THE ABX LEADERSHIP SUMMIT
November 9–10, 2026
Old Town Alexandria, VA
The Alexandrian Hotel
WHO SHOULD ATTEND ABX?
IDEAL PARTICIPANTS INCLUDE:
College and university presidents
Board chairs and trustees
Chief financial officers
Senior leaders engaged in governance and institutional strategy
The ABX Leadership Summit is designed for leaders responsible for the strategic direction and financial sustainability of their institutions.
CONFERENCE AGENDA
Day 1: MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2026
Peer Council Sessions
Closed-door, small-group conversation among people holding the same seat. Candid, off the record, and driven by what the room brings.
Opening Reception
An evening in Old Town Alexandria. Time with peers before the working day begins.
Day 2: TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2026
Opening Remarks
Why ABX exists, and what we expect from the room over the next eight hours.
Keynote: What Accreditors Are Seeing That Boards Are Not
Accreditors have a view into institutional health that most boards never get. What shows up in accreditation review long before it shows up in a board packet, and what a board should be asking as a result.
Roundtable: Structural Issues and Comprehensive Pathways
Most institutions under financial pressure are facing a structural problem, not a budget problem. The difference determines whether cost-cutting buys time or wastes it.
Roundtable: The Strategic Role of Artificial Intelligence
Not a technology briefing. Where AI actually changes an institution's cost structure and competitive position, and what a board needs to understand to govern those decisions rather than approve them after the fact.
Luncheon Fireside: Scaling Without Losing Mission
Growth is the answer most institutions reach for and the one most likely to erode what made them worth saving. A conversation about what held and what did not.
Breakout Sessions
Two breakout slots, with three sessions running concurrently in each. Attendees select one session per slot after registration.
The Core Foundation System: A Private System Case Study: What it looks like when independent institutions share infrastructure without surrendering identity. The governance mechanics, the economics, and the parts that were harder than expected.
Governing at the Pace of the Market: Boards meet four times a year. Markets do not wait. The specific governance changes that close that gap without turning the board into management.
Strengthening and Protecting the Mission Through Financial Resilience: Mission is not protected by defending it. It is protected by building the financial position that lets an institution keep choosing it.
A University Partnership Case Study: A firsthand account from the people who did it. What the board understood, what it did not, and what they would do differently.
Capital Strategies: Expanding the Balance Sheet: The capital options available to independent institutions beyond the endowment and the annual fund, and what a board needs to know before it can evaluate them.
Board Action Tables
The working core of the Summit. Presidents and their board members sit together and apply the day to their own institution, with facilitators and peers in the room. Attendees leave with something written down, not just something to think about.
Closing Comments and Reception
Where we go from here, followed by a closing reception.
Agenda is in development. Sessions, speakers, and format are subject to change and will be updated as they are confirmed.
Detailed agenda and times will be sent to conference registrants.
NOTE: ABX Member institutions receive complimentary access for the president and one governing board member to the conference.
Non-members are also welcome to register. Many institutions qualify for complimentary ABX membership, which includes Summit access. Register here, and a member of our team will follow up with you directly.
A NEW ERA OF GOVERNANCE FOR HIGHER EDUCATION
The Alliance for Board Excellence will convene at the ABX Leadership Summit. This gathering brings together a select group of industry leaders to navigate the most significant challenges facing higher education today.
COME ENJOY OLD TOWN ALEXANDRIA
OUR KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
BARBARA
GELLMAN-
DANLEY
PRESIDENT
Higher Learning Commission
PAUL
LEBLANC
PRESIDENT EMERITUS
Southern New Hampshire University
VICTOR HU
MANAGING PARTNER
AND CO-FOUNDER
Lumos Capital Group
RICK
BEYER
CHAIRMAN
Core Education PBC
REGISTRATION DETAILS
ABX Members
The conference registration fee is complimentary with your institution's ABX Membership.
Click here or use the Register Now button below to confirm your attendance. Seating is limited.
Nonmembers
Registration priority is given to member institutions; however, we want to make this conference experience available to non-members (space permitting). Please submit your request to attend by clicking the button below. There is no fee due at the time of filling out the interest form.
If space is available, we will contact you on a first-come, first-served basis and invite you to complete the payment portion of registration. Registration fee for non-members to attend the ABX Leadership Summit is $1,500. However, our foundation offers grants that may offset this fee completely.
Learn more about the ABX Membership, which includes conference attendance here.
WHY ABX EXISTS
HIGHER EDUCATION IS IN A PERIOD OF UNPRECEDENTED DISRUPTION
Declining enrollments, structural deficits, technological transformation, and declining consumer confidence are forcing institutions to rethink how they operate and how they are governed.
Presidents are often caught between the burden of legacy systems and the urgency of building institutions that can thrive in the future. At the same time, governing boards are being asked to move beyond traditional oversight and become active strategic partners in institutional transformation.
A new fiduciary and governance standard is also emerging. Boards must govern at the pace of the market and support presidents in navigating complex strategic decisions that will shape the future of their institutions.
Yet many presidents and boards are navigating these challenges without a trusted community of peers to share strategies, examine new governance models, and learn from institutions actively pursuing change.
The Alliance for Board eXcellence (ABX) was created to fill that gap.
ABX brings together presidents, trustees, and senior leaders to exchange ideas, explore a new governance playbook, and strengthen the partnership between boards and institutional leadership in a time of profound change.
