When an association values its team as much as its members, the results are inspiring!
Today, we have a truly refreshing guest joining us — Christina Lewellen, MBA, CAE, Executive Director of ATLIS, the Association of Technology Leaders in Independent Schools.
In this episode, our host Christine Shaw talks with Christina about her compelling journey from journalism student to association leader and shares invaluable insights into the fast-growing world of her relatively young association. She discusses the strategic elevation of technology leaders in educational institutions, especially post-COVID, and the innovative ways her small but mighty team is making an impact.
We dive into her unique leadership style and workplace culture, including cutting-edge practices like a four-day workweek, zero internal emails, and unlimited PTO.
You’ll learn:
- How embracing AI can boost efficiency.
- The challenges and triumphs of launching a new credentialing program.
- How to strategically leverage print as a top marketing tool.
- How to maximize the powerful role of vendor partnerships.
About the guest:
Christina Lewellen, MBA, CAE, Executive Director, Association of Technology Leaders in Independent Schools, is a seasoned association executive who brings a data-driven framework to business planning and strategy, having earned her MBA from the Rochester Institute of Technology and the Certified Association Executive designation from the American Society of Association Executives. She was named the Executive Director of ATLIS in 2019 and travels coast-to-coast visiting independent schools and their leadership teams. She serves as a trustee for the Harmony Foundation International and is actively involved in volunteer roles in the association community.
Resources:
Recommended reading: On Call: A Doctor’s Journey in Public Service
Explore more topics on Innovation.
Visit: https://www.naylor.com/
Connect with ATLIS & Christina:
LinkedIn: @associationoftechnologyleadersinindependentschools & @ChristinaLewellen
Visit: https://theatlis.org/
Connect with us:
LinkedIn: @NaylorAssociationSolutions
Christine Shaw: christine.shaw@naylor.com
*Please rate us and leave us your thoughts and comments on Apple Podcasts, we’d love to hear from you!
If I'm ever in charge, like if I ever make it to the top, I just made a commitment to myself that I would go out of my way to be different, not for the sake of being different, but for the ability to change things that don't need to be hard. Hi, I'm Christine Shaw, CEO and president of Naylor Association Solutions, and I'm your host of the Association Advisor Podcast. We'll learn from successful Association executives, partners, and clients on Hadekrow membership engagement and Nondu's revenue to create a thriving, prosperous, and value-driven association. I invite you to join me in keeping informed and, most importantly, keeping your association profitable. Our goal is to leave you feeling inspired, more confident, and more knowledgeable. This is the Association Advisor Podcast. Hi, and welcome back to the Association Advisor Podcast brought to you by Naylor Association Solutions. I'm your host, Christine Shaw. For today's episode, our guest is Christina Luellen, executive director of ATLIS, the Association of Technology Leaders in Independent Schools. Christina shares what it's like to lead a young association that is experiencing explosive levels of growth and development. As the leader of a small staff association, Christina also talks with us about the challenges and opportunities that come with leading a small association, as well as why it is important to be intentional about your workplace culture. Together, we'll also discuss how ATLIS's staff is embracing AI, how the recent launch of a new certification program is a big leap forward for the Association, and how investing and your association's programs is key to growing revenue and value. I'm really excited to share this conversation with you, so let's get started. Welcome, Christina. I am so excited to have you on the podcast today. Thank you for having me. I'm a big fan. Oh, great. Thanks for sharing that. I really would love to start this conversation by you sharing with our listeners just a little bit about your background, specifically how you made your way to association leadership and what has fed your passion for it throughout your career. I started my association journey in the magazine publication space. I had come out of college as a journalism major, and I started my career in newspapers and a little stint in production, field production and television. But ultimately, I was a writer, I was comfortable interviewing people, asking questions, getting to know them. And so I found myself working for a trade magazine that was owned by an association. And I really loved the idea of getting to know an industry, going to the same events, getting to know the same people in that space. And so I came into the association space through vendor relationships and partners. I mean, I understood it early in my journey that it could be a very powerful partnership to have, you know, when you work with your advertisers for thought leadership, but at the same time, they're supporting with non-duce revenue. So I really came into it knowing that when vendor partnerships are done correctly, they can be really powerful in uplifting an entire industry. So I pursued and earned my MBA and coming out of business school and wanting to flex those muscles that I had just developed, I went into corporate America for a little while. I really enjoyed the challenge of the business world, but I missed the mission. I liked the idea of running a really tight, efficient business, but doing so for an entire industry or a profession, rather than a family or a person, it just sort of suited me and really drove my passion for the space. So at this point, I've overseen just about all aspects of association management. In my journey, I've had different titles and I've overseen different departments. And so I felt really well prepared to step into a top leadership position, but