Leadership Foundations

What Leadership Foundations does

Leadership Foundations is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit headquartered at 902 Market Street, Tacoma, Washington, operating as the global coordinator of a federated network of 40+ locally governed Leadership Foundations across the United States, Kenya, South Africa, and India, with 16 additional communities in the onboarding pipeline. Founded in 1984, the organization delivers relationship-driven urban transformation through a portfolio of programs: Mentoring Youth for Leadership (MYL), a national mentoring network operating in 30+ cities and 100+ locations serving over 1,000 youth and 800 families annually; the Global Youth Initiative, which pairs sports (notably basketball) with leadership development and has connected 17,000+ underserved youth with mentors since 2008; The Barnabas Project, a 9-month Fellowship for young adults ages 18-24 anchored by a $5 million Lilly Endowment grant; Charity To Change, a 9-unit curriculum for churches delivered through a Thinkific-based Learning Management System; the Colangelo Carpenter Innovation Center (CCIC), an in-house incubator for new programs; Proyecto MoLE for Latino youth leadership in Pierce County; and Partners in Change, a coaching program for adults pursuing economic mobility. The technology footprint is modest and operationally focused: a Thinkific Learning Hub for distributed training, a Stages of Impact (SOI) data platform that aggregates organizational, financial, and programmatic metrics across affiliates, and a SharePoint-based member portal. Leadership Foundations holds the GuideStar Platinum Seal of Transparency (2024).

Name

Leadership Foundations

Legal name

Leadership Foundations

Website

https://leadershipfoundations.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1984

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Leadership Foundations is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that coordinates a global network of 40+ local leadership foundations delivering youth mentoring, young-adult fellowships, sports-based leadership training, and church community-development programs in underserved cities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nonprofit Youth Development and Community Transformation Services

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813), Civic and Social Organizations (8134)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Youth Mentoring & Positive Youth Development Nonprofits (BPAGADAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Youth Leadership, Civic Education & Service-Learning Nonprofits (BPAGADAI), Private Foundations (BPAGAKAA)

Keywords

• Youth mentoring programs
• Leadership development training
• Community transformation services
• Faith-based nonprofit network
• Public theology education

Headquarters

HQ city

Tacoma

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: Leadership Foundations is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization (Tax ID #: 25-1741353). Revenue is primarily generated through individual donations, corporate matching gift programs, and planned giving vehicles.
2. Foundation Grants: Major grants from foundations such as Lilly Endowment Inc. ($5 million grant for The Barnabas Project through their National Youth and Young Adult Initiative on Faith and Service).
3. Planned Giving: Bequests, charitable remainder trusts, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, life insurance, gift annuities and endowments as long-term sustainability funding.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Leadership Foundations is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that runs a global network of 40+ local leadership foundations delivering youth mentoring (MYL), young-adult fellowships (The Barnabas Project), church capacity-building training (Charity To Change), sports-based leadership development, and adult coaching (Partners in Change). Programs are delivered through local affiliates, an online Learning Hub, and centralized training resources, with outcomes measured via the proprietary Stages of Impact (SOI) data platform.

Product overview

Leadership Foundations operates as a network-based nonprofit organization (not a software product company) offering a portfolio of programs and initiatives focused on urban community transformation. The core offerings include Mentoring Youth for Leadership (MYL), a national mentoring network serving 1,000+ youth annually across 30+ cities; The Barnabas Project, a 9-month Fellowship for young adults; Global Youth Initiative encompassing sports-based leadership development; and Charity To Change, a church training program delivered via Thinkific LMS. The Colangelo Carpenter Innovation Center serves as an internal innovation hub for developing and scaling new initiatives including Partners in Change and Propel Leadership Project. Proyecto MoLE focuses on Latino youth leadership in Washington state. The City as Playground Podcast serves as a thought leadership and public theology resource. The Learning Hub provides affiliate training through Thinkific.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Mentoring Youth for Leadership (MYL)

