The mission of Leadership Exchange is to cultivate the leadership abilities and nurture social-emotional development of teenagers and young adults through cultural exchange and service-learning trips and to advance humanitarian work in developing nations.

Leadership Exchange seeks to improve the leadership capacity of youth to succeed in a global society. We recognize that service trips are an important part of adolescent development and aim to increase participants’ global consciousness and social justice awareness. We seek to develop character in individuals by setting and achieving goals that far exceed what we have come to expect from ourselves. Leadership Exchange service trips have transformed the lives of our students, adult chaperones, and the organizations with which we partner.

Leadership Exchange is a global community network that connects individuals of various socioeconomic backgrounds. Through service-learning trips and exchange programs, participants are able to learn about and understand members of their own peer group who come from disparate backgrounds. Through dialogue, focus groups, team building, and shared experiences, students find similarities beyond their differences and identify the advantages and influence they possess to have a positive influence on their local and global communities.

Leadership Exchange is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit

“You should not underestimate the effect of your contribution, however modest.” – Atul Gawande

Mission stateMent

PRoGRaM GoaLs

Vision

Leadership exchange is opportunity. It is cultural inclusion. It is transformative.

You will……learn about social justice and be inspired to find solutions for necessary change through our unique curriculum and educational programming. …expand your comfort zone and strengthen your character by testing your perseverance.…be empowered to be an agent of change through service learning, volunteerism, community engagement, and dialogue. …discover the strength of diversity.…learn to serve a global community.…become a successful leader in a global society.…come to view the whole world as your community.

“It’s so much more important to make a difference in someone else’s life.”

– Lia, 2014

WHYLeaDeRsHiPeXCHanGe?

In 2010, a catastrophic earthquake that killed tens of thousands of people and destroyed its infrastructure devastated Haiti, already an underdeveloped country. In response to the great need that the people of Haiti continue to face, Leadership Exchange expanded its service- learning trips to include Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in 2014. Leadership Exchange identified Ansemble Vwasen Jacquet (AVJ), an elementary school in Port-au-Prince, with 150 students and profound infrastructure and programming needs, as a deserving place to provide service.

Fifteen American students will be chosen to participate on this trip based on a variety of factors related to AVJ’s needs and students’ personal and leadership qualities. Participants will help teach AVJ’s students and will also work on developing the infrastructure of the school and other local community-based organizations. In addition to serving AVJ, participants will have the opportunity to visit with local community leaders and cultural sites.

Through this service-learning trip to a very different culture than their own, students will develop powerful leadership and project management skills. They will increase their ability to fully engage the values of diversity in order to learn, problem solve, and create positive change in their global community and themselves. For students who are studying or plan to study French, this trip is especially exciting, as they will be immersed in Creole, a French dialect.

In order to fully prepare for this journey, three orientation days will be held in advance of the trip. Leadership Exchange has created a curriculum designed to develop leadership skills of youth through dialogue and team building. In addition to leading this orientation and trip, Leadership Exchange will enlist several Haiti-experienced partners that will provide participants with background information about Haiti and its culture.

Team building and dialogue do not end with the orientation. Each night of the trip, participants will engage in dialogue regarding the events of the day and how they will conquer the next. Each participant will also keep a daily journal in order to reflect on their experiences and what they have learned.

PoRt-au-PRinCe, Haiti

Trip Overview:

Days 1-4: Orientation Days 3-4: Flight to Haiti and tour of Port-au-Prince Days 5-9: Service projects with AVJ Day 10: Cultural site visits Day 11: Return to NYC

Trip Cost: $3,275, which includes:

Round-trip international airfare Food, lodging, tours, trip insurance, transportation, guide/translator Program T-shirt Orientation materials, workshops, and project supplies

In order to participate, please complete an online application at www.LEcommunity.org and be at least 16 years old.

Financial assistance and fundraising opportunities are available.

June 11– 21, 2015

“Leadership Exchange is about making an impact…as well as leaving a mark on yourself…This trip takes you out of your comfort zone while simultaneously putting you into a new, safe environment and group. This trip helps people gain meaningful learning experience and other life skills. I’m leaving this trip behind having had an eye-opening, life-changing experience…” – Elizabeth, 2014

“Although I have traveled to other countries to participate in service work, the LE experience made the biggest impact. It was the first time I believe I made a large contribution to social justice.”

– Kevin, 2014

“Leadership Exchange is about making an impact…. as well as leaving a mark on yourself…This trip takes you out of your comfort zone while simultaneously putting you into a new, safe environment and group. This trip helps people gain meaningful learning experience and other life skills. I’m leaving this trip behind having had an eye-opening, life-changing experience…”

– Elizabeth, 2014

The Republic of Botswana is a stable representative democracy in southern Africa. It was at one time one of the poorest countries in the world, but has recently transformed itself into a developing economy. However, the HIV/AIDS pandemic and other social problems have made orphans out of too many Batswana children. The need in Maun is great, and this is where Leadership Exchange began to act; first by building a child day care center called Bana Ba Letsatsi, and then arranging service-learning trips for American high school students to help the children in this center.

