Dissatisfied with the status quo, our mission is to ignite a tipping point within schools and colleges resulting in broader buy-in, increased commitment, and systemic change. Our commitment to redefining professional development is rooted in a deep understanding of change management and the challenges facing education today. We believe that you have the potential to be a catalyst for positive change, while also acknowledging we are never a prophet in our own land. We believe that every educator, administrator, and support staff member deserves access to high-quality professional learning opportunities that inspire growth and advance true student success. To be effective, we believe professional development should not be one-and-done. We believe that shared experiences, over time, are critical to advancing local dialog and institutional planning. Through hybrid-flexible learning, dynamic speakers, follow-up coaching, and collaborative planning, we are revolutionizing the way educators engage in professional development. Our approach is designed to be flexible, personalized, and relevant to the unique needs of each individual and educational community we serve. We amplify your message to create a brighter future for all learners. We are professional development redefined.

Neither, actually. Catapult replaces generic webinars and ineffective professional development with a relevant master class for either the entire institution or a progressive Team of 3. It is not a seminar. It is not a webinar. It is not a conference. It is a meaningful shared experience. Engage with the absolute best subject matter experts in America resulting in strategic action. Dynamic industry thought leaders deliver virtual keynote presentations to all employees at your institution (or a Team of 3) plus a tailored coaching/Q&A session just for your local implementation planning team. Leverage the best research on leadership & professional development to ensure germane content, captivating orators, meaningful reflection, customized tactical playbooks, cohort-based learning, and relevant action planning. We're all tired of PD that doesn't move the needle. It's time to move your entire institution forward with intention.

Because we actually want to facilitate learning and make a significant impact. 1-4 day conferences pack too much content in a short duration. With multiple pages of notes and an overflowing Inbox, inaction and paralysis is the familiar result. Just like our classes that we provide to students, Catapult ensures our rich professional development schedule facilitates time for reflection and meaningful dialog over time. With keynotes and coupled coaching calls spaced out over the term, there is ample time to digest the content, reflect on local application, convene and debrief with key stakeholders, and take the right sequential step(s) forward with intentionality. Four masterclass offerings include “CTE Recruitment & Marketing,” "Career Readiness," "Work Based Learning" and "Instructional Excellence."

So glad you asked. We are all tired of one-and-done inspirational trainings without actionable nuggets, accountability, or even a simple follow-up. Repeatedly we’ve experienced that a motivational webinar or keynote without intentional follow-through often goes nowhere. That's why Catapult brings local coaching to address local issues by the best Subject Matter Experts and Industry Thought Leaders in the nation. After each dynamic keynote address, a separate institution-specific, executive coaching session (or group Team Q&A session) is scheduled with the presenter to identify tailored tactics to propel your institution forward. Dynamic keynotes and coaching/Q&A sessions will result in the right strategies at the right time to actually move the needle incrementally and intentionally in the right direction. For Institutional Licenses, the 30-minute coaching calls are conveniently scheduled with your locally identified Implementation Team (comprised of 2-8 individuals). For Teams of 3, the 30-minute group Q&A session will be scheduled and announced prior to each scheduled keynote.

The keynotes speakers are not only subject matter experts, they are also commanding and brilliant orators. Catapult speakers frequently keynote at (inter)national conferences. They are very experienced in motivating and persuading a wide variety of audiences including teachers/faculty, administrators, counselors, and staff. The Catapult model brings the 'best of the best' to the local level since not everyone can attend or participate in national conferences. For Teams of 3: The keynotes are accessible only to the 3 registered individuals. See the Teams of 3 webpage for recommendations on participants within each masterclass. For Institutional Licenses: The keynotes are for ALL employees at your site: Everyone from your elected Board members to the custodian team. Unlike other professional development offerings, there is no maximum headcount; Catapult is a site license for your entire institution. This will make it exponentially easier and more effective for local leadership and CTE advocates to make progress and move the needle with everyone motivated and on board. Everyone at your institution will also receive the custom Catapult Playbook to engage the material, facilitate true learning, and expedite future implementation.

