NYC schools back executive coaching for central staff

New York City Public Schools has begun offering executive coaching to central-office employees, partnering with BetterUp to include both human- and AI-powered options. District leaders say the goal is to stabilize a system that has felt uncertainty since the p

For Tracie Benjamin-Van Lierop, the “distance” between the central office and a classroom is more than a metaphor. In a system serving nearly 1 million students across more than 1. 800 schools. she described the connection as inextricable: when the central office works. schools get the resources and support they need; when it doesn’t. the friction can ripple straight into second grade.

That’s part of why the New York City Department of Education has been trying something unusual in recent years. Central-office staff have been offered executive coaching—including human- and AI-powered options—through a partnership with the digital coaching and workforce development company BetterUp.

Coming out of the pandemic, Benjamin-Van Lierop said the climate for central staff was marked by uncertainty. The biggest challenge. she said. was feeling “seen.” She also pointed out a common imbalance: school-based staff often receive the attention. while the people behind the scenes—those helping keep schools running smoothly—still need development and support.

She didn’t set out looking for coaching in the first place. When she first considered it. her schedule was “just crazy. ” and she thought. “This is just one more thing I have to do.” Then a colleague returned from orientation excited. urging her to look into it. Benjamin-Van Lierop tried one session, then a second—and three years later, she is still working with the same coach.

What she wanted wasn’t a fix imposed from above. Coaching, she said, can be viewed as punitive—something meant to correct what isn’t working. “That’s not what I wanted,” she said. Her goal was different: to use coaching as “a lever to improve the culture in the organization. ” so that people who want to work for NYC schools feel heard when the environment has room for improvement.

The district’s investment isn’t framed as career therapy or workplace perks. Through the BetterUp partnership. central office staff are building skills such as agency. agility and clarity—capabilities district leaders see as essential for sustaining and stabilizing the nation’s largest school system.

And that shift is visible in how staff describe the experience, Benjamin-Van Lierop said. One person’s story, she said, mirrored her own early hesitation: they kept hearing colleagues talk about positive coaching experiences and decided to try it. Afterward, the person ended up getting a promotion.

Role-playing helped, she said—especially preparing for difficult conversations in a way that felt safe. The employee described it as a setting where their supervisor might not have seen them in the same light otherwise, because the role-play activities helped them speak up in a respectful way.

Other signs of success, Benjamin-Van Lierop said, are simple. “People vote with their feet,” she explained. If they didn’t want to continue, they wouldn’t. The attitude has moved from “This is something that I have to do” to “This is something I want to do.”

That change is also showing up in day-to-day work. Benjamin-Van Lierop said the district is seeing stronger work products and stronger connections between offices and schools as staff develop a clearer understanding of why they do the work.

Employee Resource Group leaders were among the first central-office staff invited into the coaching pilot. Several ERG leaders. Benjamin-Van Lierop said. describe coaching as an important source of support as they amplify employee voice and strengthen culture across the system. Because ERG leadership is layered on top of full-time roles. coaching has offered space for reflection and skill-building in a complex and demanding environment. She said the benefits carry into the teams and schools ERGs serve.

The district is also experimenting with how AI fits into coaching alongside human coaching. For some leaders, the choice comes down to comfort level—and sometimes generation. Benjamin-Van Lierop said she tried her AI coach and thought, “No, thanks. I need a human.” Others, particularly younger leaders, have chosen AI because that is their comfort level.

One colleague, she said, will only do role-plays with their AI coach because it feels like a safe, nonjudgmental space. Benjamin-Van Lierop summed up the approach this way: if the tool supports what is happening in schools. then it’s helpful—and she expects that part of the program will continue to grow.

Her own leadership has changed through coaching as well. She described it as transforming her “in a holistic way. ” shaping not just how she approaches work but how she makes decisions—her sense of impact and her intentionality. It has also made her more curious as a leader. She said she sometimes makes judgments based on a story she has created in her head. and that story may not be true. Coaching taught her to ask. “How am I getting to the heart of the matter?” She said that when she takes that curious stance. it elevates the work in ways she “wasn’t able to three and a half years ago.”.

For districts considering coaching, Benjamin-Van Lierop offered three direct principles. First: make it voluntary. She argued that coaching can be misunderstood as a sign that someone isn’t doing their job well, but people who opt in often become the biggest supporters later.

Second: coaching requires effort. It isn’t just about meeting for 45 minutes. It is a two-way partnership, and it won’t work if people don’t put in the work.

Third: use the data from the coaching partner to track progress and refine the approach.

She acknowledged that coaching can sound like a “nice-to-have,” especially with all the demands districts face right now. But to her, the investment is practical. If people are going to do the job well. they need to feel invested in—and she said coaching has been one of the best investments she has experienced in her career.

This article was sponsored by BetterUp and produced by the Solutions Studio team.

NYC Department of Education executive coaching central office BetterUp AI coaching human coaching organizational development talent and culture Employee Resource Groups school leadership post-pandemic education