Leadership Academy
Empowering the next generation of leaders
Our work with youth is simple in purpose and rigorous in practice: we develop leaders from the inside out. Before students learn to lead others, they learn to lead themselves, building the confidence, character, and skill to lead effectively in a complex, inter-connected world. Every lesson points toward the same outcome: developing young leaders who are other-centered, secure in who they are, and ready to make impact in their communities.
Why we built this
Levels of anxiety, isolation, and depression among adolescents are rising, not as isolated struggles, but as a defining challenge of this generation. To respond to these challenges, teens need to be fortified. They need resilience they can draw on now and for the rest of their lives.
The Huddle Up Leadership Academy was built to meet that need: to give students the inner strength and practical skills to face what's ahead, and to lead themselves and others through it.
Testimony
“Recently, I've been stuck in this identity that I'm just a basketball player. I've been struggling with my mental [health]. I came here today to find out what else there is besides basketball. Like, who am I? I was really lost 2 to 3 days ago. Today helped me find the stepping stones of what I have to do to get started.”
Tatum
Senior, Basic high school (Nevada)
Inside the Curriculum
Leadership isn't taught in a single lesson, it's built session by session, skill by skill. Each participating school receives our full seven-session Leadership Academy curriculum, guiding students from self-awareness to self-assured action:
- GROWTH MINDSET, LEADERSHIP HABITS Learning to see challenge as opportunity
- LIVING YOUR CORE VALUES Defining what you stand for, and standing on it
- EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE LEADERSHIP I & II Understanding yourself to understand others
- EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION Leading with clarity and listening with intention
- LEADERSHIP STYLE & MENTAL HEALTH Leading well starts with being well
- LEADERSHIP HABITS & CONFIDENCE Turning insight into everyday practice
Every session is rooted in the same belief: leadership grows from the inside out, and it’s built one human connection at a time.
Our Impact
In the 2025-26 program year, the Leadership Academy reached four schools and close to 90 student participants — with results that speak for themselves:
97%
said the training was valuable to them
96%
said it raised their awareness of each session's topic
95%
said they learned skills they could put into action
What Topics Can Huddle Up Address with Youth Leaders?
Huddle Up works with partners to create a combination of leadership topics to accomplish youth leadership development. This is not a one-size-fits-all approach, rather we will walk through the topic options and possible flow of content to fit your needs. Here are some of the topics we can provide.
Personal Leadership
- Inside Out Leadership
- Understanding & Developing Your Leadership Style
- Emotionally Intelligent Leadership
- Core Values
- Strengths Based Leadership
- Handle Hard Better: Building Resilience
- Effective Communication
- Growth Mindset
- Developing Habits to Align with your Goals
- Goal-Setting: The Big Four
- Vulnerability & Storytelling
- Discovering Your Why
- Ikigai: Finding Your Purpose
Mental Health
- Inside Out Leadership
- Understanding & Developing Your Leadership Style
- Emotionally Intelligent Leadership
- Core Values
- Strengths Based Leadership
- Handle Hard Better: Building Resilience
- Effective Communication
- Growth Mindset
- Developing Habits to Align with your Goals
- Goal-Setting: The Big Four
- Vulnerability & Storytelling
- Discovering Your Why
- Ikigai: Finding Your Purpose
Community Leadership
- Inside Out Leadership
- Understanding & Developing Your Leadership Style
- Emotionally Intelligent Leadership
- Core Values
- Strengths Based Leadership
- Handle Hard Better: Building Resilience
- Effective Communication
- Growth Mindset
- Developing Habits to Align with your Goals
- Goal-Setting: The Big Four
- Vulnerability & Storytelling
- Discovering Your Why
- Ikigai: Finding Your Purpose
Sports Teams
Huddle Up can work with teams to build their cohesion, understand their roles on their team, and lead from where they sit. These can be in one session or multiple sessions over the course of a season. The best time to employ this tends to be during the off-season with a focused effort on team building.
Train the Trainer For educators working with youth
The Train the Trainer Option trains adult educators working with youth to implement the Huddle Up Youth Leadership curriculum at their respective institutions. Huddle Up will provide follow up technical assistance for participants in the program implementation phase. Additionally, learners will benefit from the cohort of educators in their training class, aligned with the goal of empowering young leaders.