NEW · 2026 · ASPIRE INSTITUTE
Leadership Accelerator
Powered by AI
A 30-hour, cohort-based leadership accelerator spanning 8 weeks, designed to help early-career professionals use AI effectively and build workplace-ready communication, collaboration, and leadership skills.
Practice real-world scenarios, learn from industry leaders, join live peer discussions, and apply everything in a final capstone project.
🗓️ June 1 – July 27, 2026
30 Hours Total · 4 Hours Per Week | Virtual · Self-Paced | Cohort-Based · Live Sessions | $100 Per Participant | Certificate Signed by Aspire Co-Founders, HBS Faculty
WHAT MAKES THIS DIFFERENT
Not an AI course. Not a soft-skills course. A leadership accelerator built around both.
Most programs teach you AI tools or they teach you leadership. This one does both — at the same time. Learn to prompt AI effectively to improve productivity and develop the judgment to know when it helps — and when it doesn’t. Step into real scenarios: practicing difficult conversations, navigating complex challenges, negotiating through AI simulations, building teams using AI-powered frameworks, and managing time more effectively.
The result isn’t passive “AI awareness.” It’s practical readiness — because AI isn’t a topic you study, it’s the medium through which you develop these skills in a world where it’s already part of the job.
A global cohort of peers. Live community and reflection moments. Masterclasses with industry leaders. And a capstone where every skill comes together in a project participants design, build, and present.
Taught by industry leaders including the Chairman of Panera Brands, the CEO of WellWithAll, a former senior executive at Microsoft and Salesforce, and an Executive Fellow at Harvard Business School.
What Participants Leave With
➔ Practical ability to apply AI tools strategically to real workplace challenges
➔ Prompt engineering skills and judgment to evaluate AI outputs for reliability and ethics
➔ Communication skills that influence, connect, and build trust in professional settings
➔ Frameworks for managing time, energy, and high-performing teams
➔ Confidence to negotiate and lead through complexity under pressure
➔ A completed capstone project — an AI-enabled solution to a real workplace challenge, designed, built, and presented to peers and managers
➔ A certificate of completion signed by Aspire’s co-founders and Harvard Business School faculty
PROGRAM AT A GLANCE
DURATION
8 Weeks
DATES
June 1 – July 27, 2026
FORMAT
Virtual · Cohort-based
TIME COMMITMENT
~4 Hours/Week
LEARNING MODEL
Self-paced + Live Masterclasses + Peer Cohort
PLATFORM
Sana AI-powered LMS
TAUGHT BY
Industry Leaders
INVESTMENT
$100 Per Participant
CERTIFICATE
Signed by Aspire Co-Founders + HBS Faculty
Enroll as an Individual — $100
WHY ORGANIZATIONS INVEST
Build AI-ready, communication-strong early-career talent in 8 weeks.
Improve early-career retention
Investing in your emerging talent signals that growth is possible here — one of the top factors in early attrition.
Accelerate manager readiness
Team dynamics, communication, negotiation, and values-based leadership — the skills that separate contributors from leaders.
Strengthen communication and collaboration
Build professional communication, interpersonal effectiveness, and the ability to lead through ambiguity.
Build practical AI-enabled skills
Not AI awareness — AI application. Participants use AI tools throughout every module and deliver a capstone project built on them.
NPS 67
Pilot program net promoter score
92.4%
Reported confidence applying strategies learned
205
Countries in Aspire’s learning network
WHAT’S INSIDE
Eight weeks. Seven modules. One capstone.
The curriculum builds progressively — AI foundations first, then the leadership and professional skills you’ll practice using AI tools throughout. It closes with a capstone week where participants design, implement, and present an AI-enabled solution to a real workplace challenge, with live masterclasses from additional industry experts bringing the cohort together in real time.
WEEK 1
Basics of Artificial Intelligence
AI reasoning, prompt engineering, decision-support systems, responsible AI, and bias evaluation. Led by Nandkishore “Andy” Kalambi.
WEEKS 2-3
Communication · Time Management
Professional communication with AI tools, sustainable productivity systems, and high-performing team leadership. Led by Demond T. Martin, Álvaro Rodríguez, Eleri J. Dixon.
WEEK 4 & 7
Community · Reflection · Collaboration
NEED COPY HERE
WEEKS 5-6
Resilience · Negotiation · Values Leadership
Adaptive decision-making, AI-enabled negotiation simulations, and ethical leadership under pressure. Led by Sháka Rasheed, Peter Chow, Niren Chaudhary.
WEEK 8
Capstone Project + Live Masterclasses
Participants design, implement, and present an AI-enabled solution to a real professional, organizational, or community challenge — putting every module’s skills to work simultaneously. Closes with live masterclasses from additional industry experts, bringing the global cohort together in real time.