Quantifiable outcome

• 17,000+ youth connected with mentors since 2008
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Jeremy Del Rio / Thrive CollectivecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Executive Director of Thrive Collective (NYC Leadership Foundation) serves as mentor and leadership influence for emerging leaders including Randy Mason through arts-based mentoring programs.
• Strathmore Business School (East Africa)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Partnership with top private business school in East Africa to provide mentors serving 53 girls in Kibra high schools through the Nairobi Leadership Foundation's basketball and leadership program.
• eCoach and Athletes in Action (AIA)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Partnership to train coaches and players around the world through basketball clinics paired with leadership development training. Expanded Global Youth Initiative's sports programming globally.
• Colangelo Carpenter Innovation Center Trustees and FellowscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018CCIC consists of entrepreneurial leaders from public, private, and social sectors committed to building strategic networks and generating new ideas to support city transformation. Senior Innovation Fellows and Trustees work to convert ideas into reality with scaling potential to 40+ cities.
• Local Schools and Government OfficialscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2015Partnership with local schools, government officials, and ministry partners to build basketball courts and implement youth mentoring programs in Kibra, Nairobi.
• Be A Mentor (Charleston)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal affiliate in Charleston, SC connecting adults with children for mentoring relationships. Successfully matching 300+ adults with kids, including multi-generational mentoring relationships.
• Amachi PittsburghcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMentoring program through Pittsburgh Leadership Foundation connecting youth like Jorden with mentors like Raymont for transformative mentoring relationships.

Scale indicators15 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• City Year: Youth-serving nonprofit deploying near-peer mentors to support students in underserved schools across US cities. Comparable in mission (youth leadership development in marginalized communities), city-level operating model, and AmeriCorps/fellowship-style programming.
• Points of Light: Nonprofit focused on civic engagement, volunteer mobilization, and community transformation through a global network of affiliates. Highly comparable mission (transforming communities through relationships) and network-of-local-leaders operating structure.
• Boys & Girls Clubs of America: Federated nonprofit network providing youth development programming (education, leadership, mentoring) to millions of young people through local chapters. Comparable in network-of-affiliates operating model, youth development focus, and scale.
• 4-H (National4-H Council): US youth development organization providing leadership, mentoring, and life-skills programs through local clubs/counties. Comparable in mission (positive youth development, leadership training), scale of geographic reach, and affiliate model.
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of America: The largest youth mentoring network in the US, matching adult mentors with young people facing adversity. Highly comparable to LF's MYL program in target audience (at-risk youth), mentorship model, and affiliate/local-agency structure across hundreds of cities.

Emerging players

• InterVarsity Christian Fellowship: Faith-based nonprofit developing young leaders through campus and city programs. Comparable in faith-rooted, leadership-development focus and training/formation curriculum approach similar to LF's Barnabas Fellowship.
• National Urban Fellows: Nonprofit running fellowship programs that develop leaders of color for executive roles in the social sector. Comparable to LF's Propel Leadership Project and Barnabas Fellowship in fellowship-format leadership development for underrepresented communities.

Broad incumbents

• YMCA of the USA: Massive federated nonprofit network delivering youth development, leadership training, and community programs through local Ys across thousands of US communities. Comparable in mission breadth and local-affiliate structure, though operates at much larger scale.
• Habitat for Humanity International: Global nonprofit with federated local affiliates delivering community transformation through housing. Comparable in local-affiliate network model and faith-rooted heritage (Christian origins) driving community-level impact work.

Others

• Hope for Youth / Hope Center Network: Faith-rooted community development and youth programs operating through local centers. Comparable in faith-based, holistic (spiritual + social) approach to youth and community transformation.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/lfdns
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCzFKm-pWQWygNq8CAEgfw5w
• Facebookfacebook.com/leadershipfdns
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/leadership-foundations
• Instagraminstagram.com/leadershipfdns

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Leadership Foundations