FAQ's

What do you do?

We are developing the next generation of inspired entrepreneurs around the planet to help change the way our world works.

Is this just a program for wealthy individuals?

Over 50% of our students receive scholarships to attend our programs. Our programs are designed to bring together individuals from various countries, cultures, races, religions, and income levels. We have students ranging from multi-millionaires to young people from families making $1 per day.

Who is on your team?

We are a lean organization, with a small core leadership team for day-to-day operations. To-date, we have had no paid employees, but that will have to change this year (darn those mortgages and tuition payments for the kids). The rest of our team volunteer as their schedules permit. Located around the world, our volunteers are students, Fortune 500 executives, professors, secondary school teachers, olympians, doctors, authors, consultants, engineers, lawyers, artists, film-makers, musicians, religious leaders, and more.

How is this different than our regular school?

Our programs compliment traditional school approaches. We provide highly-specialized leadership, emotional intelligence , business, and systems training - action-based learning experiences you wouldn't typically get in the classroom. Most of our courses and conferences operate during your school breaks.

Do you collaborate with others in your work?

We are all about collaboration. Collaboration is the only way we are going to be successful in changing the way our world works. Our collaboration partners are located all around the globe.

Why the leadership, management, and business training?

Because high performing skills from successful entrepreneurs, leading business schools, and top Fortune 500 companies are needed to accelerate outcomes on the social innovation front. The new social entrepreneurs are about rapid and efficient operational execution.

What is emotional intelligence?

The ability to identify, assess, and manage the emotions of one's self, of others, and of groups. One of the most critical skills in leading and managing global initiatives. Research states that 85-95% of success in executives is determined by emotional intelligence (critical). A new study just showed that students with focused emotional intelligence training enjoyed an 11% grade advantage over students without emotional intelligence training.

Who does the training?

Fortune 500 executives, professors, secondary school teachers, olympians, consultants, authors, and more...

Are your programs fun?

Like you wouldn't believe. We have a ridiculous amount of fun and adventure while working to change the way the world works.

Why are you outdoor based?

Outdoor experiential learning is a great compliment to traditional classroom, providing meta learning, reduced cycle times, projection techniques, fear breakthroughs, and much more. We are also firm believers in the transformational powers of nature - physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

The programs sound physically demanding, can I do it?

While most of our programs have outdoor components, they are easily handled by people in moderate shape.

Are your programs safe?

Very safe. While you will work hard and push your boundaries and paradigms, our programs are built first and foremost around safety of the individual and group.

Will I be with people my own age?

Our programs are grouped by age levels. Typical splits are 13 - 15, 16 - 18, Bachelors, Masters, PhD Candidates.

Are your programs co-ed?

We offer both co-ed and gender specific programs through out the year.

What's this global cohesion stuff?

In our roles leading businesses, it became evident early-on that the best results were coming from global teams made up of individuals with diverse strengths, thoughts, values, beliefs, and skills. We choose to follow the premise that people can learn to work together, gaining immense strength from both our similarities and our differences - especially our differences.

Why invest in economic develpment versus aid?

It's pretty simple, the evidence shows that aid does not work. Aid is not sustainable. Aid doesn't build any individual or village level capabilities.

Capacity-building investments are the key to helping people onto the first rung of the economic development ladder. Our participants invest in people who have great ideas, but no capital to start sustainable micro-enterprise. With just a little capital, our funding allows individuals to start businesses - they take it from there. 97% repayment rates within the microfinance industry pretty much sum up the success of micro-lending. CGL has a 100% repayment rate on our loans in the developing world (investing in the poor is good business).

Are you environmental and social fanatics?

We care deeply about the earth and those who live on it. We believe that collaboration between interested parties is the key to creating balanced solutions. Polarization leads to dead-end paths and faulty outcomes.

Are you a training ground for the Peace Corps?

We get that question asked a lot. The entrepreneurial skillsets you learn in our programs will accelerate your success in whatever field you choose. Our hope is that you will apply social innovation, environmental sustainability, and global cohesion principles as you advance in your chosen career. We also hope you pass on those philosophies to others as well. If you choose to volunteer in the Peace Corps at some point in your career, that is great, but it is not part of our mission.

Are you a religious organization?

We include people from all religious beliefs. Our programs include teach individuals from various nations, religions, races, cultures, and income levels how to work together - forging strong bonds of friendship through their similarities, but also finding much strength and value in their differences.

Are you a political organization?

As a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, we do not promote any one political party, politcal candidate, or political party agendas. We believe the only solution to global issues is for people of all backgrounds, values, and beliefs to work together for the common good. If we had to say where we fall in the spectrum, we would probably call ourselves intellectual moderates - people who carefully seek to understand the issues and debates of all parties before making our own decisions.