Your leadership development Training phase will take place on a beautiful summer camp site tucked in the woods by a lake in North Carolina! For your Mission phase, you will travel to multiple European countries serving evacuated Ukrainian orphans. These could include (but are not limited to) Switzerland, Poland, Austria, or even Italy! Our team will place you where you can be most impactful, so we can’t promise any specific country visits. However, whether you end up watching the sun set on a Mediterranean beach or watching it rise over the Alps, adventure is guaranteed. For the third phase, the location is yet to be determined but may be in Guatemala, The Philippines, Ukraine, or Europe.

Students are responsible for purchasing their own plane tickets to the academy in North Carolina and home from the last country that they serve in. All other travel will be covered in the tuition costs, unless you would like to fly back home for a visit during a short break. A member of our team will communicate with you during the planning process. You will be picked up and dropped off at the airport by our staff and once you are overseas, you will always have at least one member of staff traveling with you.

The first phase of Legacy Leader Academy will be filled with learning – leadership skills, principles for working with vulnerable children, team-building activities, spiritual development practices, and more. This is also when you will get to know your cohort of fellow students – your team for the fall and winter. The second phase will be hands-on work with the Ukrainian orphans that we serve. You will be an integral part of our team, traveling with us to different orphanage groups in several European countries. The third phase location and activities are yet to be determined.

During your leadership development training, you will stay onsite at our Legacy Leader Academy base in North Carolina. There, you will share a room with 1-3 fellow students of the same gender. While serving with the Legacy Team, accommodation could be anything from a bed-and-breakfast in Austria to a church in Sicily. At least one member of our staff will always stay with you, and our policy placing unmarried staff and volunteers with others of the same gender (apart from family members) will remain the same.

Have you tried pierogies? Khachapuri? What about paella, borsch, or Käsespätzle? During your travels, you will likely try some or all of these dishes. While in the Training phase, meals will be prepared and served at our facility. During the mission phase, we will often have a grab-and-go breakfast and lunch before and during our busy program days, with a more relaxed dinner to debrief after the day. Although we can accommodate certain food sensitivities, we are limited in this area by the logistics of travel. Please reach out to our team if you have an allergy or sensitivity.

Our core team consists of 5 individuals. These are the people that will be at every program. You will also be part of a small cohort of passionate, joyful, Christ-following students during training. During our programs, we will be joined by a few non-Academy volunteers and translators, so our group will change slightly as we travel to different locations. As part of the Legacy Team, you can expect hard work, enthusiasm, and lots of laughter from your teammates.

Are you ready to join us for Legacy Leader Academy? Simply fill in our Follow-Up form here and a member of our team will reach out to you with additional details and an official Application form!

Once you have been officially enrolled in the Legacy Leader Academy program, you will receive a handbook that will include a packing list. However, please keep in mind that due to practical (space) and functional (mindset) necessity, students will be limited to one carry-on sized suitcase and one backpack.

Weather conditions can vary widely from the woods of North Carolina to a seaside village in Europe to a mountain town in the Philippines. We will provide you with a packing list based on your specific destinations after your official enrollment!

We do not require previous experience to apply to Legacy Leader Academy. If you have a heart for the fatherless but are not sure how to practically step out and serve orphans, this program will give you the tools and passion that you need to do just that. On the other hand, if you have been working in this area of ministry previously, LLA will help to sharpen your vision and spur you on to greater purpose and impact.

Our mission is to share the love of Jesus with every person that we encounter, serving His children as His hands and feet. Our curriculum is faith-based and built for students who know and serve the Lord. During the application process, you will need to affirm our statement of faith which may be found here. If you have questions about this aspect of our program, please feel free to reach out to our team.

Participants in Legacy Leader Academy are responsible for their own medical decisions. We do not have any requirements apart from the baseline that students must be capable of serving and safely traveling with our team. If you have specific questions, please feel free to address those with our team during the enrollment process.

For U.S. citizens, a 90-day (or less) stay within the Schengen zone (all of the countries that we will visit are Schengen countries) does not require a visa. If you have already spent time in the Schengen zone within the last 6 months, or are not a U.S. citizen, please contact our staff with details.

Legacy Leader Academy program fees are non-refundable except in exceptional circumstances which can be discussed on a case-by-case basis. We strongly advise that all participants purchase travel insurance that includes trip cancellation coverage.

We are so thankful for our wonderful translators! We truly could not do this without them. Several members of staff only speak English, so although you will likely pick up at least a little Ukrainian, Russian and/or Spanish during your time at Legacy Leader Academy, there is no language requirement apart from English fluency.

We have a strong commitment to the safety of our team. Every reasonable precaution is taken to ensure that our volunteers are protected from any harmful situation. We highly encourage our volunteers to purchase travel insurance so that you are protected against the rare chance that you might experience a medical emergency or situation while abroad. Please feel free to reach out to our team with any safety-related questions.

While we serve Ukrainian orphans, please note that we serve them in locations outside of Ukraine where they have been evacuated for their safety. Our teams do not travel to dangerous locations. If the situation changes and travel is deemed unsafe, our teams will adjust accordingly to ensure safety.

Yes, you will need a passport to participate in the Legacy Leader Academy program. Please note that your passport must be valid for at least 6 months beyond your return date. If you do not have a passport or if it is due to expire soon, please apply for a new one as soon as possible.

We are continually monitoring the situation with COVID-19. If the need arises, we will adjust our plans in order to follow the local restrictions and regulations in the countries we will be visiting. Your safety is our utmost concern.

While we highly encourage students to participate in all three phases of the Legacy Leader Academy program, we do understand that flexibility might be needed in some cases. We can consider requests to participate in just one or two phases on a case-by-case basis.

Yes, we do offer a limited number of scholarships based on financial need and the merit of the applicant. For more information about scholarships, please contact our admissions office or refer to our scholarship application guidelines.

Yes, upon successful completion of all three phases of the program, students will receive a Certificate of Completion from the Legacy Leader Academy. This certificate can be a valuable addition to your resume, showcasing your commitment to leadership and service.

While we do not currently have formal partnerships with any universities or colleges, we encourage you to discuss this possibility with your academic advisor. In some cases, it may be possible to receive credit for your participation in the Legacy Leader Academy program. We are happy to provide any necessary documentation or evaluations to support this.