University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design

Transform your career by becoming a more intentional and effective design leader.

On Hold

Transform your career by becoming a more intentional and effective design leader. Whether you’re looking to move your organization in a new direction, increase your ability to tackle pressing design challenges, or simply become a better leader, the Executive Program in Design Leadership will provide you with tools you can use right away to overcome obstacles and pave the way for your next career breakthrough.

The XDL Program is on hold for now.

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This unique 6-month executive program offered by the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design is created specifically for design professionals who are seeking to learn new leadership skills, build their networks, and grow their careers.

Taught by leading design educators, practitioners, and experts in leadership development, the Weitzman Executive Program in Design Leadership (XDL) focuses on transformational leadership, inclusion in the workplace, design thinking techniques, facilitating stakeholder engagement, and negotiation skills.

Specifically designed to fit into your busy schedule, this program features self-paced online learning with a community of curious and motivated design professionals, one-on-one coaching and mentoring sessions from design leaders, and opportunities to interact with your peers and faculty at informal “Jam-out sessions” and at the live, on-line Summit.

Who is this
program for?

Experienced designers transitioning into leadership positions, established design leaders who want to be more effective, and emerging design leaders who need coaching and mentoring to get to the next level.

Professionals who do not have design backgrounds but are leading design projects from the client or organizational side.

XDL is for those seeking to learn with a diverse group of successful professionals who are committed to becoming effective leaders by becoming more intentional and self-aware.

The Executive Program in Design Leadership (XDL)

The XDL Program is for those seeking to learn with a motivated group of professionals who are looking to take the next step in their career by becoming transformational leaders.

This is the place for emerging and established design leaders to take the next big step in their career by practicing the use of empathy, intentionality, and self-awareness in everything they do.

The XDL Program is for:
  • UX Designers
  • Graphic Designers
  • Lighting Designers
  • Interior Designers
  • Lighting Designers
  • Architects
  • Landscape architects
  • Urban designers and planners
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Executive program in design leadership

goals

  • Explore and test our newfound leadership techniques and receive feedback in real-time from fellow design professionals
  • Connect with a diverse community of design professionals from across the globe
  • Discover new frameworks for tackling leadership challenges in design settings
  • Strengthen your leadership skills through the use of new tools and by incorporating feedback from individualized coaching sessions

At the end of this program, you will be able to:

  • Build more equitable and better collaborative work cultures by advancing inclusive leadership skills
  • Create cohesive organizational systems by fostering high-quality workplace relationships
  • Transform organizations by becoming a more self-aware leader
  • Solve critical challenges by using the design thinking process
  • Empower diverse stakeholders by facilitating co-creative processes focused on real-world projects
headshot photo
“The Executive Design Leadership Program helped shape who I will be as a leader. It helped me discover my unique approach to leadership by reflecting on who I am and what my strengths and growing edges are. I look forward to implementing the ideas we’ve discussed over the next 10-20 years of practice in design.”
Addie Smith, Senior Lighting Designer, AE Design, Inc.
2023 XDL Graduate, Transformational Leadership

Program Cost

The fee is $4,750.00 with Special Discount Code. Contact us @Design Leadership Program at Weitzman School for the details.

KEY
  • Courses
  • Online Events
  • TBD
    Orientation (Online & Recorded Event)
  • TBD
    Enlivening Quality Relationships (3-week Online course)
  • TBD
    Inclusive Leadership (3-week Online Foundation course)
  • TBD
    Transformational Leadership Pt. 1 (4-weeks)
  • TBD
    XDL Summit (Live online event)
    Online Independent Project starts
  • TBD
    Transformational Leadership Pt. 2 (4-weeks)
  • TBD
    Facilitating Co-creative Stakeholder Engagements (Live ON-LINE event)
  • TBD
    Design Leadership Day and Graduation (Required online event)
Download Viewbook
Lucinda Sanders headshot photo
“Transformational leadership is different. It requires a deep understanding of our own ego in order to understand and overcome resistance to change.”
Lucinda Sanders, CEO & Partner, OLIN
Instructor, Transformational Leadership

Coaching & Mentoring

As part of the XDL program, you will:

  • Receive coaching and mentoring from expert instructors and design industry leaders.
  • Identify allies and mentors in your professional circles and learn how to get the most out of those relationships.
  • Interact with your colleagues on a regular basis to receive and give strategic advice aimed at solving particular challenges in your work life.
  • Apply the lessons learned from mentoring and coaching sessions to a specific leadership challenge of your choosing during the program.

