Our History
iLEAP is an education-focused social enterprise that exists to nurture a new generation of globally-minded leaders with the inner and outer resources to pursue lives of purpose and to advance social good in the world.
Since 2008, our educational programs have been creating transformational and life-changing experiences for young people through highly integrated curricula that combine experiential, group, and reflective learning. We have evolved over three periods that we call iLEAP 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0.
iLEAP 1.0, 2008–2018
In 2008, we ran our first leadership and social change training programs for participants from around the world. For over ten years we served hundreds of emerging and established leaders from Asia-Pacific, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America.
iLEAP 2.0, 2018-2020
In 2018, in recognition of our 10 year anniversary and the success and learning over that time, we founded a new organization, Perennial to serve experienced social leaders working in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America. iLEAP remained as an education-focused social enterprise serving young adults from East Asia.
During this period, we were fortunate to have an opportunity to partner up with organizations such at the US-Japan Council (USJC), TOMODACHI Initiative, Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnerships (CGP), and Entrepreneurial Training for Innovative Communities (ETIC) and companies such as Toyota, Mitsubishi, Hitachi and Microsoft Japan; as well as cooperate with the Japanese government and American Embassy in Japan. As of August 2018, we reached nearly 500 iLEAP graduates in Japan.
iLEAP 3.0, 2020-present
As the result of COVID-19, it has become abundantly clear that we all need to attend to both local needs and maintain a global awareness of complex challenges. In this era of unprecedented limited mobility and access, iLEAP 3.0 was born to serve this challenging moment for humanity and to reach more young people around the world.
Having developed 9 new leadership training courses, serving participants aged ranging from 15 years old to 50 years old, we had an average satisfaction rate of 98% across the program.
We are proud that we have cultivated a partnership with Western Washington University in 2020. Now our online program participants can get an academic certificate from an American university to advance their career.
About Our Logo
2013 - 2018
Our previous logo with its vibrant colors and seven overlapping spheres represented the plurality of iLEAP’s work with both emerging and established leaders from around the world. However, when we shifted our mission to focus on young and emerging leaders, it is as if we are now focusing on just one of the spheres. We felt that, if one were to get closer to the details of one of the spheres, they would see that in fact the solid color was not solid at all–but made of up a brilliant mix of hues. In this way, our new logo maintains the spirit of our previous one, but highlights the uniqueness in each circle.
2018 - Present
Finally, the image itself is intended to represent a dandelion. Dandelions often thrive in adverse circumstances and find ways to spread their life force in some of the most difficult conditions. Resilient, adaptable and open to wanderlust, the dandelion captures many of the leadership sensibilities that we are looking to grow in our young participants. With a new mission to nurture a new generation of globally-minded leaders with the inner and outer resources to pursue lives of purpose and to advance social good in the world, we seek to cultivate more of this leadership.