Julia Eells is a Senior Consultant in our Board Advisory Group, specializing in succession planning and leadership transition.  She is the co-author of the 2023 Nearly Complete Guide to Navigating the Head of School Transition and consults with board chairs, school heads, and senior administrators on governance and leadership issues.  Julia also serves as a coach in our Leadership Coaching Practice.

Julia most recently served as the interim Head of School at Castilleja School (CA) from 2024-25 and was Head of School at San Francisco University High School from 2013 to 2022. During her leadership at Castilleja, Julia led the Head of School Transition Committee through a yearlong preparation for the arrival of the permanent Head. At SFUHS, she led the school through a transformational strategic design process resulting in a redesign of student wellness and support programming, a new model for faculty professional growth, and two major campus development projects.

Prior to her headships in California, Julia served as Head of School at Lincoln School (RI) from 2005 to 2013. While at Lincoln, she played a pivotal role in many capital, financial, enrollment, and curricular improvements.

Julia served as Assistant Head of School at Westminster School (CT) from 2000-2005. She led all aspects of faculty hiring and retention, established a marketing department, restructured the college counseling office, and co-authored the school’s first statement on diversity. Prior to Westminster, she spent 11 years at Miss Porter’s School (CT) serving in a variety of roles including Dean of Admission and College Counseling, Director of College Counseling, Director of Admissions and Financial Aid, and Associate Director of Admissions. Julia has also served as Director of College Counseling and Director of Publications and Research at The Ethel Walker School (CT) and Assistant Director of Admissions at Hobart and William Smith Colleges (NY), and she held a variety of teaching and residential life roles before transitioning to senior administration.

Professional activities and affiliations include serving as Chair of the CAIS and NEASC accreditation teams for several schools on both coasts. Julia  has served on the boards of Simsbury ABC House (CT), St. Michael’s School (RI), Community Prep (RI), San Francisco School (CA), School Year Abroad (MA), as well as National Coalition of Girls Schools (now ICGS), Mastery Transcript Consortium, and California Teacher Development Collaborative.

Julia received a B.A. from Hobart and William Smith Colleges in studio art and art history and a MALS with a concentration in literature from Wesleyan University. She is a gardening warrior, dabbles in her art studio from time to time, and loves reading historical fiction. She and her musician husband John live on the farm coast of Rhode Island and have two grown children as well as two very active and awesome granddaughters.