Today we’d like to introduce you to Nikki Harding.
Hi Nikki, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
At 21, I had my first child, who was born with Down Syndrome. I thought he was the most beautiful baby I’d ever seen, of course, but I was also concerned that I didn’t have the tools I needed to give him the life he deserved, so I went back to school to get a Master’s in Adaptive Special Education and started teaching Special Education on a waiver. I taught all day and took online classes to earn my MS Degree in Adaptive Special Education in the evenings.
I learned quickly that with every question I answered for myself, I had about 10 more. Then I realized other parents and teachers had the same questions. I started to feel like I could make a bigger difference as an administrator, so I went back to school to earn my admin degree. The first position was as Director of a project in Kansas to recruit and retain teachers at the statewide level. We studied the pipeline of teachers into the field and worked on systemic barriers into the field.
A position opened up close to home that I really wanted, the Director of Special Education. In that position, over half of my teaching team was non traditionally licensed, similar to how I started. I saw them teaching during the day and still having to complete traditional coursework at night, without necessarily connecting theory to practice. The feedback from my team, over and over, was that the coursework was not adequately preparing them for the classroom challenges.
I knew we had to do something different, not just a little different, because what I was seeing repeatedly was that we were burning teachers out before they really even got started in the field. I loved teaching, and the field of education. None of this was the teacher’s fault. It is a failure of the system, and it was impacting both educators and students.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Transitioning from educator to Founder of my own company has been absolutely the hardest job I’ve ever taken on, because it’s been about speaking out about the challenges of today’s classrooms, as well as about AI, what it is, how and when it’s appropriate and safe to use it, etc. It has also been the most rewarding. When a teacher tells either me or someone on my team, this was exactly the support they had been asking for, that’s why I founded this company.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Inclusive Leadership Lab, LLC?
When I founded my company, I partnered with a tech company that developed an AI-powered tool for instructional coaching for teachers. We offer a hybrid model of instructional coaching, providing on-demand support from the AI tool and structured support from a seasoned master teacher on the other end. We work with teachers across a range of specialties, including general education, special education, and self-contained emotional disability settings.
We empower teachers with the skills and tools they need to be successful in their classrooms every day. We have customized the platform with state standards, each district’s approved curriculum, and frameworks to support the science of reading implementation, specially designed instruction for students with disabilities, and trauma-informed classroom management practices.
We also support leadership teams so schools reach their school improvement goals faster, working smarter, not harder. We transform education by uniting research with real-world practice, empowering educational leaders to create schools where everyone belongs.
We are proud to be building something that supports educators in an impactful, meaningful way. Our clients leave feeling empowered with new skills and professionally cared for, which is something every educator deserves. Because we support all levels in the school system, we support systemic change.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
Keep going. Reach out to people who have persevered through those hard times and find a mentor. Be open to coaching, even when the feedback is hard to hear, because that is often when you learn the most. Everything is a learning opportunity.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.inclusiveleadershiplab.org/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61570261771821
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/107552096/
