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Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) was formed at Stanford University in 1998 as a 501(c)(3) with the mission of transforming the culture of youth sports to ensure that all young athletes have the opportunity for a positive, character-building experience. As John W. Gardner, founder of Common Cause, has said: "There isn't any other youth institution that equals sports as a setting in which to develop character. There just isn't. Sports are the perfect setting because character is tested all the time. It means a great deal if that time in sports is well used." Youth sports offer a virtual classroom for teaching life lessons, but only if the adults who work with athletes recognize and seize the many teachable moments provided. Research shows participation in youth sports improves academic performance and school attendance, results in better behavior and decreases risk-taking behavior, such as experimenting with drugs and alcohol. But kids are dropping out of sports, and if kids don't stay in sports, they won't reap these benefits. PCA is creating a movement to seize the latent educational potential of the playing field and ensure that all youth athletes have the opportunity for a positive, character-building experience. Recent events from the headlines (baseball player killed in attack with bat, increasing steroid use among high school and pre-teen athletes, banning post-game handshakes because of violence, parent brawls, etc.) show how far from the ideal youth sports is and why PCA's mission to "transform youth sports so sports can transform youth" is so needed today. The decentralized nature of youth sports does not lend itself to easy answers or approaches. Changing the culture of youth sports from the win-at-all-cost ethic of the professional sports entertainment business to an "educational-athletic" culture requires a sophisticated, research-based approach that can be applied on an organization-by-organization basis across the U.S. PCA is in the culture-change business, and we are entering a crucial stage in our history. Since our founding in 1998, we have developed our programs, refined our business model, and built credibility with key institutions and individuals. We have developed a systems approach to effecting cultural change with more than 600 (and counting!) Youth Sports Organizations (YSO's) in which we offer training to leaders, coaches, parents and athletes that gets all the key actors on the same page. We have assembled a world-class National Advisory Board of sports coaches such as Phil Jackson, Herm Edwards, and Larry Brown, as well as leaders in academia and business. We have developed our "model store" for how to operate in individual communities and learned what it takes to expand successfully into new geographic areas. The next three years are about building capacity to take our program to every corner of the U.S. Our national certification program will make our research-based model of coaching, the "Double-Goal Coach," the industry standard in youth sports. A Double-Goal Coach wants to win (goal #1) while using sports to teach life lessons. Our new on-line workshop makes this accessible to any coach in the U.S. We will fortify our management structure through a system of regional offices and position ourselves to expand our fundraising efforts to other regions of the U.S. This critical three-year period is designed to allow us to achieve our BHAG (big, hairy, audacious goal, in the words of Jim Collins and Jerry Porras) of training and certifying 1 million Double-Goal Coaches in the next decade. Ultimately, we intend to have an office in every major metropolitan area and a PCA Trainer within driving distance of every YSO in the U.S. If we can directly impact 25% of the four million youth coaches in the U.S., we know we will indirectly reach the entire youth sports industry and change the way the game is played forever.

PeerForward transforms the lives of low-income youth by connecting them to college and careers through our innovative program, PeerForward. The PeerForward Method guides students to make postsecondary education plans by tapping a resource found in every single high school in the nation: influential students. It is informed and validated by research on the key actions essential for postsecondary degree attainment. We train teams of influential students to run campaigns in their schools driving actions that research shows are the leading indicators to eventual postsecondary enrollment and success: filing for financial aid, applying to at least three institutions, and connecting career aspirations with academic decisions made in high school.

The mission of Washington & Jefferson College is to graduate men and women of integrity, competence and maturity who are effective lifelong learners and responsible citizens, and who are prepared to contribute substantially to the world in which they live. To this end, the College promotes the development of skills, knowledge, personal qualities, and a worldview that characterize a well-educated person.

