The Dartmouth Leadership Institute

• Explore leadership models, personal values, and real-world examples of decision making

• Identify your strengths, habits, and growth priorities through self-assessment programs

• Build communication, teamwork, resilience, and decision-making through group challenges

• Define and develop your emerging leadership philosophy in a This I Believe essay

• Expand the classroom at Moosilauke lodge—a Dartmouth tradition for generations—through hiking, navigation and team challenges

• Translate feedback into personal leadership strengths and development priorities

• Leave with a personalized growth framework with evidence, goals, and next steps

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

• Articulate a personal leadership philosophy grounded in values, leadership concepts, and reflection

• Apply communication, collaboration, and decision-making strategies in classroom and outdoor challenges

• Use a leadership essay and personal growth framework to demonstrate evidence of personal growth

Students leave with a finished This I Believe essay, a personal leadership framework, and concrete experiences they can draw on in college, internship, and early job applications or interviews.

Leadership is not reserved for students who already hold a title. It is the ability to communicate clearly, make sound decisions, earn trust, collaborate across differences, and keep a team moving when the answer is not obvious. These in-demand power skills matter across college, internships, early jobs, community organizations, and every field where work depends on other people.

The Institute makes them visible and practiceable. Students assess how they lead, test themselves in group and outdoor challenges, receive feedback, and reflect on what changed. They leave with specific evidence of how they listened, adapted, contributed, and grew—the kind of evidence that makes an application or interview more authentic than a list of positions alone.

This academy is for motivated high school students who have completed 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th grade, whether they already lead clubs and teams or are only beginning to see themselves as leaders. It is a strong fit across public policy, business, medicine, engineering, environmental studies, the arts, and community advocacy because every field depends on communication, judgment, and collaboration.

No prior formal leadership experience is required. Students should be ready to participate fully in outdoor activities including hiking, orienteering and trail work. They should be ready to engage in group initiatives, personal writing, guided reflection, and constructive feedback. The experience rewards curiosity, self-awareness, resilience, and a willingness to contribute when conditions change.

Based on students surveyed after attending the 2025 Dartmouth Leadership Institute.

The Leadership Institute brings together three things that are difficult to find in one precollege program: Dartmouth-designed academic study, leadership practice with faculty and expert instructors, and place-based learning at Dartmouth’s Moosilauke Ravine Lodge. The lodge and White Mountains are not a field trip added to the academy; they are where students test what they have learned about judgment, service, resilience, and responsibility.

That movement from classroom to mountain challenge makes the Institute the signature experience in the Dartmouth Precollege Summer Scholars portfolio. Fully developed and run by Dartmouth, it offers students an intensive encounter with both Dartmouth’s intellectual culture and its longstanding connection to the outdoors.