In January 2012, a group of four school library professors attending the ALA Midwinter Meeting were having lunch and discussing various issues related to the school library field. These school library professors agreed that one challenge facing the profession is preparing future leaders. As current school library leaders retire, it is difficult to identify people who will step into these leadership roles. These four colleagues shared what they had tried to implement in the past to alleviate this situation, including applying for funds to subsidize the tuition for school library doctoral candidates or to create a self-sustaining doctoral program for school librarians to prepare them to become school library professors or high-level district leaders. None of these possible solutions had become reality. From this one ordinary lunch--a common occurrence at various conferences--came a commitment from these professors to explore further possibilities for cultivating the next generation of leaders for the school library profession. This article traces the evolution of Nxt Wave, Leaders for 21st Century School Libraries. The purpose of the project was to provide training and mentoring for the "next wave" of school library leaders. The NxtWave sponsors developed four guiding principles that drive the NxtWave project. NxtWave Scholars will: (1) Develop a depth of knowledge about their school library profession; (2) Be visible and engaged leaders in their professional community; (3) Articulate an informed vision for the profession; and (4) Create and contribute to the knowledge base of the profession. In addition, the original Invited Scholars' Retreat (ISR) that the four colleagues attended allowed the four to begin the initial planning of the project, develop a timeline, identify the requirements for applicants, and begin planning the curriculum.