You’ve achieved great things. Now, navigate what comes next.
After a successful decades-long career, you’re in the unfamiliar position of answering what now?
It’s thrilling. Invigorating. And a bit daunting.
The Experienced Leaders Initiative (ELI) is an immersive program designed to guide you through the I-could-be-retired-but-still-have-so-much-to-give transition—with purpose, connectedness, generativity, experimentation, and impact at its core.
You are capable of anything post retirement. Why not become a Yale ELI Fellow?
ELI will connect you with a cohort of exceptional leaders for six months of learning led by Yale University faculty and global experts in next-era transitions. Dynamic and revelatory, this experience will create the space, support, and wisdom to help you uncover your motivations, your purpose, and hammer out the possibilities ahead.
Who am I? What do I want to do now? What does the world need now that I am most qualified to deliver?What will be my legacy? How do I action my next move?
ELI will help you answer these existential questions.
Come with your unique experience and willingness to explore exciting future pathways. Leave filled with purpose, and an enduring network of Yale ELI Fellows.
Program Dates
Registration closes: November 21, 2025
Start date: February 02, 2026
Program Details
Length: 6 months
Fee: $27,000 – Fee includes lodging and most meals during on-campus modules.
Outcome: Confidently enter your next chapter with clear direction and an effective plan for how to move from aspiration to action.
Application opens July 2025.
Priority Deadline: August 22, 2025
Application Closes: November 21, 2025
Virtual Orientation: January 26, 2026
Module 1: February 2–5, 2026 (on campus)
Module 2: February 10–June 16, 2026 (live online sessions on Tuesdays from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m.)
Module 3: June 22–24, 2026 (on campus)
Contact: Joanne Legler, Senior Director of Learning Partnerships
About the Program
What to Expect
- Emerge ready for a new chapter with clear direction and an effective plan for how to move from aspiration to action.
- Deepen your understanding of your purpose, motivations, and long-term goals—especially as related to this stage of life.
- Gain exposure to a range of possible future paths.
- Develop connections to a vibrant, exceptional ELI Fellows community who share your values and questions.
Who Should Attend
You should apply to be an ELI Fellow if you are:
- Transitioning out of your primary career and committed to using your wisdom, curiosity, expertise, and skills toward a meaningful next chapter.
- Seeking a thoughtful exploration of this new stage of life.
- Hungry for a community of like-minded, intellectually curious peers who share similar challenges and aspirations.
A Dynamic Learning Experience
ELI’s unique approach strikes an ideal balance between the flexibility of online learning and the richness of the on-campus Yale experience. Your six-month learning experience begins and ends with three-day immersions on campus. In between, you’ll engage in a dynamic blend of self-directed learning, asynchronous content, and live online sessions with faculty and facilitators from Yale.
Building Connections for Life
Whether in person or virtual, you’ll form enriching relationships that support your growth throughout and after the program. Through close peer collaboration on individual and group projects, digital spaces for exchanging ideas, opportunities for discussion during live online sessions, and faculty office hours, you’ll gain valuable feedback that uncovers fresh insights and deepens your learning.
Curriculum Pillars
Looking Inward
Recharging the growth mindset that’s gotten you this far, ELI helps you reimagine you, in your next stage of life. Dive deep into what drives you, what you value, and where you want to go. Embrace this new chapter as a chance to keep exploring and evolving into your best self.
Key themes:
- Longevity
- Purpose
- Connection
- Generativity
Looking Outward
Whether you're driven by a desire to create change on a local or global scale, ELI guides you through purposeful experimentation to help you discover the most meaningful ways to contribute. Explore how others have carved their paths forward to inspire your personal impact project and align your actions with your purpose.
Key themes:
- Changemaking
- Experimentation
- Everyday Leadership
Moving Forward
Clarify your vision for the future and build an action plan for channeling your renewed purpose into tangible next steps. Your new tools, insights, and inspiration provide the direction and momentum to confidently navigate this transition.
Key themes:
- Resilience
- Renewal
- Unpacking Transition
- Transition Skills and Opportunities
Select Projects
Future Visioning Group Project
Imagine the world two decades from now—how might society evolve? What innovations will reshape our lives? What challenges may we face? Collaborating as a team, you’ll explore a selected topic by synthesizing insights from leading experts to construct potential scenarios for the future. This is an opportunity to connect meaningfully with your cohort, expand your perspective, and think boldly about the world we’re shaping.
Designing Your Impact Project
Envision what impact looks like to you in this next stage of life, then activate it. Through a series of exploratory conversations with changemakers, you’ll refine and enhance that idea into an actionable plan. In the culminating weeks of the program, you'll take tangible steps to pilot your initiative. One-on-one consultations with the faculty director provide expert coaching to ensure you emerge with a clear roadmap for turning aspiration into reality. This experience is tailored to your specific goals and what you deem manageable yet motivating to propel you forward with pragmatic, sustainable momentum.
