It’s been four productive years, and we’ve seen tremendous growth and success as we continuously reach out to more colleges and students, expanding well out of Hubli-Sandbox region LEAD originated from. Throughout this time, we have motivated thousands of students, and in turn impacted millions of lives. Our LEADers have gone on to start businesses, win awards, and create drastic changes to better their society. But there is always room for improvement, and LEAD has some big plans for the future. On top of enlarging the LEAD staff team and increasing the number of partner colleges and student participants, from year 5 forward we will be making these new additions to our program for Leaders who have completed two projects/a year in the LEAD program and for LEAD alumnus with Leader UID: LEADnovator: Leaders get an opportunity to go beyond a feasible project and work on bigger, crazier ideas. Encouraged to think outside the box, they would come up with innovative proposals that may or may not succeed. The risks may be greater, but failure at times can be a good teacher, and the freedom to be creative and inventive can only lead to ground-breaking results. After successfully testing the idea it will be processed for patent on the name of Leader. LEADpreneur: Leaders will focus on projects of an entrepreneurial type. LEADpreneur provides an incubator allowing participants to come up with ideas that lend themselves to become businesses, considering questions such as “Is my project feasible? Will it be sellable in the market? Will it make a profit?” – turning young LEADers into budding entrepreneurs. Offer to participate in business plan competitions and mentorship will be provided.
LEADvolex: “Volex” being short for a “volunteer exchange” program, LEADvolex offers youths a chance to work on a particular cause or with a specific organization they are interested in, gaining practical experience in an operative atmosphere. LEADexchange: Leaders get the chance to intern or work on their projects in other countries to gain exposure to different cultures and working atmosphere. LEAD Prayana: is a 10-day journey for LEADers to travel around Karnataka, visiting sites, NGO’s, corporate industries, and meeting celebrated Indian Real Leaders at panel discussions. This trip gives LEADers an opportunity to meet role models who have demonstrated efficient leadership by working relentlessly in their field of interest for the benefit of society. Previous notable speakers include: Narayana Murthy, Gururaj ‘Desh’ Deshpande, Veerendra Heggade, Ramji Raghavan, Narayana Reddy, and many more. For many LEADers, it is one of their favourite memories with the program. With increasing support and such exciting prospects underway, LEAD looks forward to many more years of inspiration, success, and improvement…accompanied by laughter, camaraderie, and enlightenment along the way. Everyone can make a difference once they put their minds to it, and our LEADers continue daily to exemplify that “Complaints… start with ‘They’, Solutions… start with ‘I’.”