January 24-28, 2027

Hotel de la Ville
Rome, Italy

We invite Heads and Spouses of CESA Member of Council and Candidate Schools to five days of leadership development in Rome, Italy, where we will explore the extraordinary impact Rome has had on today’s world through economics, art, politics, engineering, religion, and so many other aspects of the ecosystem in which our schools exist.

Drawing on Paul’s revolutionary letter to the Romans, we will consider how we can leverage the lessons of historic Rome in today’s New Renaissance to build resilient schools that will impact communities and culture for generations to come.

    Head’s registration includes:

    • Four nights’ accommodations (single room)
      at Hotel de la Ville, a five-star hotel near the
      Spanish Steps
    • Course modules led by extraordinary leaders
      from across industries
    • Opening reception and dinner
    • A private opening of the Vatican Museums
      and Sistine Chapel, including an “apericena”
      (somewhere between a dinner buffet and
      heavy appetizers) in the Vatican, and a
      docent-guided tour curated for our learning
    • Breakfast and lunch daily
    • Visit to Marymount International School of
      Rome
    • Much, much more

    Total Cost: $5,000

    Spouse’s registration includes:

    • Private Vatican Tour and apericena
    • Breakfast daily
    • Meetings and tea led by Lisa Giller
    • Opening dinner and reception
    • Accommodations (double room)

    Total Cost: $1,250

    Next Steps:

    • Secure your spot with a $1000 deposit by April 1, 2026 ($250
      deposit for spouses)
    • Full tuition due August 1, 2026
    • Registration opens for Heads on January 21, 2026. If space
      remains on April 1, 2026, we will open up registration to
      Aspiring Heads.

    Speakers

    Alistair Bullen

    Founder and Director of ABA, a creative agency; Leadership consultant, McKinsey.

    The impact of Rome on the arc of history is hard to overstate. Drawing on the rich and sometimes tragic contributions of ancient Rome on architecture, engineering, leadership structures, and religion, Alistair will help us consider what we can learn from the growth and eventual fall of Rome, and Paul’s missionary journey throughout the Roman Empire as we lead our schools today.

    Bishop Graham Tomlin

    Director of the Centre for Cultural Witness, based in Lambeth Palace, and President of St Mellitus College (Oxford); Former Bishop of Kensington

    Leading through the New Renaissance in which we live presents both ample opportunities and challenges. Bishop Tomlin will help equip us to lead through this Renaissance by exploring the parallels of the first Renaissance—an age associated with Columbus, Copernicus, Gutenberg, among others— when older understandings of the world were overturned, communication became more widely accessible, and extraordinary cultural and intellectual progress followed. At the same time, that era confronted the destabilizing effects of accelerated change: widening social rifts, political extremism, insecurity, pandemics, and other unintended outcomes of discovery.

    Sara Louise Martin

    Faith Driven Entrepreneur Director of Europe, Middle East, and North Africa

    Sara Louise has deep experience and a passion for building strategic ecosystems focused on impact-driven startups. In her session, she will help us learn from the myriad high-impact, faith-driven organizations she works with at Faith Drive Entrepreneurs and Impact Central, as she aims to help Christian leaders scale effectively in the New Renaissance. With a special focus on the role of AI, Sara Louise will equip us to lead into the future faithfully.

    Elizabeth Lev

    Art Historian, Professor Duquesne University

    Elizabeth Lev is a transplanted US art historian with degrees from University of Chicago and University of Bologna. She has been working as a guide in Rome for over 20 years. Ms. Lev will help us see our intellectual journey through the magnificent art of Rome. After her session, we will experience a curated journey through the Vatican museums, ending in a private viewing of the Sistine Chapel.