Special Issue: School Counseling Leadership in Practice Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies: A Leadership Framework for Professional School Counselors Manivong J. Ratts 1 and Arie T. Greenleaf 1 Abstract The need for a multicultural and social justice leadership approach is critical considering today’s political climate that threatens the academic, career, and personal potential of students who are marginalized in school settings. We offer a leadership framework using the main constructs of the Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies. This leadership framework provides school counselors with a model to address issues of oppression impacting students. Keywords leadership, multicultural, school counseling, social justice The multicultural and social justice counseling movement faces daunting challenges in supporting marginalized students in U.S. schools. Emboldened by divisive political rhetoric and the rise of White nationalists into central positions of power in the White House, many of those with extremist right-wing views toward immigrants; Muslims; Jews; and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) individuals are openly expressing their hateful speech in a manner not seen in the United States in decades. This divisive rhetoric has stoked fears and racial tensions in America’s schools (Freedom du Lac, 2016). School personnel and other stakeholders cannot expect marginalized students to reach their potential if they feel unsafe or if they lack resources for success (Kozol, 2005). These threats underscore the critical need for school counselors to be more proactive multicultural and social justice leaders in their schools (Holcomb-McCoy, 2007). School personnel and other stakeholders cannot expect marginalized students to reach their potential if they feel unsafe or if they lack resources for success. Calls for school counselors to be leaders are not new. National initiatives have addressed the need for school coun- selors to become more active leaders in the education process. The ASCA National Model from the American School Coun- selor Association (ASCA, 2012) emphasizes the themes of leadership, advocacy, collaboration, and systemic change. Under this model, school counselors are encouraged to be lead- ers in their schools; comprehensive in their scope of efforts to support students’ academic, social/emotional, and career devel- opment; and responsible for removing systemic barriers to aca- demic achievement. Education Trust (2009), in its definition of school counseling, also positions school counselors firmly in the role of leaders and advocates to support all students in pursuing dreams of high aspiration. Models of school counseling leadership are well represented in the scholarly literature (Davis, 2005; Stone & Dahir, 2006, 2007; Dollarhide, 2003; Erford, 2014; Mason & McMahon, 2009; Northouse, 2016; P´ erusse & Goodnough, 2004; Sink, 2009). Sink (2009), for example, underscored the importance of accountability leadership. School counselors practicing this type of leadership demonstrate a high level of personal owner- ship in the school’s outcomes and mission and are not deterred from voicing and acting upon their beliefs and commitments. As leaders in their schools, school counselors’ emphasis on accountability ties the counseling program into other school- wide initiatives. Another leadership theory that has gained con- siderable attention in the field is transformational leadership (Northouse, 2016). Transformational leaders are, according to Northouse (2016), change agents and advocates that work col- laboratively with others through an egalitarian process in which 1 Department of Leadership and Professional Studies, Seattle University, Seattle, WA, USA Corresponding Author: Manivong J. Ratts, PhD, Department of Leadership and Professional Studies, Seattle University, Seattle, WA, USA. Email: vong@seattleu.edu Professional School Counseling Volume 21(1b): 1-9 ª 2018 American School Counselor Association Reprints and permission: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/2156759X18773582 journals.sagepub.com/home/pcx