Reflective Writing
Deepen self-discovery through reflective writing sessions and exercises woven throughout the program. Guided prompts encourage you to question perspectives, explore new depths of thinking, and actively engage with program material. You’ll receive feedback from peers to spark breakthrough moments of self-realization and further your personal growth.
Faculty Director
Marc Freedman, Yale SOM '84
Lecturer in the Practice of Management
Read the full bio
Marc Freedman is Co-CEO and Founder of CoGenerate (formerly Encore.org), and the author of five books. The Wall Street Journal named his most recent book—How to Live Forever: The Enduring Power of Connecting the Generations—one of the year’s best books on aging well. An accomplished social entrepreneur, he was selected as a Social Entrepreneur of the Year by the Schwab Foundation/World Economic Forum; is a winner of the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship; and is an Ashoka Senior Fellow. He was previously a visiting scholar at the Stanford Center on Longevity. Originator of the encore career idea linking second acts to the greater good, Freedman co-founded Experience Corps, the Purpose Prize, and Encore Fellowships.
Faculty
Faculty and lecturers are subject to change.
Heidi Brooks
Senior Lecturer in Organizational Behavior
Areas of Expertise: Leadership, Organizational Behavior, Workplace Issues
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Heidi Brooks teaches and advises on the subject of everyday leadership: the everyday micro-moments of impact that shape our lived experiences. Creating more courageous communities—especially within organizations—is a particular passion of hers. Dr. Brooks specializes in large-scale culture change projects focused on individual and collective leadership effectiveness in organizations. Interpersonal Dynamics, the MBA elective she has taught for 15 years, is one of the courses most in demand at the Yale School of Management (SOM). Recently, Dr. Brooks pioneered the Everyday Leadership course at Yale SOM, where she first taught the Principles of Everyday Leadership. She has also taught Emotional Intelligence, Power & Politics, Managing Teams and Groups, and Coaching Skills for Managers. Dr. Brooks received her doctorate in psychology from the University of California at Berkeley and a bachelor’s degree from Brown University. A life-long experiential learner, you can find her as a student in classrooms as far-ranging as improvisational theater and immersion language lessons.
Rodrigo Canales
Kelli Questrom Associate Professor of Management and Faculty Director, Social Impact Program at the Boston University Questrom School of Business; former Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Yale School of Management
Areas of Expertise: Economic Development, Emerging Markets, Entrepreneurship, Globalization, Organizational Behavior, Social Enterprise
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Rodrigo Canales does research at the intersection of organizational theory and institutional theory, with a special interest in the role of institutions for economic development. Rodrigo studies how individuals can purposefully change complex organizations or systems. Rodrigo's work explores how individuals’ backgrounds, professional identities, and organizational positions affect how they relate to existing structures and the strategies they pursue to change them. His work contributes to a deeper understanding of the mechanisms that allow institutions to operate and change. Rodrigo has done work in entrepreneurial finance and microfinance, as well as in the institutional implications of the Mexican war on drugs. His current research is divided into three streams. The first focuses on the structural determinants of the quality of startup employment. The second explores the conditions under which development policies and practices integrate rigorous evidence. The third, with generous support from the Merida Initiative, explores how to build effective, resilient, and trusted police organizations in Mexico.
Rodrigo is faculty director of Questrom’s Social Impact Program. Before, he was Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Yale School of Management, where he taught the Innovator Perspective. He sits on the advisory board of the Dalai Lama Center for Ethics and Transformative Values at MIT; he spent the 2014-2015 academic year advising the Mexican government on the US-Mexico bilateral relationship; and sits on the Board of Trustees of the Nature Conservancy.
Matthew Croasmun
Associate Research Scholar and Director of the Life Worth Living Program, Yale Divinity School
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Matthew Croasmun is the author of five books including the New York Times bestseller, Life Worth Living: A Guide to What Matters Most (2023, with Miroslav Volf and Ryan McAnnally-Linz), For the Life of the World: Theology that Makes a Difference (2019, with Miroslav Volf) and The Emergence of Sin: The Cosmic Tyrant in Romans (2017). He serves as Senior Lecturer of Divinity and Humanities and director of the Life Worth Living program at the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School. He is an ordained Vineyard pastor, having served as the founding pastor of the Elm City Vineyard Church in New Haven, CT.
He received his BA in Music from Yale College, an MAR in Bible from Yale Divinity School, and a PhD in Religious Studies (New Testament) from Yale University. In 2015, he was awarded the Manfred Lautenschläger Award for Theological Promise.