To maximize engagement and learning, each Catapult series comes with a custom, fillable PDF Playbook tailored to accompany every keynote speaker. Your colleagues will be able to follow along, take pertinent notes, extract the main points, engage the suggested work, practice with relevant activities, respond to meaningful reflection prompts, and begin tactical planning and goal-setting for both them individually and for the institution at-large. This is a significant evolution in the way we typically consume professional development. The Playbooks can also be collected for Continuing Education Units, outcome assessments, or grant records/documentation. For Institutional Licenses: The local implementation team may also utilize the Playbook during their dedicated coaching calls.

You ask very good questions! For Institutional Licenses, the Implementation team is comprised of 2-8 people locally identified. They will have exclusive access to a 30-minute coaching call with each speaker and should be the linchpins in either advancing (or blocking) your institutional progress. For the “CTE Recruitment & Marketing” masterclass, we suggest the following key stakeholders: CTE Coordinator/Director/Dean, Public Information Officer, Social Media & Digital Media person, Key Faculty/Teacher/Department Chair, Outreach coordinator, representative Career/Guidance Counselor. For the "Career Readiness" masterclass, we suggest the following key stakeholders: Career/Guidance/General Counselors, CTE Coordinator/Director/Dean, Career Services Director, Career Center staff, Lead Teacher or Department Chair, Internship/WBL coordinator, Student Services personnel. For the "Work Based Learning" series, we suggest the Implementation team includes: Instructional/Curriculum Leader, CTE Coordinator/Director/Dean, Work Experience Instructor/Coordinator, (Youth) Apprenticeship Coordinator, Career Center leadership and staff, Industry Advisory Board convener, Internship Coordinator. (Implementation Team structure is N/A for the "Instructional Excellence" masterclass. All participants shall be invited to a Q&A session with each speaker.)

No. To ensure a tailored experience in this cohort-based master class, participation is capped for only 15 institutions across the nation within each series. Registration is first-come, first-served secured by a signed contract or purchase order. After we reach capacity, you may be added to the waiting list for the series when it is repeated the following year. A 20% deposit secures your spot in a subsequent series.

We want to help you advance forward; so there is a little wiggle room in this designation. The 2-8 individuals on the Implementation Team should really help to define your “institution” so that the coaching calls are helpful to a specific site/area. Possible models include: An individual university, college, or high school; A centrally-coordinated district with a few sites; A Regional Training Center (Regional Occupational Programs); A rural consortium of schools that share the coaching call; or 1 High School + 1 College that share a tight geography and shared population.

We provide pre and post assessments for the implementation team members and all participants, and also survey all participants at the end of every masterclass. We post our Outcomes completely and transparently on our home page. Plus, for each series we have identified specific learning outcomes which are documented in each Catapult Playbook and in our Prospectus.

Absolutely. One our biggest challenge is to change outdated perceptions and reverse long-held stigmas. So the first masterclass launched focused on CTE recruitment and marketing to increase interest in CTE pathways, assist in filling our programs, and to assist local enrollment management planning efforts. The second series we offered focused on Work Based Learning and it convened the best thought leaders in America to discuss shrinking the skills gap while increasing work ethic and career-connected learning. The third masterclass introduced is of broad interest to K-16 institutions: Career Readiness. It focuses on career development approaches, the future of work, and best preparing our students to have a competitive advantage upon graduation. And...can you keep a secret? The fourth masterclass in development will be a slightly different model...and it will be of particular interest to teachers and faculty in the classroom focusing on "Instructional Excellence." You are not going to want to miss any of these! We encourage institutions to plan ahead and include each Catapult masterclass into your PD proposals, Perkins plans, and grant budgets/work plans a year in advance. Your colleagues deserve the best professional development possible. Let us do all the heavy lifting for you.

