Lisa Rosenstein, head of school at The Willows Community School in Culver City, is the recipient of the 2025 Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence Marvin Maurer Award recognizing an outstanding educator who has made a significant difference in children’s lives and leadership in implementing Yale’s RULER social emotional learning program. The award was presented at the 2025 Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence Implementation Conference in New Haven, Conn., in October by Marc Brackett, director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and Co-Creator of RULER, a systemic approach to social and emotional learning.
The Marvin Maurer Award recognizes educators who have made an outstanding commitment to embedding emotional intelligence into the fabric of a school, district or community, and who are committed to using the power of emotions to create a healthier and more equitable, innovative and compassionate society. With this award, Rosenstein is being distinguished among hundreds of thousands of RULER educators across 27 countries.
“I share this award with my dedicated faculty, administration and staff for their efforts in seamlessly and creatively integrating social emotional learning into our classrooms and daily school life,” Rosenstein said. “We have had many opportunities to share RULER with our colleagues and continue to embrace those experiences. Community is an intentional part of our name, and one of the ways we reflect that culture is by forwarding the impact of social emotional learning.”
The Willows, a DK-8 co-ed, independent school, enrolls 470 students from more than 50 zip codes annually. As a balanced progressive educational leader, experiential learning, technology and arts are integrated into cutting-edge curriculum. Seeking a diversity of race, ethnicity and socioeconomics, 43% of students at The Willows are students of color.
