Unlock Your Leadership Potential

Discover, Connect, and Grow with our Leadership Camps

One-week program for Latin American emerging leaders to discover their leadership potential, connect with their purpose, and join a community of like-minded youth across the region. Our curriculum fosters personal and collective growth. From community building to storytelling and problem understanding, each phase empowers participants to deepen connections, craft compelling narratives, and engage proactively with social impact issues.

Applications are now closedFinancial aid availableVirtual from anywhere or in-person in Sao Paulo, Brazil
Eligibility: Applicants must be 14-20 years old before the camp starts, proficient in the camp's language, and passionate about social transformation and positively impacting their community.

What are the Leadership Camps?

The camps are the gateway to LALA’s community and the place where you will meet young people from all over the continent with the same dreams as you. This is an immersive experience that 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 two formats and three languages, all with the same curriculum and outcomes, but adapted to different needs:

virtual

  • Offered in Portuguese, Spanish, and English
  • Happens for 5 days
  • Financial aid available
  • The cohort is more diverse since even people from the most remote places can attend
  • More slots available
  • Fee of $500 USD

in-person:

  • Offered in Portuguese and English
  • Happens for 7 days
  • Financial aid available
  • Allows participants to travel to São Paulo, Brazil
  • If coming from outside Brazil, your country of residency might require you to take a yellow fever vaccine
  • If under 18, participants require a legal permit from their guardians to be able to travel and attend the program
  • Few slots available
  • Fee of $1500 USD

Why join LALA?​

International connections: Become a member of a community of 2400+ LALideres from 20+ countries and mentors from all over the world.

Socio-emotional development​: Our focus is on allowing you to explore the issues that are most important to you, telling your story and developing tools to manage your emotions. We want you to start by leading yourself!

Development Community​: After participating in Camp, you enter the LALA community. There, you can choose other programs to achieve your goals and meet other young Latin Americans.

Bianca Vasconcelos

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Curriculum

How do we teach leadership at LALA?

 

At LALA, we believe leadership is best learned through immersive, experiential methods. Unlike other leadership development programs that may focus on theoretical knowledge or specific leadership techniques, our approach centers on building authentic connections and understanding through real-world practice. Our curriculum emphasizes community building, vulnerability, and storytelling, encouraging participants to delve deeply into their personal values and motivations. By fostering a supportive and reflective environment, we help young leaders develop a profound sense of purpose and the skills to engage and mobilize their communities. This holistic approach ensures that our participants are not only prepared to lead but are also inspired to make a meaningful impact.

What happens at a Camp?

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.

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.

Students learn the importance of crafting a narrative and the story’s role in any leadership journey. Students internalize how to use narrative to supercharge how they educate themselves and others and mobilize resources and communities. Students dive deeper into themselves and the world around them to understand how they can create an impact on small and large scales.

In the Camp, we receive guests who have been working with social impact in the world. We see this event as one of the highlights of the V-Camp and an opportunity for them to practice everything we have been learning during the week. Students are invited to practice deep listening skills, question crafting, inquiry methods, and story sharing.

One of the reasons we have the Community is because we know that just a Camp is not enough to help them face all the challenges and barriers they have in their lives, and that’s why we want to offer them continuous support.

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 and develop themselves and their social impact mission.

One of the reasons we have the Community is because we know that just a Camp is not enough to help them face all the challenges and barriers they have in their lives, and that’s why we want to offer them continuous support.

We introduce them to the LALA Community and how it was created. We want to help them better understand it and get excited about how they can participate, engage, and find their home in it.  They also can taste the development and growth that LALíderes, who have deeply engaged with the Community, have experienced.

Our Camp Staff

Debora Rebecchi

Manager of Programs and Curriculum

Carolina Santos

Manager of Camp Operations

Julia Abreu

Manager for Camps Operations and Mentorship Program

Application

Who is the program for?

We seek students who have demonstrated leadership potential, a sense of purpose, and a commitment to acts of service, with values aligned with LALA. We prioritize your dedication to positively impacting your community over academic achievements like grades, resumés, or test scores.

Eligibility

  • Between 14 – 20 years old before the start date of your Camp
  • Proficient in the language of the Camp you are applying for
  • Passionate about social transformation and positively impacting your community
  • Can commit a week of exclusive focus in the program between January and February of 2025

 

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

Application steps

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. This interview will teach us more about your passions, motivations, and ideas.

Decision: In your acceptance letter, we’ll confirm in which Camp you have been accepted and also a financial aid offer based on your socioeconomic situation.

Application timeline

applications
Applications are now closed. If you are an applicant, please check the expected timeline below.
interviews
From late August to mid September
final decisions
End of September
fundraising program
From October to early December
camps
In January and February

community

Wait, there are more than Camps? Yes! After participating in this program, you’ll become a member of our continental community. You will receive exclusive opportunities like mentoring, virtual events, internships, support in applying for university scholarships, and much more.
The Community

Program Fee

Our Leadership Camps have a cost because we prioritize delivering high-quality education to our participants. This involves hiring experts in education to develop a robust and effective curriculum, trained facilitators to conduct engaging and impactful sessions, and dedicated staff members to manage the logistics and ensure a seamless experience. These elements are essential to providing a meaningful and transformative learning experience for our youth.