Isn't it frustrating when companies and vendors don't publish their pricing? The Catapult team understands that you want to make informed decisions for your colleagues (and for yourself), and that you have specific budgets you are trying to leverage. So we are very transparent and upfront about what this costs and what you get. Due to constrained local budgets, we know that the best speakers in the country that frequently keynote at (inter)national conferences are often too expensive to bring to local institutions. We have solved this problem and expanded access knowing that we are stronger together. So, leveraging funds as a consortium of institutions each term, we provide top-quality content at less than half the cost compared to booking individually. For Institutions: Each series provides your institution the highest caliber speakers in the nation for an affordable investment of $25,000. Plus, all your front-line employees can finally receive shifting perspectives and an injection of motivation from experts, delivering to you an exponential Return on Investment. Do you have 550 employees at your district? Then this only costs $45 per head for the keynotes, coaching/Q&A calls, and tactical Playbook. Catapult is eligible/allocable for Carl D. Perkins funds, WIOA funds, state professional development dollars, and other grant funds designed for professional development, institutional transformation, cultural change, and the adoption of effective best practices. In fact, we did the heavy lifting for you if you'd like to include a Catapult masterclass in your Perkins Plan. Click here to copy/paste from our Perkins Plan Sample Language & Guidance document. But wait...what if you want to experience it first before bringing it to all your faculty and colleagues. We heard you and totally understand. So now, a local "Team of 3" may pilot an entire masterclass for $3,000 to then be able to determine the best way to bring it to your entire institution in subsequent terms. (See the Teams of 3 webpage for more information). Regardless if it's a small/dynamic Team of 3 you want to inform, or your entire institution you want to evolve, we recommended writing Catapult into your annual Perkins plans and future grant applications annually. Feel free to contact us, or sign up for a VIP briefing, to receive a quote for the specific masterclass you are interested in.

We intimately understand the burden of finding, vetting, and contracting with multiple, high-quality PD speakers annually. It is daunting and cumbersome. We know you are juggling a lot already, so Catapult has done all the work for you. One contract. One procurement cycle. Common-themed keynotes are calendared in advance with only one registration required and recordings made available. Team of 3 Q&A sessions are calendared in advance and Institutional coordinators can even choose the coaching call time slot that works best for your Implementation Team. Plus, internal marketing materials and newsletters are provided to you to effortlessly engage your colleagues in each virtual keynote. We even send out reminders to everyone registered and provide a super helpful Leaders Guide to help make this impactful without all the chaos. With simple and effective scheduling we provide more impact with fewer logistics to manage. You’re welcome. ☺

Actually, yes! Catapult knows that we can learn from, "harvest" from and support each other. So we also offer a Virtual Community within our platform to help translate the information and motivation into true institutional transformation. We also providing exclusive, additional content and expertise throughout the year to launch you further, faster. But wait, there’s more! The Catapult team also makes a donation to the National Foster Youth Initiative. And as a member of the Catapult Network, registered institutions receive first access to future series and your participants will also receive a Certificate of Completion for continuing education units, local tracking, celebration, assessment verification, and bragging rights.

Absolutely. Today, more than 400,000 children are in foster care in the United States. We believe that each one deserves a safe, supportive, and honorable upbringing — no matter who they are or where they come from. We want to support students most in need while positively impacting society through systemic and meaningful change. So, as part of our corporate social responsibility initiative, Catapult donates a percentage of revenues to the NFYI for five primary reasons. 1. They help center the Foster Youth voice in all initiatives. 2. They focus on systemic policy change at the local and national level to ensure Foster Youth get equitable and consistent treatment regardless of which state/county they are relocating to. 3. Juvenile Justice. NFYI fights the "School to Prison pipeline" roughly 60% of FY get caught in. 4. Higher education remains elusive for 97% of foster youth. NFYI helps to break down the barriers to academic achievement and increase FY supportive services. 5. NFYI provides paid work-based learning opportunities and leadership development to foster youth. Learn more and consider adding your support at https://nfyi.org.