Bana Ba Letsatsi is a day care center in Maun, Botswana, committed to keeping children of all ages off the streets and away from danger by providing a safe environment for them. The center provides the kind of care that every child deserves: clothing, food, showers, counseling, medical attention, haircuts, education, fun, games, training, and any other needs the children might have.

Leadership Exchange will bring up to 25 American students from various educational institutions to Maun. There they will spend three weeks working closely with the children of Bana Ba Letsatsi. In addition to helping to teach, playing with and getting to know the children at the center, the students will assist with various community-wide projects. To date, projects have included building a home, playgrounds, new toilet blocks, soccer goals, flower gardens, painting structures, and making tire swings.

In addition to working at Bana Ba Letsatsi, students will participate in safaris where they will spend a few days in the bush discovering unforgettable wildlife while camping in tents in comfortable and safe campsites that are run by professional safari guides. The program is sure to have a lasting impression.

In order to fully prepare for this journey, three orientation days will be held in advance of the trip. Leadership Exchange has created a curriculum designed to develop leadership skills of youth through dialogue and team building.

Team building and dialogue do not end with the orientation. Each night of the trip, participants will engage in dialogue regarding the events of the day and how they will conquer the next. Each participant will also keep a daily journal in order to reflect on their experiences and what they have learned.

Maun, BotsWana

Trip Overview:

Days 1-2: Orientation Day 3-4: Flights to Kasane, Botswana Days 4-8: Chobe Park safari, Victoria Falls, orientation continues Days 8-10: Orientation continues–cultural training, site visits Days 11-22: Service projects with Bana Ba Letsatsi Days 22-25: Khwai/Moremi safari Days 25-29: Service projects continue with Bana Ba Letsatsi Days 30-31: Return to New York City, JFK

Trip Cost: $9350, which includes:

Round-trip international airfare Food, lodging, trip insurance, tours, transportation, guides Program T-shirt Orientation materials, workshops, and project supplies

In order to participate, please complete an online application at www.LEcommunity.org and be at least 16 years old.

Financial assistance and fundraising opportunities are available.

“This trip has allowed me to really see beyond the borders of race–to show me that everyone is very similar, whether you are from America or Botswana. All people need the same things: food, shelter, and to be treated with decency…As someone who is lucky enough to have all of my basic needs met, I need to work hard to help others meet those needs.” –Michaela, 2014

JuLY 3–auGust 2, 2015

“Leadership Exchange made me realize how much I can do to contribute to social justice. Sometimes it takes something so small to affect it and provide equality and opportunity for all. Sometimes it takes a lot, but that effort will go a long way in helping others.” – Lindsay, 2012

Leadership Exchange was born out of J. Player Crosby’s passion for African wildlife conservation, which evolved into a deep desire to also help improve social conditions in Africa. Upon his untimely death, his son Jay Crosby, Leadership Exchange’s Executive Director, committed to pursue his father’s vision and dream of being an agent for change in Africa.

Therefore, Leadership Exchange is excited to offer a new program that reaches back to its roots. In partnership with Letaka Safaris, Leadership Exchange is offering a ten-day photography training course in Botswana, for students with a passion for wildlife and photography. There is no better place than Botswana—with over 320 days of sunshine a year, the world’s largest elephant population, and a sprawling, unspoiled wilderness—to hone your photography skills. Our photographic guides are photographers themselves and they love nothing more than sharing their passion for photographing wildlife in Botswana’s pristine wilderness areas.

The goals of the photographic workshop is to teach participants, regardless of proficiency level, about both technical and compositional aspects of photography that will enable them to perfect those classic wildlife portraits and also open the door to more creative techniques such as panning, use of light, capturing birds in flight, and capturing animal behavior. Participants will leave the trip with a full understanding of exposure, aperture, shutter speed, and camera settings.

We will aim to cover as many techniques as possible during the trip and when a particular sighting allows it. In addition to the classic big game images, we will also focus on the endless possibilities of macro photography, landscape shots, and bird photographs. This will not only diversify the participant’s subject matter but also help them to acquire different skills, which are applicable in all genres of photography.

PHotoGRaPHY anD ConseRVationWoRKsHoP

Each day, we will spend time viewing and assessing the images from the previous day, giving participants the opportunity to learn from mistakes and to appreciate the factors that make a striking photograph. This constant learning process is vital to improving the participant’s photography and ingraining the details in their mind, leading to more instinctive photographic decisions.

