Interested in joining the adventure? NextGen Academy's full year program comprises the best of the best of what we have to offer. 10 months of intense training, unbeatable support and an all-in-all unforgettable experience. Here's a breakdown of how we develop our NextGen leaders of tomorrow:
Our trimester system
Sept-Dec - Finding True Strength
The first 3 months can be described as a sort of life boot camp: we ask participants to remove their dependencies of convenience and challenge them to live outside their comfort zone. This enables one to face who they really are and reflect on who they want to be. The only person preventing us from leading lives of true passion and achievement is ourselves and so the first trimester is focused on breaking down our own internal barriers; opening the opportunity to step into who we're truly capable of becoming.
This time is devoted to a number of workshops and training exercises to help participants dig deep within themselves to find new sources of strength and internal fortitude, develop stronger bonds of communication and connection, and gain the practical and technical skills of project development and delivery. During this time, participants may also be developing their future Momentum presentations and International Service Project.
The first trimester also includes a series of fundraising campaigns to help develop public speaking, confidence, and sales experience. Participants set personal and team goals, learn to communicate value, and work hard (very hard) to support their service work. Many experts agree that sales training is essential for effective leadership, and this is a core element of NGA's training curriculum.
The result after only 3 months? Participants transition from a class of students to a family of leaders, and are equipped with the tools to inspire and empower others.
Jan-April - Birth of a Leader
We pride ourselves on being able to produce dynamic leaders, who have vision, take initiative, and get things done. After the intensive training of the first trimester, participants now step up and each take on leadership roles within the program. Fundraising campaigns will now be led by a participant as opposed to a member of our staff. Workshops will now be designed, coordinated, and carried out by those who just a couple months earlier, served as attendees. After collectively planning and developing an international service project, small groups of 3 or 4 will go abroad to serve in various countries, implementing the programs that they have created. They will be teachers; they will be event planners; they will stand in front of others and empower them to make positive steps in their lives.
It is this process of taking ownership over the program that provides the greatest source of personal transformation. There is nothing more powerful than setting an intention to accomplish a goal, and then stepping into the realization that you are capable of achieving anything you put your mind to. During this metamorphic phase, participants will know with certainty - because they experience it first-hand - that they are leaders, and that their potential (and value) is without bound.
May-August- Sharing the Treasure
So what do you do once you've become a leader? Traveling across the world to implement a self-designed service project and empowering youth through a self-driven anti-bullying campaign certainly seem like fitting conclusions to an already epic story...
But, as with life... there is always another chapter to be written.
On the foundation of all the training and experiences they have received, the participants become autonomous with program staff, and as a collective unit, NextGen Academy seeks to share their experience with others. Participants combine their passions, talents, and personal insight to create their own unique leadership development program for young adults. They will receive a brand new group of youth and lead them through an entirely new growth experience; what NGA has appropriately titled: the Summer Challenge.
The full length of the Summer Challenge is run entirely by the participants. All aspects of the program are in their hands, from establishing the program purpose and designing the schedule, to raising all necessary funds and coordinating all activities. All logistics, food, travel, schedule, content, activities, teams, etc. are all determined and delivered by full-year participants. As a team, they must learn how to live and work together in order to create a vehicle for others to grow. The pressure is on!
Epilogue
After graduating from NextGen Academy, the world welcomes another batch of passionate, altruistic leaders; inspired and empowered to be agents of positive change. But the journey does not end with graduation. If anything, it has just begun! For NGA is nothing more than a metaphor for life: obstacles will not stop being placed in your path, opportunities will not cease to occur every second of every day, and happiness, success, and true community will not stop being presented as possibilities right before your very eyes...
If you would only reach out,
grab,
and take it.
Interested in joining the adventure? Apply today!