There is a question that has been at the forefront of leadership development studies from the outset: Are leaders made or are they born?
From our vantage, the answer is both.
Human beings have the capacity to achieve and thrive. The brain develops neurologically via challenges, and it is committing to the right challenges and points of focus that make us who we are.
Our collective capacity to imagine and deliver increasingly capable human development programming and skill-building technologies for youth can then allow us to evolve at high speed.
That said, different young people are born with different capacities. Their journeys to authentic leadership and high impact lives are necessarily different. In Hope’s work providing the curricula and tools to develop youth leaders, we assume at every step that inquiry-based learning approaches—which bring out the capacities and leadership elements in participants from the inside—are the keys to help them become the powerful contributors they can be.
Hope’s ability to develop leaders globally with our partners in youth advocacy requires approaches that are scalable, cost effective, and high touch.
If you've been following our growth and work via photographs, video clips, and interviews with students and staff, you have seen the transformative arc that kids, teens, and young adults experience. Our evaluation data of the participants' progress is equally powerful.
Participating youth show substantial improvement in leadership skills, self-confidence, and their abilities to manage stress, conflict, and complicated life circumstances. In addition, they consistently became better team builders, communicators, and friends to one another. It takes time.
So how does Hope deliver on the promise?
Hope is differentiated by four key elements.
Are youth leaders made or born?
We are excited to continue to answer that question with you, as our partners build and grow to develop exciting cohorts of young talent who want to have a powerful impact on their communities.
From our vantage, the answer is both.
Human beings have the capacity to achieve and thrive. The brain develops neurologically via challenges, and it is committing to the right challenges and points of focus that make us who we are.
Our collective capacity to imagine and deliver increasingly capable human development programming and skill-building technologies for youth can then allow us to evolve at high speed.
That said, different young people are born with different capacities. Their journeys to authentic leadership and high impact lives are necessarily different. In Hope’s work providing the curricula and tools to develop youth leaders, we assume at every step that inquiry-based learning approaches—which bring out the capacities and leadership elements in participants from the inside—are the keys to help them become the powerful contributors they can be.
Hope’s ability to develop leaders globally with our partners in youth advocacy requires approaches that are scalable, cost effective, and high touch.
If you've been following our growth and work via photographs, video clips, and interviews with students and staff, you have seen the transformative arc that kids, teens, and young adults experience. Our evaluation data of the participants' progress is equally powerful.
Participating youth show substantial improvement in leadership skills, self-confidence, and their abilities to manage stress, conflict, and complicated life circumstances. In addition, they consistently became better team builders, communicators, and friends to one another. It takes time.
So how does Hope deliver on the promise?
Hope is differentiated by four key elements.
- Our 12-module leadership curriculum is a cornerstone asset that we developed in collaboration with our partners at The Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds at MGH. Learning module topics include key leadership competencies such as Conflict Resolution, Self-Awareness, Relationship Skills, Team Building, Mindfulness, and Values & Community.
- Our digital gateway provides scaled, cost-efficient delivery to sites around the United State and now internationally. With educational partners in sites as diverse as New York City and as distant as India and Sierra Leone, we provide individualized and culturally-tailored support to ensure a high level of success.
- Our partnering model creates a foundation for reliability, quality, and expansive growth. Our program is unique in that it supports best-in-class youth advocacy organizations that already have relationships with young people from low-income neighborhoods to build meaningful and lasting programs that develop leaders of character—and counteract the effects of toxic stress.
- Ground-up learning elements, such as our leadership video library created by community and youth participants, bring a highly-tailored and meaningful approach that resonates with students. Each learning module is infused with youth-centric storytelling, art, and creative media that galvanize youth in new ways and support auditory, visual and kinesthetic learners. As youth progress through the 12 modules, they earn certificates of achievement that can help distinguish them on school and job applications, and are able to take more prominent leadership roles within the learning modules and act as formal mentors to younger students.
Are youth leaders made or born?
We are excited to continue to answer that question with you, as our partners build and grow to develop exciting cohorts of young talent who want to have a powerful impact on their communities.
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