In this first episode of In Practice, Dr Pamela J. Ferrada talks with Nicholas Stellitano, a Harvard Kennedy School alumnus who spent 20 years in the US Marine Corps, including as a jet pilot with two combat deployments to Iraq. Today he is Managing Director and Co-Founder of Dillinger Research and Applied Data, where he helps schools and youth-serving organisations use data to make better decisions for young people.

Nick shares what running low on fuel over the Gulf taught him about staying calm under pressure, why an ancient Greek dilemma still shapes how he thinks about fairness, and why people so rarely make truly data-driven decisions. Together they explore trust, school boundaries, resistance to change, and where AI genuinely helps (and where the hype gets ahead of reality).

📄 Free companion resources Executive Brief: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DoLMPVqRpCialoF5Hzj1YO7wvIDxCGSZ/view?usp=sharing Leadership Journal: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EUyIxkpe3dhGvupoA4dUw_BD1Ai5HKw9/view?usp=sharing

🎥 The full video conversation is on YouTube from Monday 16 November.

Chapters 00:00 Cold open 01:01 Introduction 02:08 Leadership principles from combat, and the Ajax dilemma 06:13 Staying calm when the fuel runs low 09:14 From the cockpit to the classroom 11:34 High standards without losing the human side 13:22 Recovering when things don’t go as planned 14:51 Misconceptions about leading under pressure 16:30 Trust and transparency 19:23 Data, schools and decisions that shape opportunity 23:09 What makes educational data different 26:58 School boundaries and fairness 29:05 The metrics that matter 31:35 When the data doesn’t match expectations 34:46 What sits beneath resistance 36:35 Supporting leaders through uncomfortable data 38:38 Absorbing emotion: be the wall 40:42 AI and the future of learning 43:03 Where AI helps, and what gives hope 45:45 Hype versus reality 47:21 The core three 49:32 Closing

Host: Dr Pamela J. Ferrada, Vice President, Harvard Alumni for Education Guest: Nicholas Stellitano, Managing Director & Co-Founder, Dillinger Research and Applied Data

Follow Harvard Alumni for Education on LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook. Contact: harvardaed@gmail.com

Music: “Achievement” by Bluewave (freetouse.com)

In Practice is produced by the Harvard Alumni for Education Special Interest Group. Views expressed are those of the speakers.

In every episode, we interview exceptional leaders from Harvard University's global network, including renowned faculty, accomplished alumni, and affiliated scholars. Our conversations explore leadership, innovation, and lifelong learning across education, research, and professional practice.

In this trailer, you'll hear from:

• Richard Weissbourd, Senior Lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and director of Making Caring Common Project.
• Nicholas Stellitano, Harvard Kennedy School alum, former Marine Corps pilot and co-founder of Dillinger Research and Applied Data.
• Margaret Wang-Aghania, Harvard Graduate School of Education alum and co-founder of SubjectToClimate.
• Christian Gossan, featured Harvard Business Review expert and managing director of Sharpen Advisory.
• Pankaj Agarwal, Harvard Business School alum and founder and CEO of TagHive.

Every episode comes with two free companion resources: an Executive Brief with the key insights, and a Leadership Journal to help you put them into practice.

New episodes every second Monday. Follow In Practice wherever you get your podcasts.

Music: "Achievement" by Bluewave, from Free To Use Music (freetouse.com)