Laura Singel Scott, Maryvale’s Director of the Patricia J. Mitchell ’65 Leadership Institute, was awarded the 2025 Choosing Leadership Champion Award, started by Dr. Linda Ginzel. Dr. Ginzel, a clinical professor of managerial psychology at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, created the award. An award-winning educator, she authored the best-selling book Choosing Leadership, whose latest edition adds practical Leadership Modules to help individuals and groups build what she calls Leadership Capital—the courage, wisdom, and capacity to decide when to manage and when to lead.
At this time of year, as she reflects on her mission to change the global conversation about leadership, she recognizes an annual Choosing Leadership Champion. The work she did at Maryvale stood out in her mind, as she reached her youngest audience ever and engaged the entire school. Dr. Ginzel asked Scott to be among her Choosing Leadership Champions.
Scott is being honored for her exceptional work bringing Choosing Leadership to the entire Maryvale community during the Mitchell Leadership Institute’s 10th anniversary celebration.
Through her visionary leadership, Scott has championed Ginzel’s core principles—increasing courage, capacity, wisdom, and choice—empowering young women at Maryvale Preparatory School to recognize that leadership is not a position reserved for a select few, but rather a series of intentional choices available to everyone.
Dr. Ginzel expressed, “Scott has created opportunities for students to develop their unique leadership voices and understand that leading means making the risky choice to leave the relative stability of the present to create a better future. Her dedication has transformed how an entire community understands and practices leadership, making her a worthy recipient of this prestigious recognition during this milestone anniversary year for the Maryvale community.”
We are grateful for Scott's commitment to our students. She was overwhelmed with gratitude when receiving this honor. She shared that she and Dr. Ginzel have the same thought process when it comes to leadership—that it must be authentic and intentional, rooted in a deep belief that our voices and choices matter.
Dr. Ginzel was the keynote speaker for the culmination event in spring 2025, celebrating the Mitchell Leadership Institute’s 10-year anniversary. She spoke with parents and employees and had strong engagement with our students.
“Watching our students step into that truth—to speak up, take risks, and imagine a better future—has been one of the greatest privileges of my life. This recognition belongs to our students and to the Maryvale community that believes so fiercely in their voices. Thank you to the Mitchell Leadership Institute team and to everyone who has chosen to grow alongside us over these ten years with a transformative vision for the future. Leadership is not a position—it’s a choice. And I’m so thankful to be part of a community that chooses courage and joy again and again.”