INDUSTRY LEADERS TEACHING EACH MODULE
Nandkishore “Andy” Kalambi
Angel Investor, Technologist & Founder, NatureCentred AI
Module 1 · AI Basics
Demond T. Martin
Co-Founder & CEO, WellWithAll · Investor & Philanthropist
Module 2 · Communication
Álvaro Rodríguez
Co-Founder, IGNIA · Executive Fellow, Harvard Business School
Module 3 · Productivity
Eleri J. Dixon
2024 Harvard ALI Fellow · Digital Transformation Leader & Board Director
Module 4 · Team Dynamics
Sháka Rasheed
General Partner, Open Opportunity Fund · Former Sr. Executive, Microsoft & Salesforce
Module 5 · Resilience
Peter “Pete” Chow
CTO, ASSIA Inc. · IEEE Fellow & Broadband Innovation Leader
Module 6 · Negotiation
Niren Chaudhary
Chairman, Panera Brands · Executive Coach & Former CEO
Module 7 · Values-Based Leadership
Live Masterclasses
Synchronous sessions with additional industry experts throughout the program
Week 8 Capstone
HOW IT’S DELIVERED
An AI-powered platform built for how professionals actually learn.
The Leadership Accelerator runs on Sana, an AI-native learning management system purpose-built for professional development. It’s not a video library. It responds to you, coaches you, and keeps you moving — with a 24/7 AI tutor available throughout all eight weeks.
✓ Self-paced instructional content with AI-adaptive delivery
✓ AI-supported role-playing simulations for negotiation and communication practice
✓ 24/7 AI tutor — available whenever you’re working through the content
✓ Interactive games and knowledge checks that reinforce learning without passive watching
✓ Guided peer-to-peer sessions via Discord at Weeks 4 and 7
✓ Community presentations and structured feedback sessions
Sana
An AI-native LMS purpose-built for professional learning — combining intelligent content delivery, AI coaching, and community learning in a single platform.
24/7
AI tutor available throughout all 8 weeks
AI Sims
Role-play scenarios for negotiation and communication practice
~4 Hours
Per week — built for full-time professionals
WHO IT’S FOR
Same program. Two different reasons to enroll.
FOR INDIVIDUALS
World-class leadership development. Without the world-class price tag.
You’re early in your career and AI is already reshaping the tools, roles, and expectations around you. This program gives you the skills and credentials to stay ahead — $100 and about four hours a week for eight weeks.
WHO IT’S FOR
➔ Early-career professionals, ages 18–35, with up to five years of experience
➔ Recent graduates entering the workforce who want to stand out
➔ Aspire Leaders Program graduates — priority access and a discounted rate available
FOR ORGANIZATIONS
Invest in your emerging leaders at a price that makes it easy to say yes.
Practical, affordable, and measurable upskilling for your early-career talent — designed to run alongside full-time work, with a capstone project participants apply directly to a real challenge in your organization.
WHO THIS SERVES
➔ Employers with high-volume early-career hiring building future-ready talent pipelines
➔ Universities and academies bundling career-readiness offerings for students and graduates
➔ Organizations with social impact goals — every enrollment funds the free ALP for a first-generation learner
ENROLLMENT OPTIONS
➔ $100/participant · volume discounts for groups of 20+
➔ Mixed cohorts (open enrollment) or private cohorts for groups of 15+
➔ Bundling available for universities and academies
➔ Managers invited to the final capstone presentation
➔ Post-program completion summary available for L&D reporting
PART OF THE ASPIRE ECOSYSTEM
Backed by Aspire’s co-founders — Harvard Business School Professors Tarun Khanna and Karim Lakhani.
The Leadership Accelerator is developed by Aspire Institute — the Harvard-founded nonprofit behind the Aspire Leaders Program, which has reached 500,000+ first-generation students across 195 countries, completely free.
The Leadership Accelerator is how Aspire sustains that mission. Revenue from corporate and individual enrollments goes directly toward keeping the ALP free for students who couldn’t otherwise access this caliber of program. When you enroll, you’re not just investing in your own development — you’re part of what makes it possible.
ASPIRE LEADERS PROGRAM
Free · 9 Weeks · Harvard-Founded
For first-generation and limited-income university students. 500,000+ applicants. 195 countries.
LEADERSHIP ACCELERATOR POWERED BY AI
$100 · 8 Weeks · Industry Leaders
For early-career professionals and organizations. Revenue sustains the free ALP.
Every enrollment in the Leadership Accelerator helps keep the Aspire Leaders Program free for a first-generation student who needs it. The model only works because both exist.
Build AI-ready, communication-strong early-career talent in 8 weeks.
The Leadership Accelerator Powered by AI opens June 1, 2026. Talk to us about enrolling your team, or enroll directly as an individual.
Enroll as an Individual — $100 | Request Cohort Pricing | Download Program Overview | Contact the Aspire Team
