The Educational Leadership Project (ELP) is a professional development programme attuned to the curriculum and assessment approaches of Te Whariki, New Zealand's early childhood curriculum framework. ELP encourages and supports early childhood teachers to adapt of Te Whariki to their situations. This article links the author's community development experiences to the development of ELP, and examines ELP's key features and vision for educational leadership and its effectiveness in inspiring and developing leadership and empowering staff within early childhood centres. (Contains 1 figure.)