Leadership Enterprise For A Diverse America - Leda

Programs: Recruitment and admission: in fiscal year 2017, recruitment efforts spanned all 50 u. S. States: staff conducted information sessions at 96 u. S. High schools; spoke to more than 1,650 students; and worked with 313 community based organizations. Leda received over 1,200 applications from 47 states, admitting 100 cohort 13 scholars from 32 u. S. States. Cohort 13 represents a myyriad of states, including arkansas, california, florida, louisiana, hawaii, illinois, nevada, new york, new jersey, pennsylvania, tennessee, virginia, and washington. The average household income for incoming cohort 13 scholars is $33,072 for a household of five. Eighty-two percent of cohort 13 scholars are first-generation college students and represent diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds.

aspects of leadership summer institute: cohort 13 attended the aspects of leadership summer institute held at princeton university. The seven-week program included more than 100 hours of leadership instruction, 63 hours of standardized test preparation, 39 hours of writing instruction, 26 hours of college guidance, and multiple community-building activities. This intense, intellectual experience promotes a sense of personal identity and helps foster a strong sense of community in our scholars. The institute also featured representatives from 19 colleges and universities and scholars toured selective college campuses.

college guidance: beginning during the summer institute and continuing through senior year in high school, leda scholars receive in-depth advising on the college application process, one-to-one counseling, indivdiualized letters of recommendation, and essay writing, financial aid and scholarship application support. Leda staff supported cohort 12 scholars in the college application process. Ninety-nine percent of scholars received acceptances to at least one most competitive college or university (as classified by barron's profile of american colleges) and sixty-three percent received acceptances to ivy league institutions along with stanford university and massachusetts institute of technology (mit). Scholarships received by leda cohort 12 included: five jack kent cooke scholarships, ten horatio alger scholarships, three ron brown scholarships, three kpmg future leaders scholarships,three coca-cola scholarships and one generation google scholarship.

college success: over the course of fy 2017, leda's college success program provided transition support to leda scholars entering their freshman year of college and to graduating college seniors. Leda also supported scholars with academic advising, financial counseling, mentoring, emergency assistance, as well as career development and post-graduate planning. Staff met with or visited 153 scholars at 17 different colleges, and successfully communicated with 95 percent (261 of 274) scholars currently enrolled in college. As of may 2017, 98 percent of scholars in cohorts 1-8 graduated from college. Career network: in fy 2017, leda expanded its current leadership development model by launching the leda career network, including a flagship four-day career institute. Leda's career network prepares high-achieving, low-income undergraduate students for future leadership roles in their professional pursuits, including a deeper and more targeted focus on career exploration, professional development, and career advising. In fy 2017, the leda career network accepted 158 career fellows from 34 states, representing 50 colleges.