The Institute will be based on a collaborative effort that will encourage participants to develop personal motivation by providing opportunities for individuals to use their talents and strengths. This approach will lead to greater commitments on the part of team members through active participation in decision-making. Thus, the group will develop a sense of collective strength that will lessen their feelings of not being able to make a difference. This retreat seeks to address these issues in the context of the curriculum outlined above. An organization is as effective as its people.
People breathe life, purpose, and energy into any non-profit entity.
A leader's ability to stimulate professional and institutional growth is an indicator of his or her own self-confidence, competency, and willingness to empower, rather than wield power. Courage and integrity are two powerful attributes in achieving the kind of professionalism that the Institute will encourage youth to adopt. Through the intensive training at the Institute, students will develop the skills required to work with a partnering organization in defining a project that will mutually benefit both the individual and the agency. Institute facilitators will help the young people selected for participation develop confidence in their own abilities to manage and lead, establish personal and professional goals that are clear and achievable, and embrace a compelling belief in the selected organization's goals and the importance of seeing that they are accomplished. The Institute will also address the principal issues confronting non-profits today.