Our Wildwood, Volume 54

FEATURE Leading with Purpose

THE SINGULAR EMBODIMENT

WILDWOOD TODAY AND TOMORROW

Landis has been a transformative head of school, turning Wildwood’s aspirations into realities.”

His strategic foresight was both ambitious and confident. Specifically, Landis understood that Wildwood’s future could not be secured without prioritizing the school’s financial health. He knew that increasing our fundraising capacity was essential to Wildwood’s growth and reputation and so, from the earliest days of his tenure, he worked to shift the culture around giving and philanthropy. That started with him, and the ease and frequency with which he invited community members to join him in making the school “a philanthropic priority.” But he also knew that families, no matter how many ways you asked them, would never support a school that wasn’t worthy of their investment. The school had to be better than good; so, he made it great—and the support followed. In the last decade, the Wildwood Fund has grown to $2M annually, double the size it was when Landis arrived. Five years ago, he also oversaw a record breaking capital campaign to improve the upper campus facility and help maintain boosted teacher compensation. With three well-funded endowments, two of which he established, and assets nearing $82M, the school has never been healthier, more resilient, or better positioned to capitalize on opportunities in the future. Landis recognized early in his tenure that we were an innovative school with an extraordinary community and that his legacy was not just to nurture Wildwood’s strengths and make a great program even better. He saw that his greatest contribution would be in securing our long-term future through creating a culture of philanthropy where families saw philanthropy as a shared investment in the school’s values and vision.”

NINA JACOBSON (P. ‘19, ‘25) BOARD OF TRUSTEES (2006-2022)

It would be hard to overstate Landis’ contribution to the future stability and long-term success of Wildwood. A testament to his faith in the school has been his commitment to ensuring it. He didn’t just lead to get Wildwood through; he has led the school right into the future.

The Wildwood School that Landis leaves behind is very different from the one he entered as head 19 years ago. In 2007, our secondary school was an unproven experiment, and the larger school’s culture still kept some traces of its origins as a countercultural institution. Today, the secondary school is thriving, and we have navigated the dangerous rapids to become not just a genuine independent school, but a leading one. Not just in Los Angeles, but across the United States. Simply put, Landis has taken us from a yet-to-be-proven concept to a definitive presence in the global education world, while retaining every bit of our essential progressive nature. This is no small feat, and I believe it is his most rare and enduring accomplishment.”

MARC FRANKEL BOARD OF TRUSTEES (2007-PRESENT)

JOEL BRAND (P. ‘20, ‘21) BOARD CHAIR (2017-2020) BOARD OF TRUSTEES (2010-PRESENT)

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