Leadership Camps

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Join our community!

We are looking for young Latin Americans between the ages of 14 to 20 to be part of our lifelong community of leaders. If you are passionate about changing your surroundings and want to connect with incredibly talented and purpose-driven youth, LALA is for you! Check our live events below and join us to learn more about the organization.

Leadership Camps

The Camps are the gateway to LALA and where you will meet young people from all over the continent with the same dreams as you. This immersive five-day experience seeks to provide the tools and support for young Latin Americans to make profound transformations in their communities and themselves. The Camps are available in three languages, all with the same curriculum and outcomes.

Virtual Camps

  • Offered in Portuguese, Spanish, and English;
  • Happens for 5 days;
  • Financial aid available;
  • Has an even more diverse group of students since the online environment allows people from even the most remote places to attend;
  • More slots available.

In-person Camps

This season, we are only offering Virtual Camps. We want to give you the most valuable experience so we'll be waiting for in-person camps to happen this July to analyze how we can improve and strengthen the curriculum. We hope to offer in-person Camps in the future and we'll be sharing updates later in the year. We would love to receive your application for V-Camps until July 10th.

Application Process

During this stage, we seek to understand who you are. We care more about your interest in positively impacting your community than your grades, resumé, or test scores. In this process, there are no right or wrong answers!

Application. You must submit an online form with short essay questions, a presentation video, and supplementary information.

Interview. If you are a good fit for LALA, we will invite you to a virtual interview with a member of our Admissions Team. We want to learn more about you, your passions, motivation, and ideas in this round.

Decision. Most applicants will receive a final decision within 6-8 weeks after the application deadline.

What are we looking for?

When reviewing applications, we seek students with demonstrated: leadership potential, a sense of purpose, acts of service, and values alignment.

Eligibility

  • Be between 14 and 20 years old by the starting date of your Camp;
  • Have not been to a LALA Camp before (virtual or in-person);
  • Be proficient in the language of the Camp you are applying for;
  • Be passionate about social transformation, and look forward to making a positive impact on your community.

In case you don’t have consistent access to the internet but still want to attend the Camp, please include this piece of information in your application so LALA can make sure to support you better.

Program Fee

We don't want money to be an obstacle! That's why we offer need-based financial aid, which means we provide scholarships based on the applicant's and their family's economic situation, not on their merit. Our price ranges are from $50 to $500. The investment for the Camp provides lifetime access to our community.

WHAT HAPPENS AT A CAMP?

LALA Camp
Trajectory Summary

This is intended to provide an example of what to expect from the Latin American Leadership Academy Camp. The information below is tentative and subject to change.​

PHASE 1: Community Building

Students take the time to share about themselves and hear about each other to create a rich learning community for students and their fellow participants.

PHASE 2: Practice of Inquiry Methods

Students practice methods of inquiry that yield deeper connections and understanding of themselves and others. Through learning about strength-based approaches and interviewing each other, students practice vulnerability by speaking their truth and ultimately deepening community connections.

PHASE 3: Becoming Storytellers

Students learn the importance of crafting a narrative and the role that story plays in any leadership journey. Students internalize how to use narrative to supercharge the way they educate themselves and others and mobilize resources and communities.

PHASE 4: Becoming Problem Understanders

Students are taught a social impact approach focused on centralized understanding and how to engage others in the process of problem understanding proactively. This gives students the opportunity and a method to understand their calling better and to share it with others.

PHASE 5: Arriving at the Turning Point

Students begin to set a plan in motion that orients them toward understanding and pursuing their social impact identity and goals.

PHASE 6: Closing, Final Shares & Community

Students practice vulnerability by doing a final share that enables the community to understand better who they are. The strengthened Camp cohort explores how to effectively transition out of meaningful experiences and use them to grow further and develop themselves and their social impact mission.

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER A CAMP?

The Community

Wait, there are more than Camps? Yes! After participating in this program, you’ll become a lifelong member of our continental community. You will receive access to exclusive opportunities, such as mentoring, virtual clubs, meditation sessions, internships, support in applying for university scholarships, and much more.

Bianca Vasconcelos (PLB)

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

My camp was the first time I could travel outside Brazil for an immersion experience. It was amazing to experience house-sitting with people from all corners of Latin America. I experienced a high level of connection and a sense of belonging there. Not only to that group but also as a Latin American woman, I had experiences that were very important for the life I am following today.

Sol Petroni (PLB1)

Rosário, Argentina

The camp was a turning point in my life. With the support of a community, I reflected on what I cared about and who I wanted to be. The participants and the staff made me feel seen and were eager to change the world, just like me. I was able to be myself, find my purpose, and build relationships that are still present in my life.

