Leading Schools Leading Global Change The World Leading Schools Association (WLSA) was established in 2011 at the 5th World Leading Schools Forum held in New York. Over the previous eight years, heads from secondary schools all over the world had discussed ways to develop enhanced understanding and cooperation between schools. From these discussions grew the desire to create a formal association of selected leading schools around the world. WLSA is based in Amstelveen (The Netherlands), Beijing and Shanghai (China). Ever since, WLSA acts as a platform to lead global change in secondary education by serving schools and school leaders so they may develop leading, innovative programs for their students to develop into the leaders of their generation.