Phil Strzalka, JD

630-806-6785
pstrzalka@wheatonacademy.org

I joined the Wheaton Academy Institute with more than 25 years of experience as an attorney and a management consultant developing and implementing people and operational solutions within higher education institutions and other not-for and for-profit organizations across the country. My experience included strategic planning and the implementation of significant performance improvement, organizational design, business process redesign, and talent/leadership development initiatives for both faculty and staff at faith-based and non-faith-based institutions. Many of the implemented solutions brought about disruptive change requiring leaders to transform themselves, their operating model, and to reimagine how work got done within their organizations. As a facilitator, I learned to study, work with, and develop tools for managing organizational change. I grew to become a regular thought leader, author, and speaker on these subjects.

In these roles and as a parent of three children, I have also witnessed, first-hand, the landscape of education changing rapidly. The entire system of education is being disrupted. Student preferences have changed. Secular norms have shifted. Delivery methods are being questioned. Quality and cost are being re-evaluated. These changes are happening because it must. The kinds of roles and careers students will fill throughout their 100-year lives are evolving quickly as the technology sector grows and the world evolves.

If our students must adapt, so to must what we teach and how we teach it. We cannot just teach academics; we must prepare students for a life and career that is rapidly evolving over their lifetime. We must equip Christ-centered lifelong learners with an adaptive educational model, emphasizing competency-based learning and agile development.

I strongly believe that Christian educators have never been so well positioned to make an impact. In August 2021, the Lord desired for my time and talent to be focused on advancing Christian education when I joined the faculty at Wheaton Academy. It is now my honor to serve as the Institute’s Executive Director.