Practical Wisdom Project at Abigail Adams Institute Receives $1.6 Million Grant from the John Templeton Foundation to Revitalize School Leadership

Cambridge, MA – July 11, 2025 — Every day, school leaders face a firehose of decisions—fielding urgent needs from students, parents, teachers, and their broader communities. The stakes are high, the pace relentless, and the answers rarely simple. And these challenges are as unrelenting as they are complex. What’s needed is sound judgment and context-sensitive responses—not one-size-fits-all answers. But how do they develop that wisdom and teach others to do the same?

A new three-year initiative called Wisdom at Work aims to answer that question. Rooted in the virtue of practical wisdom (phronesis), the project equips school leadership teams with tools and practices they need to pause, reflect, and respond—not react—even in high-pressure situations.

The initiative is led by Dr. Karen Bohlin, Director of the Practical Wisdom Project at the Abigail Adams Institute and former head of school, in partnership with Dr. Mark Pacheco, Co–Principal Investigator and Associate Professor at the University of Florida.

Funded by a $1.6 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation, the program builds on AAI’s inaugural Practical Wisdom for Agile Leadership (PWAL) executive education program, which supported teams from public and private schools across the country. Participants found the work both practical and grounding. As one school leader put it:

“It gave us the kind of wisdom we need most right now, when the world seems volatile and unpredictable. It is crucial to helping us stay calm and people-centered.”

The expanded Wisdom at Work initiative will support and study three cohorts of school leadership teams as they navigate the evolving demands of school life. In addition to professional learning, they’ll contribute to a growing body of evidence on how practical wisdom develops—and what helps it take root in their leadership practice.

“This work is grounded in the belief that leadership is a deeply human endeavor,” said Dr. Bohlin. “Leaders don’t just need strategies. They need the ability to read a situation, weigh competing needs, and take prudential action, aligned with their mission.”

The program uses the Practical Wisdom Framework™, developed by Bohlin, as a shared approach to decision-making. Through case-based problem solving, guided reflection, coaching, and peer dialogue, leaders apply the framework in their own schools and strengthen the habits that support wise action in real time.

“We know from Aristotle that practical wisdom is formed through teaching and experience,” said Dr. Pacheco. “But we know far less about which kinds of teaching and experience actually support its growth. This project allows us to investigate that directly.”

“We’re using both qualitative and quantitative data to understand how leaders develop and apply good judgment over time,” he added. “And unlike traditional training programs, this is a true partnership—school leaders help shape both the learning and the research.”

The program also includes a robust public engagement strategy, with practitioner-facing publications, a podcast, and a digital library of evidence based tools. The goal is to share what works—not only with educators, but with professionals across sectors.

“At the Abigail Adams Institute, we aim to foster intellectual friendship and dialogue that connect academic and professional life,” said Dr. Danilo Petranovich, Director of AAI. “Wisdom at Work brings that to the next level—putting researchers and practitioners in conversation around a timeless challenge captured by Abigail Adams herself, who wrote, ‘Great necessities call out great virtues.’ This initiative responds to that call.”

“We’re enormously grateful to the John Templeton Foundation,” said Dr. Bohlin, “for recognizing how urgent this work is. Together, we’re investing in the next generation of formative leaders—and learning right alongside them.

About the Practical Wisdom Project at AAI
The Practical Wisdom Project’s mission is to promote practical wisdom in formative leadership. Its signature executive education program Wisdom at Work (WAW)—formerly known as Practical Wisdom for Agile Leadership (PWAL)--equips leadership teams to bring out the best in themselves, their teams and the communities they serve, creating and sustaining the conditions for individual and collective flourishing.

Media Contact:
Maura Cahill, Director of Communications, AAI