What happens after a doctoral program ends? For many graduates, the answer is simple: the network fades once the coursework does. That’s not the case for alumni of NYU Steinhardt’s Doctor of Education in Leadership and Innovation (EdD). Students in this program don’t just earn a degree; they join a professional network that keeps evolving long after graduation.
As Dr. Trish Beck, EdD in Leadership and Innovation program director, puts it: “The relationships you’re building right now—they don’t have an expiration date. The EdD program isn’t something you graduate from, it’s something you grow into.”
A Community That Continues After Graduation
Alumni return to the EdD in Leadership and Innovation program constantly, as faculty, guest speakers, and residency mentors. The three-day immersive residency that opens each cohort’s journey relies on graduates volunteering their time and experience, and many of its speakers and small-group facilitators are alumni themselves.
Dr. John Roth, a member of the program’s first cohort and now a faculty member, says that involvement was baked in from the start: “I think the design was always to have alum be involved, right from day one.”
Build Lifelong Connections in Leadership and Innovation
Join a Community of Lifelong Learners and Leaders
From Cohort to Career Network
Relationships built during the EdD in Leadership and Innovation program aren’t confined to a single cohort. Alumni connect across cohorts and industries, and those ties often shift from peer support into professional collaboration.
Dr. Jasmine Hawkins-White, a clinical assistant professor and EdD alumna, credits the broader alumni network with a career move: “It ended up being the NYU network that led me to the firm I’m with now… You still lean on the cohort, even after — long after, you know, years after — you finish the program.”
That support shows up in concrete ways. Alumni pass along job leads, share resumes, and check in on one another informally, often reaching well beyond their own cohort to graduates they’ve met at alumni events.
Collaboration That Extends Beyond the Classroom
Some alumni take that collaboration further, into shared research and published work. Six EdD in Leadership and Innovation program graduates across multiple cohorts co-authored Trinity of Leadership: Learners, Thinkers, Tinkerers, out in March 2026. Dr. Beck, one of the book’s lead authors, sums up the spirit behind it: “The most wonderful work happens when we refuse to work alone.”
A Mindset of Lifelong Learning
For alumni who stay on as faculty, the learning doesn’t stop. Dr. Roth, now a capstone advisor, says watching multiple students work through the same problem has taught him more than his own capstone did: “I see other problems, I see how other people are dealing with those issues… To me, it’s learning, it’s still learning.”
A Network You Continue to Rely On
Years after graduation, alumni still describe their cohort in personal terms. Tyler McCormick, a graduate of Cohort 6, says the relationships carried him through the program and beyond: “Whether it’s your immediate cohort or alumni, those are your people.”
That pattern reflects one of EdD’s core values: leadership is a collective endeavor, not an individual one. Growth happens through shared experience, and alumni keep showing up for new cohorts because that value shaped their own time in the program.
Join a Community That Grows With You
An EdD is a significant investment of time and effort. At NYU, that investment doesn’t end at commencement. It opens the door to a network of collaborators, mentors, and career contacts who continue to show up for one another for years afterward.
To learn more about the EdD in Leadership and Innovation program experience, connect with an enrollment advisor or start your application today.