The CEELO Leadership Academy (LA) was designed to strengthen leadership and management competencies of individuals with responsibility for early childhood education programs in state departments of education (SEAs) or state early learning agencies (ELAs). The design of the Academy is based on Building Capacity Through an Early Education Leadership Academy, a policy brief by Dr. Stacie Goffin, commissioned by CEELO. The paper incorporates information gathered from a targeted literature review, a broad survey of leadership needs among state early learning specialists, and targeted interviews with specialists at varied levels of early education leadership within their agencies and organizations. (author abstract)