certainly I continue to learn every day, there's always something new, some new challenge to figure out. Thank you for sharing. It's a fantastic background. I can see how the skills you've developed in all aspects of association management has led you to be such an incredible leader that you are today of the ATLI. So let's talk about that. It's a relatively new association compared to others. It was founded just 10 years ago in 2014 to address the challenges faced by technology leaders at independent schools. And look, we've all seen, especially since COVID, how important it is to have technology specifically to education, I think previously we wouldn't have thought of that, but there's no turning back, right? So what's it been like leading this group through so much growth in such a short time? Yeah, I feel like ATLI could be counted in dog years, honestly, like every year that we exist could probably count for three or seven years in association years. We've definitely packed a lot of challenges and growth into a single decade as we kind of come up on our 10th anniversary in the spring, but there's also been incredible opportunities because the pandemic brought our members into this spotlight at their schools. I think that years ago, if we think about technology, it was boxes and wires in a dark closet and it was really more of a facility's management kind of a job, like you were in charge of making sure that the servers were taken care of and protected and now it has really shifted into a strategic leader out of school because how technology is integrated into not only the classroom, how does technology support education, but then there's also issues of how does technology support the business of a school, like the actual operations of a school. And so we shifted from boxes and wires into thought leadership. And so our members have really leaned on Atlas, but so too has Atlas leaned on our members. They're incredible the way that they come together and now heads of schools and the way that heads of schools see technology leaders is just different. How they're viewed as an integral part of the leadership team at their schools. It's very elevated at this point and they certainly continue to stay in the spotlight with artificial intelligence. And so Atlas has had sort of a front row seat to, I guess, a renaissance of professional development in our community. It's a powerful show to watch, honestly. Christina, it's interesting because when you started out, you said you missed the mission. What a great mission to be leading the way for education with technology. I mean, I can't think of many things as important or equally important to that, but you're certainly in the heart of what really matters as we educate the next generation of future leaders. So it's exciting. I'm happy for you. Yeah, I love watching them. I love watching our members at work. It's incredible. Great. Well, and you know, there's another term that comes to mind that I'll use a small but mighty so it couldn't be more applicable than to your association. You have a small team, but you've accomplished a lot with a small dedicated team. And I've learned a little from here you speak previously, but you are a member of the ASAE or past year of ASAE Small Step Association Advisory Committee. So talk a little bit about problem solving and how you do that with a small association. What lessons you've learned to do that? Yeah, I think my leadership style is very much in the realm of let's pretend the answer is yes. How do we get there? And so you could probably see how that's very well suited to small staff leadership because we have, you know, the room to be creative, but in order to be creative, we've made this commitment to running a really efficient organization. So I do think that small staff associations have this benefit of being a little speedbow and we can maneuver quickly, but we also because we have limited resources, which honestly, I think is true of even larger associations, there's always a resource constraint. So how we work is that, you know, I'm really committed to running a very efficient operation. So our members definitely do not pay us to sit in meetings or answer emails all day. They expect us to help them solve problems and make their lives easier. So our commitment, this relentless focus that we have on carving out the time to deliver really impactful programs, that, you know, is a small staff thing for sure. But it's also kind of an association thing. And I think that many of us are just trying to figure out how to get it done quicker or better or with higher quality because our members deserve that. So I sort of characterize our association atlas, our team as being aggressively efficient. Like we are obsessed with efficiency and that's why I tend to get attention at some of these events because I talk about how we have zero internal emails, how we're, you know, very all in on our project management system, how we operate with a four day work week and unlimited PTO. So those things are all because we are very bought into efficiency. I love it. And you know what? I'll tell you, Christian, in hearing this conversation directly, I can tell how much of a growth mindset person you are because the average person who has a small staff looks at it as an impairment and you turn it into say we're like a small little speedboat, right? So yeah, you learn how to operate efficiently and maneuver quickly and you can get a lot done and you're proving that every single day, so kudos to you. And like I said, I learned a lot hearing you speak and we're going to get into that in a moment. But I know one thing you've really embraced the use of AI. So again, a lot of people are fearing AI or not sure what to do about it. Tell us a little more about what that's looked like for you at Atlas, please. Sure. I mean, no doubt as technology folks, you know, representing a technology focused industry, we have the cautionary tales like we understand you have to be careful with AI. This is not to be taken lightly, but at the same time, if there's a spectrum of absolutely