Higher Education · Leadership Development · Innovation

Leadership development
programs for higher ed

Workshops, retreats, and training programs designed for the unique culture of universities — helping students, faculty, staff, and administrators grow as leaders, facilitators, and innovators on the challenges that actually matter to your institution.

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100+
institutions & organizations
20+
years in higher ed
Ph.D.
Educational Leadership, UW
Dr. Darin Eich — Innovation trainer for higher education leaders
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Dr. Darin Eich Founder, InnovationTraining.org
Trusted by
Dartmouth College Univ. of Wisconsin Univ. of Maryland Oxford University College of William & Mary 100+ institutions & organizations

Organizations we've worked with

Client and partner organizations

Programs & Workshops

Energize, inspire,
and catalyze

Programs that bring something genuinely different to your campus — highly engaging, participant-focused experiences that spark collaboration, build leadership, and get people working together on what actually matters.

Most Requested

Practical Innovation for Higher Ed

A hands-on session where students, administrators, and faculty apply design thinking to a challenge your institution is working through right now. Interactive, energizing, and immediately actionable — even in a 45-minute format.

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Leadership Development Programs

Custom-designed programs that help people at every level — students, faculty, staff, administrators, and emerging leaders — grow their capacity to lead with confidence, vision, and innovation.

In-person Virtual Retreats Multi-part series
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Facilitation & Workshop Design

Students, staff, and faculty learn to design and lead their own engaging workshops, meetings, and programs. These skills transfer directly — participants leave ready to facilitate groups with their own teams.

Skill-building Teams Series available
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Innovation & Design Thinking

Workshops that introduce design thinking as a practical mindset — not abstract theory. Teams apply it directly to the real program, strategy, or culture challenges your institution is working on right now.

Keynote Half-day · Full-day Conferences
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Storytelling & Create Your Path

Personal development workshops that help faculty, staff, and emerging leaders discover their strengths, articulate their story, and chart a purposeful direction — integrating the academic, professional, and personal.

Professional dev Individual · Group Student leaders
Discuss your program → About Dr. Darin Eich

About Darin

Something genuinely
different

Ph.D., Educational Leadership, UW 514-Citation Research Leadership Development Facilitation Innovation Storytelling

Dr. Darin Eich brings something genuinely different to higher education — programs that are highly engaging, collaborative, and participant-focused, designed to inspire and catalyze rather than lecture. His Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from UW grounds his work in research, but what people remember is the energy, the interaction, and the ideas they leave with.

Darin has worked with Dartmouth, UW, University of Maryland, College of William & Mary, Oxford, and 100+ other institutions and organizations — delivering keynotes, workshops, and retreats where participants don't just sit and listen. They collaborate, create, and leave energized to lead.

He is the author of Innovation Step-by-Step and Root Down & Branch Out: Best Practices for Leadership Development Programs — the latter drawn directly from years of research and practice in higher education leadership development.

500+
citations
Peer-Reviewed Research
"A Grounded Theory of High-Quality Leadership Programs"
Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 2008 — on student leadership development in higher education
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Dr. Darin Eich, Ph.D.
100+
institutions &
organizations

Why It Works

What makes these programs
different

01
Real challenges, not case studies

Participants work on the actual problems their department or institution is navigating — not someone else's example. They leave with real ideas and a clear path to act on them.

02
Designed for academic culture

Higher ed is different from corporate. Darin's Ph.D. is in Educational Leadership — he understands the governance, the culture, and the dynamics that make change hard in universities.

03
Energizing, not passive

No death-by-PowerPoint. Participants are active from the first minute. The format is collaborative, fast-paced, and designed to replace the kind of meeting people dread with one they talk about weeks later.

04
Flexible formats

45-minute keynote session, half-day workshop, full-day retreat, multi-part series, or online certification — programs adapt to your event format, budget, and audience size.

05
Skills that transfer

Participants don't just experience innovation — they learn to facilitate it. Students, staff, and faculty leave with tools and confidence to run their own workshops with their own teams.

06
Trusted by institutions like yours

From flagship research universities to businesses and nonprofits, 100+ institutions and organizations have returned year after year. Programs are shaped by what actually works in each unique context.

Testimonials

What leaders say

"Darin has been a fantastic contributor and speaker to bring to the Dartmouth campus. He has been instrumental in helping us continuously improve our own programs. His energy is infectious."

Program Director · Dartmouth College

"Darin is extremely thoughtful and did a fabulous job customizing his presentation to truly resonate with our audience. People who did not think they had the capacity to innovate left with ideas and renewed energy."

Director · University of Wisconsin (NIATx)

"Darin's techniques in team bonding were excellent — they pushed teams to quickly open up and think in a different way. What he covered with them in such a short space of time was brilliant."

Programme Director · Saïd Business School, Oxford

"Throughout each stage of our project, Darin has been fantastic to work with — always bringing great energy, new ideas, and insights. He embodies the concept of practicing what he preaches."

Program Director · College of Engineering, Univ. of Wisconsin–Madison

"As helpful as the content was, its innovative and creative delivery held the attention of our highly educated audience. We have already noticed improvement in our outcomes."

Research Scientist · Medical Research Institute

"Darin guided participants to apply Design Thinking to their own real-world problems so they walked away with ideas and solutions to their challenges — not someone else's."

Faculty Member · University of Wisconsin

Bring leadership development
to your institution

Whether you need a keynote for a conference, a retreat for your leadership team, or a program for students, staff, and faculty — let's design something that fits your institution's or organization's real needs and culture.

Email Dr. Darin Eich → See the programs