We share these values of our founding patron, George Washington: integrity, determination, curiosity, civility, leadership, and moral courage.  We offer academic rigor and self-discovery in a supportive, residential community of well-qualified, diverse, and motivated individuals. We develop in our students habits of analytic thought and clear communication, aesthetic insight, ethical sensitivity, and civic responsibility.  Unhurried conversation and close connections with an exceptional faculty and staff complement a broad curriculum of study.  A beautiful campus, ready access to exciting cities and the Chesapeake Bay, and engagement with cultures and communities locally and around the world afford our students ample resources and opportunities for personal exploration and shared challenges. We prepare our students for rich and fulfilling lives; for myriad and unpredictable opportunities; for a lifetime of learning, leadership, and productive endeavor.

The Abraham Joshua Heschel School is an independent Jewish day school named in memory of one of the great Jewish leaders, teachers, and activists of the 20th century and dedicated to the values that characterized Rabbi Heschel’s life:  intellectual exploration, integrity, love of the Jewish people and tradition, and a commitment to social justice. The Heschel School is a pluralistic, egalitarian community that includes families from a wide range of Jewish backgrounds, practices and beliefs.  Boys and girls, men and women participate equally in all aspects of the school’s religious, intellectual, and communal life.

We believe that children's lives change when their natural passion for learning is nurtured and transformed into habits of life-long learning and reflection. We believe that the world changes as these children learn to serve country and community with wisdom, conviction, and compassion.

Allen-Stevenson’s distinctive “enlightened traditional” approach educates boys to become scholars and gentlemen. In the belief that there are many ways to be a boy, the School offers an ongoing commitment to each student and uses the best insights and tools available to understand him as a whole person. We inspire in each boy an appreciation of responsible citizenship and a lifelong love of learning.

Asheville School works to prepare our students for college and for life, and to provide an atmosphere in which all members of a diverse, engaged, and purposefully small school community appreciate and strive for excellence - an atmosphere which nurtures character and fosters the development of mind, body, and spirit. Asheville School was founded in 1900 by Charles Andrews Mitchell and Newton Mitchell Anderson. Their concept for Asheville School was of a place where boys could prepare for college or for the business world; where the body, through organized athletics, would be trained as well as the brain; where boys could learn constructive work with their hands as well as their heads. Our school motto, Vitae Excelsioris Limen, translates to "threshold for a higher life."

Avon Old Farms School strives to be the best school for boys by cultivating young men of integrity who honor wisdom, justice, service, and the pursuit of truth.  We promote intellectual, creative, and emotional growth in our students by providing a structured, supportive learning environment that encourages self-discovery and social responsibility.

Baylor School was established in 1893 as a college preparatory school for the young men of Chattanooga. Today, Baylor enrolls students in grades 6-12. Our boarding program draws students from around the country and the world, who are attracted to the school by a strong academic program, diverse extracurricular activities, and a nurturing residential atmosphere. Baylor's mission is to foster in its students both the ability and the desire to make a positive difference in the world. Baylor fulfills its mission by providing: a rich academic program; a school rooted in tradition yet receptive to change; a wide variety of co-curricular experiences; a diverse academy having at its heart a vibrant resident community of faculty and students from around the world; and a balance of emphases on activities of the mind, body, and spirit.

Belmont Hill is a community dedicated to developing boys in mind, body, and spirit In a school that challenges and supports students in and beyond the classroom, we strive for excellence, honoring clear thinking and creativity, competition and teamwork, tradition and vision Valuing difference, we seek students, faculty, and staff from a broad range of backgrounds who will embrace honest effort, curiosity, courage, and compassion.

The Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School is an independent, co-educational Jewish day school with a commitment to academic excellence that is evident throughout general and Jewish studies. Faculty members partner with committed parents and seasoned administrators to create a vibrant, caring, student-centered community. The Day School opened in 1946, with a curriculum that combined general education with Jewish values and culture, as well as Hebrew language. The school was renamed Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School in 1988. The Day School embraces all denominations of Judaism and Day School families represent a microcosm of Chicago's diverse Jewish community, with families spanning the continuum of religious practice and belief.