not not going to touch it, not going to go near it to I'm kind of all in on AI, we're a little bit more toward the all in end of the spectrum. You know, we experiment with AI a lot internally, keeping in mind that we need to be really diligent about not putting our organization or our data at risk. So we've used AI to repurpose a lot of content. You know, if you've got a library of videos, just kind of hanging out in your archive, that's one place that was ripe for the picking. We used AI to turn a lot of that into transcripts. We took the transcripts and then went over to chat GPT to have them summarize into lists or articles. We went back out to our subject matter experts to have them punch it up and update it. And then we used AI a lot in the space of graphic design and supporting marketing materials. So, you know, as a small staff, I think that, you know, we have found that we can leverage AI solutions to be more inclusive, more accessible to various membership populations. And we sort of amplify the existing skill set of our staff where, you know, we make them stronger writers, we reduce mistakes, you know, the graphic support, marketing support. So, you know, we're always going to be on the hunt for new tools, but we definitely know that being deep in this space allows us to kind of, you know, experiment alongside our members. Yeah. And that's a great attitude because obviously we all have to worry about the cautionary part of it. But you're picking up on an important factor where really, especially with any size staff that feels restrained with resources, it's like having a pair of hands, you know, to do some of the lift of the everyday tasks. So that's a great lesson to learn and we'll continue to learn as we go and share more. But let's talk about a couple of months ago, we were both at a SAEs inaugural event, the exchange of women's leadership experience. And you talk a lot about culture and, you know, some of the unique and creative approaches you take. You hinted at it here with the no email and the four day work week and unlimited PTO, which has helped you create a really dynamic culture. So let's talk about your culture and let's let the listeners hear a little more about what I heard at that event. I loved it. And first of all, I need to thank you and Naylor for supporting that about because, you know, again, the power of partnerships. It was just thinking about being in that room still gives me goosebumps. So thank you for supporting a new initiative in our space. Gosh, it wasn't incredible. Like it was very needed, right? It wasn't, you know, and do you remember Marina Pinto, the design arm wearing one of her dresses today? So yes, yes, I loved it. So you were channel still channeling that energy from that event. I love it. Yeah. You know, I think I promised myself along the way that if I ever found myself, if I'm ever in charge, like if I ever make it to the top, I just made a commitment to myself that I would go out of my way to be different, not for the sake of being different, but for the ability to change things that don't need to be hard. I'm a mom and I was coming up through. And I was always making choices that I felt I was letting somebody down. I was either not giving enough to work or giving too much to work and not giving enough to my family. And I just thought there's got to be a better way to do this. And so as I kind of came along in my journey, I mentally wanted to create the kind of workplace that I sometimes desperately needed, but I never really had the opportunity to experience. And so, yeah, we have a four day work week, which is not, you know, everyone will say to me, well, how many hours do you make your teamwork? No, that's not the point. I don't count hours. It's not about that. We're a very results focused group. Like I said, you know, we have this commitment to being very efficient. We are decentralized, which means that my team is all over the country. You know, we offer the very highest level of health insurance covering that at a very high level for dependence and a very broad definition of what dependence means. You know, we recognize FMLA rules, even though we don't have to, because we're small. And you know, I think even more so than just the benefits package, I really prioritize professional development for all levels of my staff. It doesn't matter if you're kind of an aspiring leader or a rank and file, everyone deserves to feel confident in the job that they're delivering, plus atlas' members deserve that. So I think that my goal here is not just to write past wrongs. I mean, there's nothing I can do about that. I think we're in a new era and, you know, certainly technology helps us accomplish these cool things in terms of culture, but I also want to be able to attract literally anyone that I think would be a stellar contributor in terms of serving atlas' members. I really just want to create the kind of workplace that if I need to hire somebody, I will never be out at the market hoping and praying that I get somebody great. I'm going to be able to attract great people. It's what my members deserve. It's what my existing staff deserves. And I think that as a result of all of this effort, we have really, really loyal team members who are just as committed to helping atlas grow as I am. Yeah. And Christina, a couple of things on that too, is number one, in terms of leadership, right? A lot of us look at our peer group and we figure out what everyone else is doing and we just do it. The fact that you said, hey, if I'm ever in charge, I can make my own rules, right? And you're a thought leader because you're saying, I don't necessarily have to do. Of course, I'm going to learn from peers, but there might be some things that I can do different based on my own experience as a career person and make it a better environment. So that's fantastic as a leader to do that. And you touched on something really important, which is talent retention because that's hard. People don't realize attraction and retention. So your style of leadership allows you to recruit from all