About MIT LTI
Mission Statement
The mission statement of the Leadership Training Institute is to create a sustainable community of diverse students and staff, and to promote the integration of leadership, service, and comprehension of self-identity into all aspects of their lives.
Purpose
The purpose of this organization shall be:
- To teach motivated high school students the philosophy behind leadership, the importance of teamwork, and the importance of self-reflection and comprehension of self-identity.
- To provide an opportunity for students to apply their leadership potential through hands-on experience and projects.
- To allow high school students to learn from their MIT mentor/role model.
- To give MIT students a way to learn from teaching and relay their experiences to students in a healthy mentor-mentee relationship.
- To be the premier leadership-oriented student-run community service organization.
- To be one of the many future leadership programs on college campuses.
When and Where Does LTI Take Place?
LTI is a 12 week program that runs from 12:00noon to 4:00pm every Sunday (excluding holidays and school vacations) from February to May. The program takes place on MIT's campus.
What are the responsibilities of a student?
Students are expected to complete assignments on a weekly basis. Throughout the program, students will be working on a final project that addresses an issue in their community. During the Closing Ceremony in May, all students will present their project proposal to an audience of family, friends, community leaders, and select MIT Deans.
History
The Leadership Training Institute was founded in May 2007 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology by YeSeul Kim and Semmie Kim.
YeSeul always had a desire to help other people, but she also knew she couldn't change the world single-handedly. So, with memories from her high school leadership program to inspire her, YeSeul decided to create a program that would empower students to learn how to be leaders in their community, and then give them the opportunities and resources to 'pay it forward.'
Semmie had enjoyed being involved in leadership-oriented activities since her days in high school through organizations that promote volunteerism, wellness and self-development through a number of channels. She had always been motivated by the realization that small steps taken by one person could truly make a difference in the world, and her wish to share that knowledge with others.
After brainstorming for a month, Semmie and YeSeul, joined by Sarah Han and Ryan Jackson, launched a pilot version of LTI through MIT's High School Summer Program (HSSP.) The program was oversubscribed and turned out to be a great a success in reaching students. LTI expanded tremendously in the fall of 2007, with the creation of an executive board and four committees. This initial year of LTI saw over sixteen MIT students join LTI as committee members or mentors and eight students successfully graduate from LTI in the spring of 2008.
Short-term Vision
The short-term vision of LTI is to spread our name and spirit throughout MIT's campus, to reach the point where LTI is well-recognized among our student body. We wish to be a program that reaches out to a wide spectrum of high school students around the Cambridge/Boston area and actively helps those disadvantaged students to become competitive leaders in the future. We hope to become a program for which high school students compete to participate in, and whose mentors are dedicated heart-and-soul to the students we are helping.
Long-term Vision
The long-term vision of LTI is to expand our program around the country by creating a LTI-in-a-Box tool that will help start an LTI chapter in other schools that wish to follow suit. We also hope to spread our vision around the world and implement LTI in international communities. Towards this end, four LTI members travelled to Mexico during IAP 2009 to establish LTI in Casa Telmex - community centers similar to YMCA.
5 Year Plan
- Establish LTI on two other college campuses
- Gain publicity
- Expand into five different countries
- Maintain financial stability
- Have well known presence on established campuses
- Build community that keeps in touch through tools such as a functional Infinite Connection-esque portal
- Have outstanding pools of applicants!
