2026 SPARC National Conference

Led by Executive Director and Founder Nat Saltonstall, this opening session will set the tone for the conference ahead and inspire attendees to make the most of their time together.

Ian Symmonds is a strategist, author, and advisor to independent schools and colleges around the world. After 15 years in senior leadership roles at private schools, colleges, and universities — driving enrollment growth and institutional turnarounds — he founded Ian Symmonds & Associates (ISA) in 2003.  Ian leads every ISA engagement personally, from the first conversation to the last — the same continuity of relationship clients have counted on since 2003.

Ian's leadership career spans Pacific University, Culver-Stockton College, Saint Mary's Hall, and Trinity University, where he served as a senior officer, executive director, and dean. He has lived in Boston, San Antonio, Portland, Chicago, and San Diego, and has worked with institutions across Europe, Mexico, Puerto Rico, South America, Canada, the Middle East, and Asia — over two decades and thousands of client engagements.

In 2011, he launched #JustCause, connecting ISA with organizations tackling social issues through education. The initiative partners with nonprofits on projects spanning access and equity, youth sport development, and community rebuilding — reflecting Ian's belief that independent institutions carry influence well beyond their own gates.

His work sits at the intersection of strategy, education, sport, and social impact — helping leadership teams and their boards navigate complexity, clarify direction, and build long-term relevance.

A former competitive tennis professional, Ian sees his practitioner's lens as shaped by discipline, curiosity, and pattern recognition — a student of culture and human nature, always learning and reflecting. Husband, father, and aspiring guitarist, he's convinced that some of life's best thinking happens on a motorcycle, and that the journey usually teaches more than the destination.

This event is sponsored by CampBrain.

This event is sponsored by Homeroom.

Some of the best ideas in auxiliary programming are already happening within the SPARC community. In this fast-paced general session, six SPARC members will take the stage to share an innovative idea, program, solution, or strategy that has made a difference at their school.

Using the PechaKucha presentation format - 20 slides, 20 seconds each - presenters will have just under seven minutes to tell their story. Expect a rapid-fire mix of creative programs, fresh approaches, lessons learned, and ideas worth borrowing, all drawn from the real-world experiences of your SPARC colleagues.

The goal is to showcase the ingenuity happening across our community and send attendees home with new possibilities for their own school. Six presenters. Six stories. Plenty of inspiration, and maybe the spark for your next great idea.