Andressa Reis (MLB2)

Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

When I participated in my first LALA Bootcamp, I didn’t know the dimension of what the word “LALeader” would mean to me. MLB2 was the first step in my personal and interpersonal development; connecting with people from different parts of Latin America opened my view of the world and, in a fruitful way, made me the person I am today.

Júlia Peixoto (VLB9)

Goiás, Brazil

My V-Camp broadened my views on social change and being part of a community. It made me believe I could change the world, not because I can do it all – but because together, we can do a lot!

Jhudy Souza (VLB16)

Bahia, Brazil

Being part of LALA fulfilled a personal dream I had for a few years. Honestly, the community has far exceeded my expectations and has become like a second family to me! My favorite part was learning that vulnerability is not about being weak but rather about being open to feeling at all times.

Sueli Zalazar (MLB1)

Asunción, Paraguay

The LALA Bootcamp is the most unforgettable experience someone can ever go through; it was the most life-changing moment for me. Being surrounded by so many passionate people is incredible; it’s an experience full of self-listening, happiness, and purpose.

FAQ

LALA is a non-profit institution that seeks to promote sustainable economic development and strengthen democratic governance in Latin America by developing and connecting a new generation of principled and socially innovative leaders. Find out more about our mission and purpose on the About Us page.

No! LALA is a legal non-profit organization. Through Google, you can find articles about our work in trustworthy communication channels, such as The Bogota Post, Educación Futura, El Comercio, Estudar Fora, Escola Mobile, Brazil Reports, and Argentina Reports.

The entry initiative to LALA is the Leadership Camp. After students successfully attend the program, they become LALíderes. To keep supporting them, we created an ecosystem network of Mentors, LALíderes, and others that keeps growing! Find out more about our programs on the The Community page.

Here is a breakdown of the application stages:

(1) Filling out the application form and the financial aid form on the website (available only when our applications are open);

(2) Reviewing applications and sending acceptance and rejection letters for interviews;

(3) Interviews;

(4) Reviewing pre-final candidates’ applications;

(5) Sending either an acceptance or rejection final letter for the Camp.

We encourage you to apply to any Camp in the language you feel most comfortable with. We require a medium proficiency level for English Camps to fully understand and be involved, which will be tested during the interview.

Check this document for the most frequent questions about OpenApply.

The age requirement for our Camps is 14-20 by the start of the Camps season. Sadly, we don’t make exceptions for the age requirement, as we follow the internal Admissions Policies and Procedures.

Those born and/or lived in Latin America for over 10 years are qualified to apply.

You can apply to up to 3 virtual Camps, but you will only be accepted in one.

We’d love to have you join us! Feel free to re-apply to our future Camps.

We don’t want cost to be an obstacle. The final investment will depend on the results of your selection process and the Financial Aid Form, but it will be within the following range:

  • Virtual Camp: $50 – $500

The investment for the Camps includes lifetime access to the Community.

If accepted, this information will be provided on your admission letter

You will get a deadline for making this request on your admission letter. After the deadline, reallocations will be closed, except for health emergencies, because late switches bring operational challenges. We highly recommend you plan ahead and let us know if you have any predictable commitments on your program date.

Once a student is accepted into one of our Camps, we will send the selected student a survey for their guardians to fill out so we can receive your contact information and forward you updates, invitations, and guidance. For example, we will send guardians a newsletter with more details about the organization and host Family Welcome Webinars in Spanish and Portuguese. For further information on this topic, check the For Guardians page.

Please check the Our Team page to learn more about all the staff involved in organization!

The Financial Aid team at LALA considers all the demonstrated needs from the financial information shared by the candidates during their application (Financial Form), respecting the regulation on Data Policy, to calculate the scholarships to each candidate. The model considers factors such as family income (total and per capita) and the proportion of all admitted students in the season to provide the distribution of scholarships in the most equitable way possible.

Briefly, lower-income applicants are more likely to receive scholarships, but 90% of the applicants receive a certain amount of financial aid. For more details on this topic, check the Financial Aid page.

Before the Camp start, you will be emailed all the information and resources needed. There is no need to buy anything specifically.

There are 3 essays in the LALA application and each with a minimum of 250 words and a maximum of 350 words.

Yes, it’s possible. You have the right to request all your data to be removed, and it will violate data privacy if we keep it. You can request your data to be erased by emailing [email protected].

Often, those emails can be in the spam. Go to your email’s Spam Box and search for keywords such as LALA, application form/update, OpenApply, webinar, or office hours.

If you have further inquiries, feel free to reach out to: 

Please name the email subject in the following way: Name/Matter (e.g., Maria/Interview Problem).

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