C-200
Task 2: Organization and Leadership Evaluation
Western Governors University
C200: Managing Organizations and Leading People
A. Organizational Description
Youth for Life is a non-profit organization based in upstate New York. It is led by CEO
and President, Dr. Tom Grough. There are four vice presidents within the organization. They are
all in charge of different aspects of the global operation. Youth for Life’s primary objective is to
serve youth across the world by providing them access to a fun, safe camp-like environment that
encourages them to take time away from electronics, make new friends, and experience nature in
a new way. The organization currently has camp locations in over 80 countries around the globe,
as well as camps in New York and Florida. They reach over a hundred thousand students every
year and have expanded their primary goal of serving youth through the camp to hosting
overnight events at major sporting arenas, they have opened a series of community colleges in
New York, Florida, Brazil, Canada, Hungary, Uganda, and South Korea, they host high school
sports tournaments at their New York campus, and have produced free online resources for
students to learn more about things like college financial aid. The organization was founded in
1945 in upstate New York when a small island was purchased by two men, John Boll and Jeremy
Wickham, for $25,000. They turned this island into a camp for middle and high school students.
From there, more property was purchased across the street to open up a retreat center for adults
so that the parents and guardians of the students could drop them off and stay in the area. As
Youth for Life picked up steam, the vision kept expanding, and Boll and Wickham began to
pursue purchasing land around the globe. They opened their first camp in Argentina and soon
afterward opened up camps in Brazil and Mexico. As they continued to expand their reach, they
considered what it would look like to provide students with unique access to education - which
, led to the opening of the colleges in New York and Florida. They soon expanded those colleges
across the globe, with upstate New York acting as their headquarters.
The vision of the organization is to enable students across the globe to have access to
unique, safe, fun camp experiences. The mission is to engage the current generation to be willing
to foster the younger generations in a way that encourages them to take breaks from technology,
to be creative, to think for themselves, and to inspire others.
Because Youth for Life is a non-profit, they rely heavily on donations to continue
operating at their current level. They have a yearly budget of 45 million dollars and they rely on
about 30 million per year in donations. They bring in the remaining 15 million from their camps
and colleges. Their goal is to grow their colleges by 10% year over year so that by 2030 they can
operate without needing donations. They are also looking to expand their youth camps to every
country across the African continent since they are only present in about thirty percent of Africa
at this time. They hope to accomplish this by 2030. Youth for Life recently paid off their last debt
one of their primary strategic objectives is to set up every new building, project, property on
profit, and donations. They will not begin a project until 90% of the funds are in their possession.
This is to ensure that the company can operate even if they have down years in donations.
A1. Leadership Practices
Maddox R. Skeece is one of the four vice presidents within the organization. He oversees
all North American college operations. He displays three clear leadership practices.
1. He prioritizes clear communications between departments by sending out weekly
emails to all staff briefing them on what each department has accomplished, is working on, and is
planning. This enables all departments to collaborate based on their current goals. It also
Task 2: Organization and Leadership Evaluation
Western Governors University
C200: Managing Organizations and Leading People
A. Organizational Description
Youth for Life is a non-profit organization based in upstate New York. It is led by CEO
and President, Dr. Tom Grough. There are four vice presidents within the organization. They are
all in charge of different aspects of the global operation. Youth for Life’s primary objective is to
serve youth across the world by providing them access to a fun, safe camp-like environment that
encourages them to take time away from electronics, make new friends, and experience nature in
a new way. The organization currently has camp locations in over 80 countries around the globe,
as well as camps in New York and Florida. They reach over a hundred thousand students every
year and have expanded their primary goal of serving youth through the camp to hosting
overnight events at major sporting arenas, they have opened a series of community colleges in
New York, Florida, Brazil, Canada, Hungary, Uganda, and South Korea, they host high school
sports tournaments at their New York campus, and have produced free online resources for
students to learn more about things like college financial aid. The organization was founded in
1945 in upstate New York when a small island was purchased by two men, John Boll and Jeremy
Wickham, for $25,000. They turned this island into a camp for middle and high school students.
From there, more property was purchased across the street to open up a retreat center for adults
so that the parents and guardians of the students could drop them off and stay in the area. As
Youth for Life picked up steam, the vision kept expanding, and Boll and Wickham began to
pursue purchasing land around the globe. They opened their first camp in Argentina and soon
afterward opened up camps in Brazil and Mexico. As they continued to expand their reach, they
considered what it would look like to provide students with unique access to education - which
, led to the opening of the colleges in New York and Florida. They soon expanded those colleges
across the globe, with upstate New York acting as their headquarters.
The vision of the organization is to enable students across the globe to have access to
unique, safe, fun camp experiences. The mission is to engage the current generation to be willing
to foster the younger generations in a way that encourages them to take breaks from technology,
to be creative, to think for themselves, and to inspire others.
Because Youth for Life is a non-profit, they rely heavily on donations to continue
operating at their current level. They have a yearly budget of 45 million dollars and they rely on
about 30 million per year in donations. They bring in the remaining 15 million from their camps
and colleges. Their goal is to grow their colleges by 10% year over year so that by 2030 they can
operate without needing donations. They are also looking to expand their youth camps to every
country across the African continent since they are only present in about thirty percent of Africa
at this time. They hope to accomplish this by 2030. Youth for Life recently paid off their last debt
one of their primary strategic objectives is to set up every new building, project, property on
profit, and donations. They will not begin a project until 90% of the funds are in their possession.
This is to ensure that the company can operate even if they have down years in donations.
A1. Leadership Practices
Maddox R. Skeece is one of the four vice presidents within the organization. He oversees
all North American college operations. He displays three clear leadership practices.
1. He prioritizes clear communications between departments by sending out weekly
emails to all staff briefing them on what each department has accomplished, is working on, and is
planning. This enables all departments to collaborate based on their current goals. It also
