Designing and Leading Change integrates systems thinking, organizational development, and transformative practice to equip change agents for complex environments.

The Designing and Leading Change Certificate is a program offered through Meridian University's Center for Transformative Learning. Designed for professionals seeking to develop expertise in facilitating organizational and systemic transformation, the certificate draws on Meridian's graduate curriculum in organizational development to provide a comprehensive foundation in change leadership.
As a certificate participant, you will take courses from the anchor and other parts of Meridian's graduate curriculum offered during the period of your enrollment. This means you will engage with the same rigorous, faculty-led coursework that graduate students experience, tailored to the certificate's focus on designing and leading change processes.
Designing and Leading Change is an interdisciplinary approach that draws on systems thinking, organizational development, and transformative learning to equip professionals with the knowledge and skills needed to facilitate meaningful change in complex environments. This approach recognizes that sustainable change requires both strategic design and adaptive leadership -- the capacity to see patterns, engage stakeholders, and navigate the emergent dynamics that arise when systems undergo transformation.
Meridian's organizational development curriculum provides the intellectual and practical grounding for this certificate. Coursework emphasizes cultural transformation, appreciative inquiry, action inquiry, multicultural collaboration, simulation-based practices, and the OD consultation cycle. Sample courses such as Systems Theory and Practice; Creative, Generative, and Appreciative Approaches to Inquiry; Sense-Making and Meaning-Making in Organizations; and Transforming Organizational Cultures equip certificate participants with methods drawn from the forefront of organizational development practice.
Organizations and communities worldwide face unprecedented complexity, from technological disruption to social and environmental challenges. The organizational development field emphasizes leadership and development across institutional domains including business, nonprofits, NGOs, government, education, law, and the arts. The ability to design and lead change processes that are responsive, inclusive, and generative has become a critical competency for leaders across all of these sectors. Change practitioners serve in diverse roles including organizational consultants, executive leaders, community organizers, and social innovators, bringing the skills needed to facilitate transformation at every level.


$476 per credit
Total certificate cost: $7,616 (16 credits)
Credits earned through the certificate may be applied toward a Meridian University graduate degree program, as applicable.
The Designing and Leading Change Certificate is part of Meridian University's California state approval and WSCUC (WASC) accreditation. WSCUC is a higher education accreditor recognized by the United States Department of Education. WSCUC is also the accreditor for Stanford University, UCLA, and the University of California at Berkeley.
The Designing and Leading Change Certificate is a 16-credit program offered by Meridian University that provides a comprehensive foundation in Designing and Leading Change. The certificate draws on courses from Meridian's graduate curriculum, offering rigorous, faculty-led coursework aligned with the certificate's focus area.
The certificate can be completed in as few as 6 months (taking 8 credits per quarter) or up to 12 months (taking 4 credits per quarter). Each course is 4 credits, and the program requires a total of 16 credits.
Tuition for the Designing and Leading Change Certificate is $476 per credit. The total cost for the 16-credit certificate is $7,616.
Yes. Credits earned in the Designing and Leading Change Certificate may be applied toward a Meridian University graduate degree program, as applicable. This allows you to build on your certificate work if you choose to pursue further graduate study at Meridian.
Yes. The Designing and Leading Change Certificate is part of Meridian University's California state approval and WSCUC (WASC) accreditation. WSCUC is a higher education accreditor recognized by the United States Department of Education, and is also the accreditor for Stanford University, UCLA, and the University of California at Berkeley.
Certificate participants take courses from Meridian's graduate curriculum that are offered during the period of their enrollment. The specific courses available each quarter are drawn from the anchor and other parts of the graduate curriculum, providing a rich and varied learning experience grounded in the certificate's focus area.
You will need an email account, a high-speed internet connection, and access to a computer, iOS or Android device.
For live video sessions, you will need a webcam and microphone for your device. Course video calls are conducted with participants video-enabled.
The certificate requires four courses. At Meridian, each course is 4 credits, so the 16-credit certificate is completed by taking four courses. You can take up to two courses per quarter (8 credits) to finish in 6 months, or one course per quarter (4 credits) to finish in 12 months.
The program support team will be available to assist from start to finish. Please send your questions, requests, or issues to admissions@meridianuniversity.edu
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