At LEAD we had the opportunity to experience many new things that most of us had never been encountered with. In my case I loved being able to touch aspects of finance, marketing, accounting and entrepreneurship. These were things that I would not have had the chance to witness without my attendance to LEAD.

Rocio Gonzalez, LEADer

The Summer Business Institute (SBI) program is LEAD’s longest running Summer Institute and is considered the “flagship” program. The SBI program exposes students to business principles and the skill sets needed for successful business careers. The program challenges them through applied learning experiences often facilitated by college professors, links students to corporate executives in business fields and peers with similar aspirations and abilities.

During LEAD SBIs, students reside and attend classes on-campus at a select number of the nation’s top business schools for three or four weeks. SBIs provide diverse, high-achieving rising high school seniors the opportunity to explore finance, entrepreneurship, accounting and marketing, among other business sectors.

The goal of the SBI is to expose students early in their academic development to the innumerable career opportunities in business. The program equips them with knowledge and expertise from our nation’s leading universities and corporations, empowering students to confidently make better informed decisions when choosing their university and career.

Exposure to business principles and the skill sets needed for successful business careers empowers students to confidently make better informed decisions when choosing their university and career.

The objectives of a LEAD Summer Business Institute are to:

• Engage students in an intense, hands-on curriculum incorporating case studies, business plans and team projects.

• Provide students with first-hand knowledge from business professionals through mentoring and corporate site visits.

• Develop students’ presentation and public speaking skills.

• Impart principles of responsible leadership.

• Engage students in cultural and social activities.

• Prepare students for college.

Total Number

% of Total

Number of LEADers attending a top 50 national university or top 50 national liberal arts college in the U.S.[2]

556

57%

Number of LEADers who were offered merit-based college scholarship awards

483

50%

Number of LEADers attending an Ivy League college

191

20%

Number of LEADers attending one of the eight universities which host a LEAD SBI

261

27%

Number of LEADers who will attend the university which hosted their LEAD SBI

108

11%

Number of LEADers

University of Pennsylvania

74

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

35

Harvard University

27

University of Virginia

27

Stanford University

26

Cornell University

25

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

24

Georgetown University

22

Dartmouth College

20

Howard University

17

University of Southern California

17

Yale University

17

Duke University

16

Morehouse College

16

Spelman College

16

Columbia University

12

New York University

11

Princeton University

10

Vanderbilt University

10

Northwestern University

9