I believe in learning communities where every learner is valued, diverse strengths are celebrated, and meaningful, accessible experiences spark curiosity, connection, and growth for all.
Thriving learning communities begin within.
When leaders cultivate emotional clarity and reflective presence, they create the foundation for coherent, inclusive, and meaningful learning—where every student is seen, supported, and challenged to grow.
I help thoughtful middle and high school leaders cultivate reflective presence through intentional creative practices — so they can design learning and assessment experiences that are coherent, inclusive, and human-centered for both students and adults.
“Shaping the conditions in which others design, teach, and learn”
Lasting change starts from within. When leaders slow down, reflect, and lead with emotional clarity, they create learning environments where every student can truly belong and grow.
Partners.
DesignEd partners with schools and districts to design and facilitate strategic professional learning and coaching that honor educators' current knowledge while fostering a deeper understanding of how to design accessible, engaging, and relevant learning environments for all students.
Individual Schools
School Districts
Education Organization
Where Should You Start?
There are different ways to engage in this work— depending on where you are right now.
Start with Yourself
If you’re a leader who wants to:
Slow down reactive patterns
Build emotional awareness and regulation
Reconnect with clarity, purpose, and presence
Begin with: Reflective Leadership Lab
A creative, community-based experience designed to help you shift how you lead—from the inside out.
→ Explore Reflective Leadership Lab
Work With Your Team
If you’re leading a team and want to:
Align curriculum, instruction, and assessment
Design more inclusive, learner-centered experiences
Build shared clarity and coherence
Explore: Human-Centered Learning Design
Workshops and coaching that help teams translate values into practice.
→ Explore Team Partnerships
Align Your System
If you’re working at a school or district level and want to:
Reduce initiative fatigue
Align leadership, instruction, and assessment
Build systems that support reflection—not just performance
Explore: System Partnerships
→ Learn about System-Level Work
Start Where You Are
There are different entry points into this work, depending on where you are.
Start with Yourself
Reflective Leadership Lab (Tier 1)
A creative, community-based experience for leaders ready to:
Regulate emotional responses in real time
Slow down reactive decision-making
Reconnect to clarity, purpose, and presence
Learn more about the Lab
Work With Your Team
Human-Centered Learning Design (Tier 2)
Support leadership and educator teams to:
Align curriculum, assessment, and value
Design inclusive, learner-centered experience
Build coherence across classrooms and teams
Work With Your Team
Align Your System
System-Level Partnerships (Tier 3)
Partner with schools and districts to:
Align leadership culture with instructional vision
Reduce initiative fatigue through coherence
Build systems that support reflection—not just performance
Inquire about system partnerships
Leadership shapes learning.
But without space to reflect, it can become reactive.
From reactive leadership → reflective presence that shapes how learning is designed
I help thoughtful education and youth-serving leaders use intentional creative practices to regulate emotion—so they can move from reacting in the moment and feeling depleted or misaligned…
to leading with clarity, alignment, and purpose.
Start with Reflective Leadership Lab →
Explore partnerships →
Start with Reflective Leadership Lab
Work With Your Team
Learn More.
The Problem
Leadership today is complex, fast-moving, and emotionally demanding.
Even the most committed leaders can find themselves:
Reacting in the moment instead of responding with intention
Carrying invisible pressure and decision fatigue
Feeling misaligned between what they believe and what they’re building
When this happens, it doesn’t just affect leaders—it shapes teams, learning environments, and student experiences.
The Shift
This work begins from the inside out.
Before we redesign systems or learning experiences, we need to shift how leadership is experienced and enacted.
Reflective presence is the foundation.
From there, everything else becomes more coherent, aligned, and sustainable.
Start Where You Are REPEATED
There are different entry points into this work, depending on where you are.
Start with Yourself
Reflective Leadership Lab (Tier 1)
A creative, community-based experience for leaders ready to:
Regulate emotional responses in real time
Slow down reactive decision-making
Reconnect to clarity, purpose, and presence
Learn more about the Lab
Work With Your Team
Human-Centered Learning Design (Tier 2)
Support leadership and educator teams to:
Align curriculum, assessment, and values
Design inclusive, learner-centered experiences
Build coherence across classrooms and teams
Work With Your Team
Align Your System
System-Level Partnerships (Tier 3)
Partner with schools and districts to:
Align leadership culture with instructional vision
Reduce initiative fatigue through coherence
Build systems that support reflection—not just performance
Inquire about system partnerships
What This Makes Possible
When leaders shift from reacting → to reflective presence:
Decisions become clearer and more aligned
Teams experience greater trust and coherence
Learning environments become more human-centered
Change becomes sustainable—not performative
This is how leadership, learning design, and system coherence begin to reinforce each other.
Approach
This work integrates:
Reflective and creative practices
Human-centered design
Adult learning and collaboration
Proven educational frameworks (including Universal Design for Learning and Project-Based Learning)
Not as isolated strategies—but as connected elements of a more coherent approach to leadership and learning.
About
Designed by Symon Hayes
Designer. Collaborator. Creative.
I create experiences that support leaders and teams to reconnect with clarity, purpose, and possibility—while building learning environments that reflect those values in practice.
About
Designed & Facilitated by Symon Hayes
Designer. Collaborator. Creative.
I create experiences that support leaders and teams to reconnect with clarity, purpose, and possibility—while building learning environments that reflect those values in practice.
You don’t have to carry leadership alone—or stay stuck in reactivity.
There is space to pause, reflect, and lead differently.
Apply for Reflective Leadership Lab
Start a conversation