over, allows you to have a dispersed team and that stickiness. And I do remember hearing you say when you spoke at the exchange that you are perfectly okay with this culture isn't for everybody and just admitting that and being willing to say, you know what, it may not work for all people and just being honest about what the culture is and what the right talent is to be in that culture. So I think that's great. Yeah. That was very inspiring. Thank you. I mean, like, I always say people think they want to work for me and they think they want to work at Atlas, but it does take a certain kind of personality, a very self-directed person and it might not be for everyone. That's okay because there's plenty of associations that do it a more traditional way. And so if this system is a little too loosey-goosey or if you need a little bit more structure, I get that. Absolutely. So let's talk about some of the work you've done recently. In January, you launched a new credential for the industry, which is a huge step for your membership and a lot of hard work. So talk a little bit about what that experience, excuse me, was like developing a credentialing program from scratch. Yeah. I mean, I had to start with the market research, right, Christine? Because I couldn't just go barreling into a meeting and say, "Hey, I think I have a good idea." You know, I'll now say to my board members that this was an idea that I had during the interview process, but I needed the data to back it up. And so we partnered with an executive MBA team that took this on as their capstone project and did the market research for us. Okay. Yeah, it was wonderful. I needed to have the funding because as a young organization, we don't have a deep piggy bank of reserves that I can dip into. So we went to a private foundation, the Edward E. Ford Foundation here in the independent school space. They graciously funded it. I was so grateful for that because they saw the value because I had the data. So then we went out to our volunteers, you know, with the data in hand that the marketplace needed this with the funding from E.E. Ford. We went to our volunteer community. They stepped up in a huge way, got very excited about it, which meant that they could see the potential of this. And we had this thing stood up in less than a year from the time that we announced it. So ultimately, what we're trying to do is, you know, because of what I said earlier, technology leadership is not simply IT boxes and wires. There's a strategy and a whole set of the job domains that have expanded in recent years. We want to make sure our credential captures all of that so that when heads of school are hiring for technology positions, they know they're getting the right person. So it's very much similar to the CAE. If somebody has a CAE after your name, you know, folks know what that means. That was our goal. I love that. And it's so great in the recruitment environment, as you said, is making sure someone's done the work to have that certification to be the appropriate hire. So that's fantastic. Let's pivot to another initiative. So we want to talk about your access points, which is your award winning print magazine. We've talked before in interviews about how you see that as your top marketing piece and investment in the industry. So a lot of people are moving away from print. Tell us why you're going all in on print. Well, I mean, I started this interview by explaining my bias, right? Yes, of course. I love print mags. And I just think that it is quite literally the best marketing collateral you could hope for. We send it to everyone. This is not a membership benefit. Anyone who wants the magazine can get it. And who throws out magazines? Like if it crosses an assistance desk or the mailroom, you know, people often think that magazines are a paid collateral and so they don't throw it away the way they would if it was a postcard. And so really, I just, I think that it gets to the right desk, it gets to the right eyeballs, and we at Atlas get to control the messages. Again, we're so young, we have to communicate the heads of school and business officers and technology teams, why we exist and what the value is that we bring to the table. So while we're still growing, this is the literal best microphone we could have. And so I think it's a great investment. It's our number one, I mean, it's not a cheap date. We all know that print is not easy. It takes a lot of work. It takes a lot of investment and it's expensive to send. But honestly, technology leaders stories deserve to be told. We celebrate our community and we celebrate their successes. And so when that lands on the desk of their head of school or their business CFO, business officer and CFO, it's a big deal for them. So it's really a wonderful mouthpiece, a great celebration. And it's a commitment that I think is worth it. And I think it's short sighted to overlook that just because of cost. Yeah, and shockingly enough, print is made a little bit of a comeback. And ironically, during COVID, and I think the reason why, too, we're also inundated with interruptions throughout the day on our devices, on our computers, the pop-ups, the notifications. It still remains the one medium that you have control of. If you're reading it, nothing can interrupt you unless you allow it to. And there's something to be said for that. As you know, Christina, print can be offset by advertising, which is great, too. So the cost can be offset in the right environment as well. So I'm glad you're leaning into print. We see a lot of success with programs and I'm a strong believer of print as well. Me too. I'm never going to let it go. Yeah, good. Because you and I both will be the last ones hanging on to the print, right? Keeping the post office and business. So that's right. Yeah. Let's talk a little bit about partnerships. So you do a standout job, Alice does a stand-up job of offering vendors the ability to customize their support in a way that's targeted to their goals. So talk about this approach and how it creates a win-win for the association through Nondu's