Julie Faulstich is an accomplished nonprofit executive with over 25 years in the arts and independent schools. Her experience includes leading high performing teams, strategic planning, programmatic change, financial turnaround, establishing and exceeding data-driven fundraising goals, strategic communications and managing institutional partnerships.
In senior leadership roles at Walnut Hill School for the Arts in Natick, MA, a boarding high school serving talented students from across the country and the globe, Julie led faculty in a reinvention of the academic program and went on to establish a structure to regularly review and innovate the offerings in each of the five arts programs. Under her leadership, the music department added a jazz concentration to its classical offerings and both renegotiated and expanded the partnership with the New England Conservatory. Additionally, the creative writing department evolved into the writing, film and media arts department, doubling in student enrollment the first year of the new program.
As Head of the Westover School in Middlebury, CT, a girls boarding high school, Julie led a financial turnaround, upgrading all facets of finance and operations management, admissions, marketing communications and development. She oversaw major renovations of the historic 1909 campus that included a new Center for Women in Science and Engineering and the Bradford Student Commons. She established a five year strategic plan in 2020, Lighting Her Path, Leading Her Way, and led the school through the global pandemic, successfully operating a full service boarding program. Over her time at Westover, she increased the annual fund by 30%, raised over 15M in capital gifts and completed a feasibility study for a future capital campaign. She also worked with the board of trustees to clarify committee structures, succession planning and to enhance trustee engagement.
In 2022, she founded Stony Creek Strategy to support leaders developing strategy, elevating governance and improving communications; she is also a sought-after keynote speaker, workshop leader and executive coach. Her popular Talking Out of School Substack newsletter, reaching thousands of readers each month, provides advice and insight on applied leadership.
She has served on the boards of The Association of Boarding Schools, the Connecticut Association of Independent Schools and on the advisory board of the Wetherbee-Pembridge School in NYC. She holds a BA from Smith College and an MFA in Creative Writing from Emerson College.
Julie had the very good fortune to see up close the impact of interim leadership when she spent a year working with an interim head of school at the Walnut Hill School for the Arts. His ability to be fully engaged with the community while maintaining a helpful outside perspective was transformative at a sensitive time in the school’s history. She brings that knowledge and enthusiasm to her role as an interim executive.
Linked In: Julie Faulstich