Matthew has preached in Vineyard, Covenant, Presbyterian, Methodist, Episcopal and non-denominational churches in the United States, Dominican Republic, Switzerland, Germany, and Ghana. Rooted in the Christian church, much of Matthew’s work operates at the boundaries of religious and ideological identity, helping diverse communities ask the big questions of life across important and enduring lines of difference.
Stephanie Dunson
Lecturer in Management
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Stephanie Dunson is an award-winning scholar and a collaborative process specialist whose experience spans the academic and business worlds. Over her thirty-year career, she’s gained an international reputation as a writing process expert, leading workshops at major universities (Yale, George Washington University, University of London), speaking at leading colleges (Amherst, Wellesley, WPI), and coaching faculty from top programs (Johns Hopkins, Brown, University of Lausanne). Her development as a team thinking expert is grounded in her work as a consultant for the Bard College Institute for Writing and Thinking and continued within academia through her tenure as Director of Writing Programs at Williams College.
She was drawn to corporate work because of persistent interest from the business world, where the same challenges and objectives her approach addresses in academic settings are relevant—are in fact pressing—at all levels of management: the need to get groups of people to collaborate critically on resolving complex problems, the necessity of getting individuals to move past common attitudes and assumptions to uncover original ideas of substance, the urgency of making allowances for and making meaningful use of diverse and even divergent viewpoints, and the rewards of cultivating a culture of inquiry, support, and respect that encourages substantive change.
Her earlier work as an American Studies scholar garnered awards from the Ford and Mellon Foundations, and her scholarship on race representation has most recently appeared in Beyond Blackface: African-Americans and the Creation of American Popular Culture. But for the past five years, she’s focused her energies primarily on working as a corporate facilitator and advising faculty at the Yale School of Management. She also hosts the podcast 100 Mistakes Academic Writers Make…and How to Fix Them and has been featured in a promotional film for reMarkable.
Becca Levy
Professor of Epidemiology, Yale School of Public Health and
Professor of Psychology, Yale University
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Dr. Levy's research explores psychosocial factors that influence older individuals’ cognitive and physical functioning, as well as their longevity. She is credited with creating a field of study that focuses on how positive and negative age stereotypes, which are assimilated from the culture, can have beneficial and adverse effects, respectively, on the health of older individuals. Her studies have been conducted by longitudinal, experimental, and cross-cultural methods.
She has received numerous awards for her research including a Brookdale National Fellowship for Leadership in Aging, the Baltes Distinguished Research Achievement Award from the American Psychological Association, the Richard Kalish Innovative Publication Award from the Gerontological Society of America and the Ewald W. Busse Research Award in the Social Behavioral Sciences from the International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics that is given once every four years. She is an Associate Editor of the Handbook of Psychology of Aging, a consulting editor for Psychology and Aging, is on the founding editorial board of Stigma and Health, and serves on the editorial boards of GeroPsych and Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Science.
Dr. Levy has given invited testimony before the United States Senate on the effects of ageism and contributed to briefs submitted to the United States Supreme Court in age-discrimination cases.
She received her PhD in psychology from Harvard University and held a National Institute on Aging postdoctoral fellowship at the Division of Aging and Department of Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
Her research has been supported by the National Institute on Aging, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, the National Science Foundation, and The Patrick and Catherine Weldon Donaghue Medical Research Foundation.
Laurie Santos
Chandrika and Ranjan Tandon Professor of Psychology, Yale University
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Dr. Laurie Santos is an expert on the science of happiness and host of The Happiness Lab podcast. Her Yale course, "Psychology and the Good Life," teaches students how the science of psychology can provide important hints about how to make wiser choices and live a life that’s happier and more fulfilling. Her course recently became Yale’s most popular course in over 300 years, with almost one out of four students at Yale enrolled. Her course has been featured in numerous news outlets including the New York Times, NBC Nightly News, The Today Show, GQ Magazine, Slate and O! Magazine. A winner of numerous awards both for her science and teaching, she was recently voted as one of Popular Science Magazine’s “Brilliant 10” young minds and was named in Time Magazine as a “Leading Campus Celebrity.” Her podcast, The Happiness Lab, has over 100 million downloads.
Emma Seppälä
Lecturer in Management
Areas of Expertise: Positive Leadership, Emotional Intelligence, Well-being, Social Connection
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Emma Seppälä, Ph.D., is a best-selling author, Yale lecturer, and international keynote speaker. She teaches executives at the Yale School of Management and is faculty director of the Yale School of Management’s Women’s Leadership Program. A psychologist and research scientist by training, her expertise is the science of happiness, emotional intelligence, and social connection. Her best-selling book, The Happiness Track (HarperOne, 2016), has been translated into dozens of languages. Seppälä is also the Science Director of Stanford University’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education.