revenue in your partners. Yeah. Look, we have a very happy problem to have. And that is that vendors are quite literally asking, how can we spend more money with Atlas? They are ready to book and commit before we can even decide what to offer them, honestly. So a huge credit goes to our really thoughtful community because, you know, our tech leaders are so disciplined and they're very informed buyers. They want to do right by their students. They want to do right by their hard-working faculty, you know, so they take buying really seriously and they know how important these technology investments are. So our booths are never empty at Atlas conferences. Like, it's like a non-stop networking event. We put our table tops right in the same room where the general session is happening, where, you know, the networking events are happening because it's just a non-stop interaction. There's no table between them, if you know what I mean, like it's not like they go from booth to booth to get a stamp on a card. They're really there to learn and be informed buyers. And so, you know, we've moved away from bundles because I think that vendors, each vendor has a different marketing goal and who am I to tell them what they need, right? So we sort of create this menu and the more they spend, the higher we recognize them. It's a pretty simple system. Like don't make them pay for stuff they don't want or they don't need. I think that resonates with our members too because then they see, you know, that the sponsors and the vendors are having a great experience, they're spending their money in a way that they find is useful to the industry. So really, we do look at it like a partnership. We have a lot of thought leadership type opportunities that don't cost our vendors anything because we know how many schools they're working with and we want their feedback and that, you know, we want them to contribute what they're seeing and hearing out there in the space. So, you know, really, we look at our vendors as partners and it has become a healthy interaction with our vendors. That's great. Thank you for sharing that because I do think it's important. I mean, at the end of the day, yes, we're vendors, but we just talked about this today in an internal meeting that a vendor can be a strategic partner and it sounds like you're doing a really good job at creating that. And it does make them feel that there's value add, not just a relationship with a transaction at the end of it. Yeah. And Christine, I'm sure that's because I started in magazines, right? Like I, yes, I needed the advertisers, but also the advertisers had great stories to tell. So I think because I started where I started, I can see the forest through the trees a little bit that it really works better when it's an equal partnership. I couldn't agree more. Well, Christina, we've learned a lot about your leadership style. So it's the second time I'm hearing a little bit more that and it's equally inspiring, how you do more with less in terms of staff, your innovative way of running your day-to-day operations, your mindset around partnerships versus vendors, there's just been so much in that. I appreciate you sharing that because I know a lot of people can learn as I have done. One of my favorite questions. So when I started this podcast, I always like to ask like a personal question. And I started this at the very first episode and what we ask is, can you offer a book? The reading list has been amazing and it's very amazing and now I'm sharing some of this. So I want to hear what you're going to recommend to our listeners on book recommendations, please. Yeah. Some of your previous guests have stolen some of my favorites, but I will share the most recent thing that I read. I picked up Dr. Anthony Fauci's memoir, On Call, A Doctor's Journey and Public Service. And Dr. Fauci, he probably wouldn't consider himself a business leader, but there were so many business leadership lessons baked into that in terms of how to stay calm in a crisis, how to remain apolitical during a challenging situation, how to operate based on your personal value system, regardless of all the noise around you. I literally tore through that book and I found so many nuggets that apply to the association management space. Yeah. And you know, what's so great, Christina, is there's so many books that you might not think of right away, but that's a great example of, okay, here's, you know, the CDC director, what are we going to learn in business? But one of the most important things and especially coming out of COVID is how do you stay calm during a crisis? Because the tone you set as a leader, it is a waste to the organization. And if it's panic and chaos, guess what? Your company's going to look like? But if it's calm, you find that that's the beacon in the storm to lead you out of a crisis. So that's a really great one. And we'll share that on LinkedIn as well. So how can our listeners follow you and stay connected with you? What's the best way to do that? I'm a LinkedIn girl. So come connect. I don't always keep up with that inbox over there. I try, but definitely connect with me on LinkedIn. Fantastic. Christina, this has been a great episode. I really value what you're doing for the association space and technology as well. And appreciate your willingness to share some of your leadership lessons. So thank you. Thank you for hosting this and thank you for inviting me. Thank you for listening to the Association Advisor podcast brought to you by Naylor Association Solutions. If you'd like to access more resources to serve your association needs or join our newsletter, you can visit our website at naylor.com or just click the links in the show notes of this episode. Please be sure to follow us on your favorite podcast listening app like Spotify, Apple, or wherever you listen to your podcast so you won't miss an episode. Also, I'd love to hear from my listeners directly. Feel free to email me at Christine chrystianny.shaw@naylor.com. Until next time, we at Naylor are wishing your association success. (upbeat music)
