Enter almost any elementary, middle, or high school building across the United States and you will see females greatly dominate the classroom. The number of females working as principals or assistant principals is also growing. However, the highest level of administration, district superintendent, is largely dominated by males. Over three-quarters of teachers are female; slightly more than half of principals are female. Conversely, less than a quarter of the K12 superintendents are women. The purpose of this study was to investigate the K12 school events, opportunities, and experiences that served to develop the leadership qualities of those women who have achieved the top leadership role, the superintendency, in the field of K12 education. The specific problem is that until school districts better understand the K12 events, opportunities, and experiences that helped women become top leaders, it will take much longer for women to realize gender parity. This phenomenological study involved semi-structured interviews conducted with six female superintendents who worked in six different United States census divisions at the time of the study. A six-phase thematic analysis approach was used to investigate the K12 school events, opportunities, and experiences that contributed to the development of leadership qualities in six interviewees. Eight themes emerged pertaining to the investigation. The eight themes were: (1) school events have a positive impact, (2) define leadership for greater impact, (3) recognize leadership for greater impact, (4) extended education helps develop leadership qualities, (5) extracurricular activities help develop leadership qualities, (6) mentorship opportunities help develop leadership qualities, (7) exposure to diversity helps leadership development, and (8) life experiences help leadership development. The findings offer further support for the interactive and dynamic influence individuals, the setting, and behaviors have on the social and cognitive development of K12 female students. Further research should be completed on finding ways to more rapidly increase the number of female leaders.