ABOUT NEXTGEN ACADEMY

The NextGen Academy (NGA) is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization based in Seattle. It is an innovative leadership program for high-school graduates that offers tools for personal and professional development, serving locally and globally. As of 2010, we have two centers: one in Washington state and one in Northern California.


VISION

Change The World Through Personal Transformation


MISSION STATEMENT

"Challenge and Empower the Next Generation to Create Lives of Authenticity, Abundance and Altruism".


NGA is an innovative leadership program that changes lives. We give college age youth the power and confidence to believe that they can do anything, from starting organizations in Southeast Asia to serving the communities of rural Africa, our participants realize that they have the potential to do anything and everything.

In a world where we are bombarded everyday by media instructing us to live for ourselves and look for happiness in material goods, many of our youth find themselves living empty lives with no real purpose or direction. NextGen Academy is created to inspire ownership over life and maximize positive impact in our communities. By creating a family atmosphere of trust, we teach the value of true relationships through open communication and sharing of deep feelings with others. Through a variety of exciting and challenging activities and international service, our participants confront the things that are holding them back from their true potential, fight for what they truly believe in, and use their passion to pursue what they really want in life. Ultimately our participants leave feeling empowered and enlightened, with the tools necessary to take control of their lives and step into a joyful, fulfilling lifestyle.


PHILOSOPHY

WHAT IS LEADERSHIP? Leaders are people who are able to face and overcome the challenges and obstacles before them and live with the belief that anything is possible and nothing can stop them. It is human nature to seek happiness and avoid difficulties; however, life has shown that it is impossible to avoid all challenges. With this in mind, NextGen Leadership Academy (NGA) equips young people with the abilities to become bigger than the problems that they will potentially encounter.

"There are times when the greatest change needed is a change of my viewpoint" ~ Denis Diderot

What if our greatest sorrow turned into our deepest joy? Our greatest pain turned into our core strength? Is it even possible? There are many things in our lives we cannot change such as who our parents are, what country we were born into, how we look, our physical abilities, etc. The lens through which we see the world determines the reality in which we live.

"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal" ~ Henry Ford

This philosophy enables a person to go through immense hardship with the knowledge that they are constantly learning and growing. Challenge gives us the opportunity to live, to continuously expand our comfort levels, to act in spite of fear and to let go of limitations.

"...people have the power of choice; therefore, leaders are neither born nor made — meaning environmentally trained and nurtured. They are self-made through chosen responses, and if they choose based on principles and develop increasingly greater discipline, their freedom to choose increases." Stephen R. Covey (The 8th Habit : From Effectiveness to Greatness)

Success, absolute freedom, commitment to leadership and commitment to transforming one's reality can only come from these choices. NGA simply gives each participant the chance to make that choice, and the tools to succeed.

So what are the magical tools that seem to transform young people year after year? Through accelerated learning over the course of 10 months, participants have a multitude of life experiences and diverse training that most people do not get to experience in a lifetime. Surrounded by support, understanding, and love, each member is guided to confront his or her fears and insecurities, thus deepening their self-worth and becoming aware of their infinite capabilities.

Picture yourself as a young 18 year-old becoming aware of the real world - skydiving, bungee jumping, leading a group of high schoolers on a road to self-discovery, giving a speech about passion in front of hundreds of people, experiencing the slums of a developing nation, the touch of a child looking up in curiosity, or seeing what once was only a vision turn into a reality - this is but a taste of the myriad of life-changing experiences that await a participant.

It is through these activities that the participants are able to discover themselves, gaining a deeper understanding of life while living their own to the fullest, and embodying leadership wherever they go.

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