HOPE Leadership Academy

Hope Leadership Academy (HLA) is a teen center that gives adolescents a safe place to process their feelings on violence and victimization, and shows them how to derive strength from their experiences so that they can feel empowered rather than hopeless. This youth development model is designed to compensate for adolescents’ real or perceived lack of opportunities by providing them with a positive social environment that promotes success and acknowledges their achievements and positive actions. HLA trains youth to be community educators, advocates and leaders, and gives them the skills and self-confidence they need to make changes in their own lives, their neighborhoods, and beyond. By finding peaceful and effective solutions to violence and prejudice and encouraging their peers to do the same, Hope participants help to build safer communities and stronger families.