).
   3. Lead and deliver all retreat sessions, focusing on strategic goal-setting, identifying skill gaps, and creating measurable action plans.
   4. Identify and refine high-impact training materials to be adapted for public dissemination.
2. Virtual Coaching Sessions
   1. Provide a structured series of virtual 1:1 coaching sessions for each 2026 New Champion four times over the course of one year.
   2. Monitor and surface individual strengths and growth areas, identifying overarching themes across the cohort.
   3. Identify promising practices and innovative strategies emerging from coaching conversations to inform sector-wide learning.

Deliverables:

1. Retreat Master Agenda: A detailed schedule and facilitator guide.
2. Participant Resources: All slides, worksheets, or templates used during the retreat.
3. Field-Facing Resource: A refined, professional document (e.g., Goal-Setting Templates or Implementation Guide) based on retreat content to be shared with the broader EALA network.
4. Champion Growth Profiles: A brief internal summary of themes, strengths, and areas for growth across the 2026 New Champions cohort.
5. Podcast Recording or Webinar Presentation that highlights effective practices identified during coaching to build program visibility.

Time Expectations

April 1, 2026 through March 31, 2027

Approximately 40 hours total. This is a fixed fee, deliverables-based contract, and the estimate is provided only for assistance in drafting a response. Payment will be contingent upon deliverable completion

Virtual Leadership Retreat

12

Planning (8 hours) and hosting (4 hours) Virtual Leadership retreat

Virtual Coaching

18

Planning (6 hours) and hosting (12 hours) virtual meetings with each of the 3 grantees, 4 times a year.

Champion Growth Profiles

2

Preparing a brief internal summary of themes, strengths, and areas for growth across the 2026 New Champions cohort.

Resource Development

8

Planning and preparing 1 Field Facing Resource (4 hours) and planning and preparing for 1 Podcast Recording or Webinar Presentation (4 hours).

Payment Schedule:

The payment schedule for this subgrant will be as follows:

Payment Condition

Payment Date*

Payment Amount

Upon completion of Virtual Leadership Retreat

On/about May 31, 2026

$1,000

Upon completion of 2 Virtual Coaching sessions

On/about October 31, 2026

$2,000

Upon completion of 4 Virtual Coaching sessions

On/about March 31, 2027

$2,000

Upon completion of Resource Development

On/about March 31, 2027

$1,500

Total

$6,500

*Payment date may be changed if payment conditions are not met at least 15 days prior to the the scheduled payment date

Ethics Expectations:

The mentor is expected to support the New Champions according to the following principles:

1. Confidentiality: Mentors are expected to keep ideas and information within the coaching sessions confidential. The consultant will be expected to sign an NDA.
2. Open-Mindedness: Mentors are expected to remain open-minded and solution-oriented when coaching the New Champions and to be fully engaged when working with mentees seeking to develop their skills.