Trip Cost: $8750, which includes:

Round-trip international airfareComfortable tented accommodation, including: beds and linen, a private bathroom en-suite, food, lodging, and trip insuranceProfessional photographic guide, professional photographer All entrance and camping fees within the national parks and reservesProgram T-shirt

Accommodations & Trip Highlights:

Three nights tented camp at the Moremi Game ReserveThree nights tented camp at Khwai Community AreaThree nights tented camp at Chobe National ParkTwo nights hotel in Victoria Falls

In order to participate, please complete an online application at www.LEcommunity.org and be at least 16 years old.

BotsWana JuLY 4–19, 2015

PROFESSIONAL FIELD GUIDE TRAININGCarrying on the passion for the African bush that Leadership Exchange was founded on, we have partnered with EcoTraining to offer a unique, one year program that will train participants to become professional field guides in Africa. This is a one-of-a-kind opportunity for graduating high school seniors and post-college graduates seeking a gap year/post-graduation learning experience who have a passion for nature and wildlife, who wish to become professional field guides, or who just want to learn more about the African bush.

This program is designed to supply the safari industry with high-caliber FGASA and CATHSSETA qualified professional field guides. One-year participants will be exposed to diverse ecological and geological terrains, landscapes, and wildlife species at wilderness camps in places like Makuleke, Karongwe, Selati (South Africa), and Mashatu (Botswana).

For the first four to five months of this program, participants will obtain theoretical and practical training with highly qualified instructors and complete various certificate courses that will prepare them for the second half of the program. Examples of course subjects are: basic bush and survival skills, geology, ecology, taxonomy, tracks and tracking, off-road and 4x4 driving, and many more.

During the following five to six months of the course, participants will be placed in lodges and will work with and learn from experienced guides and managers in order to gain substantial working and practical experience.

At the end of the program, each participant will be a highly qualified and significantly experienced field guide. There are many possible certifications and designations that participants can earn, such as: FGASA Field Guide, SAS-SETA Competency Certificate, FGASA Advanced Rifle Handling, and FGASA Trails Guide Back-up. Job placement opportunities exist following training.

GAP YEAR PROGRAM AFRICA

Course Dates:

January 7, 2015 – December 20, 2015February 1, 2015 – February 12, 2016August 12, 2015 – July 31, 2016October 2, 2015 – September 25, 2016

Trip Cost: $39,500, which includes:

AccomodationsMealsSelect transfersInstructors and trainingWilderness Medicine courseGame driveLaundry

Three sets of uniformsT-shirt, fleece, cap and beanieFGASA fees, registration, examination, and booksSASSETA Competency CertificationFlightsTravel insurance

In order to participate, please complete an online application at www.LEcommunity.org and be at least 18 years old.

Executive Director Jay Crosby has more than 20 years of experience in education and a lifetime commitment to travel and service. Prior to developing Leadership Exchange, Jay was a teacher and coach at Riverdale Country School, Bronx, NY, and served as the Executive Director of Somarela Fund, a small family foundation whose mission is to advance humanitarian work in southern Africa.

Based in Greenwich, CT, Jay first became interested in education as a high school student at George School, Newtown, PA—a Quaker boarding school. It was here that Jay first realized his commitment to service and identified his calling to become a teacher. Growing up, Jay was fortunate enough to have many wonderful mentors to guide and help him through a challenging adolescence, but it was his father’s influence, by far, that had the greatest impact. Jay learned early on the value of travel, commitment, and empathy. J. Player Crosby worked as a conservationist, humanitarian, and mentor who flew airplanes in southern Africa for environmental groups after a very successful career in international finance. He died suddenly in 2003 of a heart attack while flying his plane. He was a beloved and adventurous man, extremely active, and generous to a fault. The loss of his dad inspired Jay to take on the challenge of merging education with travel and service.

Jay currently serves on the board at Bana Ba Letsatsi in Maun, Botswana, and works closely with community organizations throughout the world to identify partner programs and organizations who might benefit from the support of dialogue, exchange, and service, in addition to direct financial aid.

Jay received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Trinity College in Hartford, CT, and his Master of Education at Manhattanville College in Purchase, NY.

To experience one of these life-changing opportunities, please contact:Jay Crosby, Executive DirectorJay@LEcommunity.org

2 Rockwood Lane SpurGreenwich, CT 06830TEL 917-796-2801

Learn more and apply online:www.LEcommunity.org

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Leadership Exchange is registered 501(c)(3) Tax ID Number: 45-3694612

“Ultimately, we are compelled to act as responsible global citizens by using our economic and educational resources and privilege to reach beyond our local to the global community. We have learned that privilege must not only be accompanied by responsibility, but more importantly, must be tempered by compassion. No Leadership Exchange student participant will ever forget the experience they share.” –Jay Crosby, Executive Director