For the in-person program, the fee also covers transportation within the city, meals, housing, insurance, and other logistical necessities. It doesn’t cover transportation to and from São Paulo.

  • Virtual Camps: $500 USD (without a scholarship)
  • In-person Camps: $1500 USD (without a scholarship)

Yes, the price of the Leadership Camp might sound scary for some applicants. But don’t worry! We offer need-based financial aid, which means we provide scholarships based on the applicant and their familiy’s economic situation, not on their merit (like projects, grades, or awards). Besides the scholarships we provide, many students complement it with the Fundraising Program.
Learn more about financial aid below.

Financial aid

We offer scholarships based on your financial situation. Our support ranges from covering 10% to 90% of the total cost.
  • For V-Camps, prices range from $50 to $500.
  • For In-person Camps, prices range from $150 to $1500 (plus transportation costs).
Please note, we do not offer full scholarships.
If the scholarship we offer is not enough, applicants will have the opportunity to participate in the Fundraising Mentoring Program, which they will have guidance on the best ways to raise funds. We’ll also offer negotiation stages later in the process.

Applicants fill out the Financial Aid form after applying for the Leadership Camps. Please be honest and request the financial aid you truly need, so applicants who need more economic support can get it.

We have a need-blind application process, which means we don’t consider applicants’ financial situation when deciding whether they get accepted.

The Financial Aid Team calculates the scholarships for 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.

Acceptance letter is sent with a scholarship offer. Applicants can receive a wide range of scholarships, from none to 90%, depending on their situation and the financial aid available. If you don’t get the scholarship you were expecting, give it a chance! Keep reading to check all the resources we have for you.

90% of the applicants receive financial aid.

fundraising program​

In this program, we offer accepted students the support, mentorship, guidance, and a community environment to collect the funds to be part of the Leadership Camps. 


To participate, you don’t need to have any experience in fundraising. Just be committed to learning!

The program runs for four weeks after applicants are accepted, where we focus on supporting you on how to:

  • Tell your story;
  • Create and promote a crowdfunding campaign online;
  • Build your network;
  • Find ways to move forward with your fundraising campaign independently;
  • Connect with other accepted students.

Maria Clara Almeida

Brazil

I had the opportunity to be part of a family that was willing to help each other. I also met Estella, an amazing person and part of the LALA Staff who motivated and made me feel excited. The fundraising program had a lot of learning, from the fundraising process to self-knowledge.

Dayro

Peru

I loved meeting with students from different LatAm countries who shared the same ambitions and desires. During the working sessions, I not only met participants from my Camp but also from other Cohorts. The written information and video tutorials made by the facilitators helped me extensively to guide me in creating the crowdfunding campaign.

contact us

If you have further inquiries, chat with us via Whatsapp.
Chat with LALA on Whatsapp

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 O Globo, The Bogota Post, Educación Futura, El Comercio, Estudar Fora, 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.

Both Camps have the same curriculum regardless of format. 

When choosing, consider your priorities. For example, in virtual camps, you’ll likely connect with people from more diverse locations (due to the flexibility of the model). 

In-persn Camps also offer an equally amazing experience. However the costs of In-person and you would have to consider travel costs to the camp city. You should enroll in the format and date that makes the most sense for your experience! 🦙💛

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 2 Camps but will only be accepted in one.

No, you can apply for In-Person or Virtual Camps, not both. Remember that the deadline for In-Person Camps is July 26th and for Virtual Camps until August 2nd.

No. If you do that, we’ll only consider the application that was sent first.

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

The investment for virtual Camps is $500 dollars and for in-person Camps $1500 dollars. Remember that we offer need-based partial scholarships and a Fundraising Program. 💸 🤝

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

Yes!! We’ll be offering our Virtual Support Spaces are led by our Admission team and other LALA community members. 🕘. These are the timetables for next week:

  • July 10th – Wednesday (12am to 1pm COT | 2pm to 3pm BRT)
  • July 17th – Wednesday (12am to 1pm COT | 2pm to 3pm BRT)
  • July 24th – Wednesday (12am to 1pm COT | 2pm to 3pm BRT)
  • July 31st – Wednesday (12am to 1pm COT | 2pm to 3pm BRT)
  • August 2nd – Friday (1pm to 3pm | 3pm to 5pm BRT)

Access here

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.

Involving guardians in our applicants’ LALA journey is crucial to our organization. That’s why we welcome guardians in all the events we host. Furthermore, we’ll be hosting an exclusive event for guardians where you’ll get to meet the people behind our organization and answer all your questions. Please keep an eye on our Instagram for more updates.

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. Our support ranges from covering 10% to 90% of the total cost.

  • For V-Camps, prices range from $50 to $500.
  • For In-person Camps, prices range from $150 to $1500 (plus transportation costs).

Through Survey Monkey, our application platform there are two forms to complete as part of the application process. The application form, and a financial aid form. The financial aid form provides us with the information required to consider you for a scholarship.

The schedules for this season are still being organized, but we expect activities of about 8 hours per day during your Camp week. 🕒

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

There are four context questions in the LALA application, each with a minimum of 120 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, webinar, or office hours.

If you have further inquiries, feel free to reach out to our Whatsapp Number: +55 71 8132-8585 

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