Founding Instructors

A. Mecquel, Instructor, XDL 101, Enlivening Quality Relationships

Mecquel investigates the intersections of psychology, cognition, embodiment, movement, and its applications within performance, design, education, and leadership. Her curricula include embodied experiences to cultivate creativity, collaboration, empathy, and problem-solving. She also leads teams in effective communication, developing emotional and social intelligence, and relationship building at Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Informed by psychology, contemplative practice, and somatic education, Mecquel bridges kinesthetic experience and practical application for a dynamic integration that repatterns the body, mind, and relationships. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Clinical Research at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in NY.

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Dr. Carla Thomas, Instructor: XDL 102, Inclusive Leadership

Having worked with clients ranging from higher education to global fortune 500 organizations in sectors that include: Higher Education, Technology, Life Sciences, Financial Services, Retail, and Consumer Goods, Dr. Thomas currently holds a faculty position within Villanova University’s Human Resources Graduate Program as well as various programs within The University of Pennsylvania. She sits on the advisory boards of Saint Joseph’s University’s Organizational & Leadership Development graduate program, The Academy of Natural Sciences and the American Public University System. She is an active member of the NTL Institute for Applied Behavioral Sciences, Philadelphia Society of People and Strategy, the Society for Human Resource Management, the Organizational Development Network, and the Inclusion Allies Coalition.

Linked In

Lucinda Sanders, Instructor: XDL, Transformational Leadership

Lucinda Sanders is the President/CEO of OLIN and an Adjunct Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania's Weitzman School of Design. She has a core belief that transforming thinking transforms place, and she is eager to bring this idea to the design table wherever she works. Lucinda is responsible for continually shaping OLIN as a leader in design excellence, both in her role as CEO and as a Design Partner in the firm. She has led the design of many of OLIN’s signature award-winning projects and is the co-founder of OLIN LABS, the studio’s in-house research practice. Outside of OLIN, she is involved on boards and with academia dedicated to the advancement of the field of landscape architecture, urban design, and planning, with notable accomplishments including the co-creation and facilitation of the Landscape Architecture Foundation’s Fellowship for Innovation and Leadership. Lucinda holds a Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania and a Doctor of Education in Transformational Leadership from Insight University.

Website

Rob Fleming, Instructor: XDL 104, Facilitating Co-creative Stakeholder Engagements

Rob Fleming is an award-winning educator, author, keynote speaker, sustainability advocate, and architect. Rob is the Director of Online Innovation at the University of Pennsylvania’s Weitzman School of Design, and he is the Faculty Director of the Design Leadership Program. From 1996 to 2021, Rob served as the Founding Director and Professor for the Award-winning Master of Science in Sustainable Design Program at Thomas Jefferson University, where he taught hundreds of emerging sustainability professionals who have made important contributions in the world. Rob works with clients and design firms around the country to facilitate integrative design charrettes using co-creative, stakeholder driven design processes. In this way, built environment projects reach higher levels of sustainability and the design teams themselves develop stronger bonds through a shared sense of purpose. Rob holds a master’s in architecture degree from Virginia Tech and a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Temple University. Rob is also the 2022 Philadelphia AIA President Elect.

Website

Denae Patterson headshot photo
“I learned so much and gained greater clarity about my creative vision and the impact I hope to have in the media and design space. Design and media have so much power and impact on our lives, communities, and world. I look forward to continuing to build on how I can show up as a transformative leader and create in more inclusive, collaborative, and humanistic ways.”
Denae Patterson, Founder, Untamed Media
2023 XDL Graduate, Transformational Leadership

Important Program Dates

December 2

Applications Open

January 6

Early Application Deadline

April 27

Regular Application Deadline

Learn to Lead.

Drop us a line. We’d be happy to answer any remaining questions you might have about the XDL program. You can also check out our FAQ page for additional information.

Meet with with the XDL Director

102 Meyerson Hall
210 South 34th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
© 2024 University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design