Leading in a Time of Change

A conversation with John Silvanus Wilson, Jr. 
Note: This is the first installment in a two-part series.

Education is at an inflection point. Institutions are under strain. Public trust is uneven. And the need for leaders who can move beyond management toward meaning has rarely been greater. 

John Silvanus Wilson, Jr., Executive Director of the McGraw Center for Educational Leadership at Penn GSE and steward of the Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Prize in Education, has spent his career at the intersection of higher education, public service, and civic life. A former president of Morehouse College and former Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Wilson has long focused on expanding opportunity and strengthening education’s role in American democracy. 

In this conversation, he reflects on what transformational leadership requires now—and why this moment demands more than business as usual. 

What drew you to the McGraw Center at this moment in your career? 

To be candid, Penn GSE was not on my radar a year ago. I had great respect for the institution, but I didn’t expect to return to an Ivy campus. Much of my work had focused on places where I believed the opportunity for measurable change felt more immediate. 

As I explored this role, though, I began to see something distinctive. 

First, I was struck by Penn GSE’s vision. The call not just to build or collaborate, but to elevate—especially in service of a more fully realized democracy—felt serious and urgent.

Second, I was impressed by the track record. Over the past two decades, Penn GSE’s executive programs have produced more than 50 presidents and chancellors, along with scores of superintendents and principals. That kind of leadership pipeline matters. 

Third, I realized this role would not require me to abandon my core passions—strengthening HBCUs, reimagining online education, and deepening civic engagement in community colleges—but could actually amplify them. 

And finally, the McGraw Prize tradition itself was a powerful draw. The list of winners reads like a global “who’s who” of educational innovation. The opportunity to extend that legacy and mobilize that community is one of the most meaningful assignments in education today. 

When you think about transformational leadership in education today, what does it look like in practice?

Much of what we see in educational leadership today is transactional. Leaders are navigating financial pressures, political tension, and compliance demands. Many feel they are trying to survive rather than lead. 

Transformational leadership is different. It insists on elevating the purpose of education. 

Of course, competence, skills, and employability matter. But they are not enough. Transformational leaders pair competence with character. They focus not only on producing capable workers, but on shaping thoughtful, engaged human beings. 

At its core, this kind of leadership requires a mindset shift. Howard Thurman once advised: “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do that.” Transformational leadership is about helping people and institutions come alive. 

The best leaders align people’s roles with their deeper sense of calling and with the institution’s larger purpose. When that alignment happens, work no longer feels like sacrifice. It feels like vocation. That is when real elevation begins. 

What do you see as the most urgent challenge facing education right now—and where do you find hope?

The most urgent challenge is one we have carried since the nation’s founding: the gap between our democratic ideals and how we actually educate people. 

John Dewey said in 1916 that democracy must be reborn every generation, and education is its midwife. Too often, our system has delivered for “wee the people,” not “we the people.” It has served some well, but not all. 

Historically Black Colleges and Universities offer an important lesson. In the mid-20th century, they intentionally prepared leaders who helped expand democracy itself. They took seriously education’s role in shaping citizens, not just graduates. 

That is the work before us now. We must educate all students to participate meaningfully in a multiracial, pluralistic democracy. And we must move from a culture that prizes competition above all else toward one that values cooperation and shared responsibility. 

Am I hopeful? Hope is in my DNA. But hope alone is not a strategy. It must be paired with deliberate action.
 

Celebrating Leadership That Changes What’s Possible

Through its programs, including the Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Prize in Education, the McGraw Center advances leaders who expand opportunity and strengthen education as a public good. 

Learn more at https://mcgrawprize.com.