David Tate
Assistant Clinical Professor in Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine
Lecturer, Yale School of Management
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David C. Tate is a licensed clinical psychologist, professionally certified coach, and organizational consultant. He is Principal at Tate Consulting Group, a boutique consultancy that focuses on executive coaching and leadership advising, team design and development, family-owned and closely held enterprises, and promoting healthy organizational development. David has worked with leaders and senior managers in healthcare, financial services, manufacturing, distribution, publishing, media/design, education, technology, and construction.
David is an Assistant Clinical Professor in Psychiatry at Yale University, where he received the 2013 Distinguished Faculty Award. He is a Lecturer at the Yale School of Management, where he teaches within both the graduate and executive education programs. He also coaches global leaders within the Yale Greenberg World Fellows Program. He is an author of Sink or Swim: How Lessons from the Titanic Can Save Your Family Business and the forthcoming book, Conscious Accountability: Deepen Connections, Elevate Results.
David received his BS at Cornell University and his PhD in clinical psychology at the University of Virginia. He completed pre- and post-doctoral fellowships at Yale University before joining the faculty. He earned a Certificate in Family Business Advising from the Family Firm Institute, where he is a Fellow. He is a graduate of the Executive Coaching Academy and has completed additional coaching certification through the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching. He earned the designation of Professionally Certified Coach from the International Coach Federation.
ELI Advisory Board
The ELI Advisory Board brings a wealth of experience and wisdom to fuel ELI’s success. Their guidance ensures that ELI fellows gain the clarity, tools, and support to navigate their next chapter. Learn more about its members
Application Information
Program Details
Application opens July 2025.
Priority Deadline: August 22, 2025
Application Closes: November 21, 2025
Virtual Orientation: January 26, 2026
Module 1: February 2–5, 2026 (on campus)
Module 2: February 10–June 16, 2026 (live online sessions on Tuesdays from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m.)
Module 3: June 22–24, 2026 (on campus)
Location: Live online and on campus
Program Fee: $27,000 – Fee includes lodging and most meals for on-campus modules.
Contact: Joanne Legler, Senior Director of Learning Partnerships
How to Apply
The application requires participants to submit a current CV/resume and complete three short-answer questions:
- What is your motivation for applying to the Experienced Leaders Initiative? What are your goals for participating?
- How do you envision the program playing a part in your future direction?
- Tell us something unique about yourself. What will you contribute to your cohort?
All application materials must be submitted through the application form. Please do not mail any materials to Executive Education.
If admitted, you will be required to submit the program fee within 30 days of admission to secure your seat.
Application Process
- Maximum consideration will be given to complete applications received by the priority deadline of August 22, 2025. Applications may be submitted at any time up until November 21, 2025. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling and space-available basis after the priority deadline. We suggest you apply as soon as possible to ensure that if admitted, you have sufficient time to prepare for your participation in the program.
- Before you apply, please review the information on this page related to program dates, fees, and on-campus and live online attendance requirements to ensure you are able to attend the required modules and complete the program.
- Proficiency in written and spoken English is essential for the completion of course assignments and active engagement.
Program Fee Assistance
Yale SOM Executive Education offers a 15% reduction in program fee for:
- Those who work in the nonprofit sector. (Apply NONPROFIT code at time of registration.)
- Those who work in government. (Apply GOV code at time of registration.)
- Yale University alumni. (Apply YALEGRAD code at time of registration.)
- Groups of 3-6 participants. Groups can be from an organization or be self-formed.
- Those who have previously participated in a Yale Executive Education program with Yale SOM or 2U/GetSmarter.
Discounts cannot be combined.
Refund & Cancellation
Refunds are allowed for live online and in-person programs if requested in writing to the Yale Executive Education Registrar. The Yale Executive Education Cancellation Terms are as follows:
| Request for change in registration/cancellation | Refund provided |
|---|---|
| 30 days, or more, prior to Program start date | 100% Program Fee Refund Provided |
| 15-29 days prior to Program start date | 50% Program Fee Refund Provided |
| 14 days, or less, prior to Program start date | No Refund Provided |
Yale reserves the right to cancel or reschedule programs if enrollment is deemed insufficient or health and safety would otherwise be jeopardized. Yale School of Management is not responsible for any travel or incidental costs incurred by a registrant if a program becomes canceled. If a program is canceled by Yale, a full refund of fees paid will be processed within 30 days.
While it is our goal to deliver our programs as scheduled, we may postpone programs, deliver them online, or cancel them. If one of our programs has a scheduling change, we will notify those affected as soon as possible.
Webinars
