Meet Our Founder
Adam R. Cebulski, Ed.D.
Dr. Adam R. Cebulski is the Founder and CEO of transform.forward. He is an innovativee and data-driven strategic executive focused on continual improvement to accelerate personal and organizational growth. He is an experienced organizational leader with over 15 years of experience in change management, strategic planning, people management, program development, organizational growth, operational improvement, and storytelling. Dr. Cebulski consistently makes an impact through leadership, relationship-building, and strategy for organizations of all types – from large educational institutions with established processes to high-growth technology startups. He is passionate about helping organizations and teams improve operations, build capacity, and increase impact. He has a strong foundation of navigating ambiguity, juggling multiple projects and priorities, and establishing new roles or teams. Dr. Cebulski remains committed to ensuring teams are high-functioning and cross-collaborative through innovative division-wide programs and strategic objectives focusing on both short- and long-term objectives through a myriad of change initiatives.
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Dr. Cebulski holds a doctorate in leadership from Southern Methodist University, a masters in Administration and Policy from Northwestern University focusing on Strategic Planning and Leadership Development, and a bachelors in Psychology from Loyola University Chicago. His background combines education, corporate consulting, and innovation technology. He has focused on strategic planning and assessment and has helped many organizations implement structural and procedural changes to improve operations. His professional expertise includes process improvement, program evaluation, student retention initiatives, marketing, admissions and recruitment, and technology integration. Throughout his experience, he has worked with over 200 organizations on people-centered initiatives large and small. Throughout his work, he has embedded innovative OCM frameworks and centered his coaching around helping people experience and lead change.
Dr. Cebulski also teaches graduate courses, including classes related to leadership development, strategic planning and assessment, gamification in education, among others. His research projects include using gamification principles and human motivation patterns to increase people engagement and success, the development of intentional experiences, the intersection of identity salience of underrepresented individuals and leadership development, in-group bias against positive attributes, and the impacts and integration of technology on higher education.
Meyers Briggs Type
INTJ
CliftonStrengths Top Five
Strategic, Analytical, Individualization, Competitive, & Achiever
Dr. Cebulski is also a certified Leadership Versatility Index (LVI) assessor. The Leadership Versatility Index (LVI) serves as a dynamic instrument, designed not to categorize individuals as "good" or "bad" leaders but to offer a more nuanced approach. This tool is instrumental in fostering growth, excellence, and thriving leadership capabilities.
The essence of effective leadership lies in its heterogeneity, requiring a nuanced balance between contrasting yet complementary behaviors. The LVI is tailored to assist leaders in identifying and navigating these tensions and trade-offs inherent in their roles, a common thread in the tapestry of leadership.
Leadership transcends mere strengths and weaknesses; it involves understanding how certain strengths, when overextended, may transform into weaknesses. The LVI is adept at recognizing this dichotomy, focusing not solely on areas of improvement but equally on the identification and balancing of inherent strengths.
Highlighted Publications
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Structures to Organize Assessment (2023)
Book Chapter in Coordinating Divisional and Departmental Student Affairs Assessment
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Leadership learning through games in co-curricular settings (2022)
Chapter in New Directions for Student Leadership
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Utilizing gamification to foster leadership competency development (2017)
Chapter in A Competency-Based Approach for Student Leadership Development: New Directions for Student Leadership, Number 156
Experience in Multiple Industries
With a diverse background spanning multiple industries, Dr. Cebulski has gained valuable experience and expertise. His career started in higher education, where they honed their skills in strategic planning and program management. He then made a bold move to the senior leadership team for an ed-tech startup, where they brought their experience and knowledge to the table, contributing to the company's success and helping to drive growth. He has seamlessly been able to navigate between education and industry and has helped countless others do the same. Lastly, his entrepreneurial spirit has led him to launch transform.forward, bringing innovative ideas to life and continuously pushing boundaries in their respective fields. With a passion for education, technology, and innovation, Dr. Cebulski is a valuable asset to any team or organization.
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Featured Podcast
Dr. Cebulski was an invited guest on the NASPA SA: Voices from the Field podcast. Without doubt, the student affairs profession thrives on sharing our stories, learning from each other, and elevating the one of kind voices of our colleagues. Join us as we sit down with an SA storyteller that may tell you something completely new or share a story that mirrors and affirms your own experience.