Our Model

Outdoor Experiential Learning... Magical things happened when we ran our first outdoor-based leadership program in the woods of northern Maine in 1991. The learning environment went through the roof - and that has continued in every outdoor program we have run since then. The techno-speak reasons for outdoor experiential learning include rapidly creating group equality, developing strong teams, providing disequilibrium, utilizing projective techniques, fostering meta learning, decreasing cycle times, managing chaos, kinesthetic imprinting, creating common languages, and yes, it's also a lot of fun.

Leadership, Management, and Business Training... We utilize state-of-the-art competency development tools and assessments from the Harvard Business School, Fortune 500, and leading consulting companies. Our model develops 90 core competencies. Our founder was recently named one of the best leadership educators in the country - not bad...

Emotional Intelligence (EI)/Awaken the Passion... Research shows that 90-95% of your success in senior level positions is tied to emotional intelligence. So why have EI scores among young people in the USA dropped in 41 of the 42 EI categories? Emotional Intelligence can be developed and we utilize the best emotional intelligence training tools on the planet to drive your EI through the roof - virtually guaranteeing your success in life.

Systems Thinking... Our motto, "One Earth, One People, One Global Community" reflects the inter-connected reality of today's world. Helping students learn "how to think," we identify the parts of systems and determine what is and isn't connected/interconnected. We delve into the relationships the individuals parts have on each other and the whole - avoiding "unintended consequences" when we alter parts of systems. After we think we have it nailed, we move outside our own paradigms, viewing our systems models from the perspective of others with different viewpoints, backgrounds, and agendas.

Whether we are working on issues large or small, systems thinking is one of the most important skills any of us will build in our lifetimes. It is also one of the biggest knowledge gaps in the people we work with around the world.

Social Entrepreneurship... Our students build capabilities in underserved populations at home and abroad. Our work is focused in five key areas:

• Education/Human Capacity Building
• Environment and Agriculture
• Safe Water and Sanitation
• Healthcare
• Critical Infrastructure

Sustainable Environment... Our work to create sustainable environmental practices at home and abroad.

• We strap on crampons and grab our ice axes to explore Switzerland's receding glaciers. We see first-hand what the Swiss are doing to stop the rapid melting.
• We hike to Mount Kilimanjaro's rapidly shrinking snowcap and work with experts to explore the impact on local populations who count on that water for survival.
• We explore the last remaining glaciers and snowfields in US National Parks. We don't look forward to the day when Glacier National Park no longer has glaciers.
• Our work takes us all around the globe and also into our backyards - there is opportunity everywhere.

Ongoing Coaching and Mentoring... Our participants work with executives, educators, consultants, doctors, olympians, authors, and more. College students in our programs are eligible for the CGL Fellowship program and internships at leading partner corporations, NGOs and CGL.