Frequently Asked Questions
LMI’s Program Model
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Founded in 2013, Leadership Mission International (LMI) is a faith-based nonprofit organization in rural Honduras that equips young women with the education, leadership formation, and practical skills they need to lead positive change in their families and communities.
Through a two-year residential program, students study English, leadership, entrepreneurship, community development, agriculture, computer literacy, and life skills while living on LMI’s 200-acre campus in Comayagua, Honduras.
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LMI recruits students through a relational, community-based process. Our Honduran team connects with schools, churches, community leaders, alumni, local organizations, and families across Honduras to identify young women who would be a strong fit for the program.
The recruitment process includes outreach, recommendations, applications, interviews, and family conversations. LMI looks for students who demonstrate motivation, resilience, leadership potential, and a desire to use their education in service of their communities.
Because LMI is a residential program, recruitment is not only about academic readiness. It is also about understanding each student’s goals, family context, community background, and ability to thrive in a shared learning environment.
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After graduation, LMI students pursue a variety of paths. Many begin working, continue to university, start or strengthen small businesses, support their families, and lead community projects.
LMI continues to walk alongside graduates through alumni engagement, follow-up, and opportunities for continued leadership development. Alumni may also apply for microloans, scholarships, and community development grants.
Through these resources, LMI invests beyond the two-year program, equipping graduates to carry leadership, opportunity, and community-centered change into communities across Honduras.
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LMI focuses on women because investing in women has a ripple effect across families, communities, and future generations.
In many rural Honduran communities, young women face significant barriers to education, employment, and leadership. They may have fewer opportunities to continue studying, earn income, make decisions, or be seen as leaders. LMI exists to help change that.
When a young woman gains education, confidence, ethical leadership skills, and economic opportunity, the impact rarely stops with her. She often reinvests in her family, mentors others, contributes to her community, and becomes a visible example of what is possible for other girls and women.
LMI believes women are not simply beneficiaries of development. They are dynamic agents of change.
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English is a powerful economic and leadership tool in Honduras. For many students, English opens doors to employment, higher education, professional networks, internships, and leadership opportunities that would otherwise be out of reach.
LMI teaches English not as an end in itself, but as part of a broader leadership formation model. Students learn to communicate across cultures, advocate for themselves, access new opportunities, and expand their sense of what is possible.
English can be especially valuable for students from rural areas, where access to high-quality language instruction is often limited.
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LMI equips students to return to their communities with practical skills, leadership experience, and a service mindset.
Through community development training, students learn to identify local strengths, listen to community members, and design projects that respond to real needs. Graduates often become bridges between opportunity and their home communities.
When one student grows, her family and community often grow with her.
Impact
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LMI’s impact is seen in the lives of graduates who step into employment, university, entrepreneurship, and community leadership.
Graduates are working, studying, starting businesses, supporting their families, mentoring others, and leading projects in their communities. Many become the first women in their families or communities to pursue new educational and professional pathways.
At the community level, LMI graduates have led projects related to education, infrastructure, agriculture, health, water access, and local development.
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LMI measures success through both quantitative and qualitative indicators. These include student graduation, employment, university enrollment, internships, business development, English growth, leadership skills, alumni engagement, and community impact.
We also listen closely to student and graduate stories. Numbers matter, but they are only part of the picture. LMI’s deeper goal is formation: women growing in confidence, character, skill, and purpose.
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LMI equips students to return to their communities with practical skills, leadership experience, and a service mindset.
Through community development training, students learn to identify local strengths, listen to community members, and design projects that respond to real needs. Graduates often become bridges between opportunity and their home communities.
When one student grows, her family and community often grow with her.
Faith & Values
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Yes. LMI is a faith-based organization rooted in the love and example of Jesus Christ. Our faith shapes how we serve: with dignity, humility, compassion, and a commitment to the equal worth of every person.
Students and staff have opportunities for spiritual growth through voluntary Bible studies, worship, prayer, service, and church activities. At the same time, participation in faith-based activities is voluntary, and every person on campus is treated with dignity, respect, and care.
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No. Religion is not a barrier to education, belonging, or opportunity at LMI.
LMI’s faith shapes the values of the organization, but students are welcomed and cared for regardless of their religious background. Participation in faith-based activities is voluntary.
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Ethical leadership means using influence in service of others. At LMI, students are invited to consider not only what they want to achieve, but what kind of leaders they want to become.
Students explore questions of character, responsibility, justice, humility, courage, and service. They are encouraged to use their voices and skills to strengthen their families, communities, and country.
Giving & Partnership
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LMI is funded through the generosity of individual donors, churches, foundations, businesses, and community partners.
Donor support helps make the program accessible to students who would not otherwise have this opportunity. Gifts support student housing, meals, classes, staff, campus operations, internships, agriculture, and leadership development.
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There are many ways to support LMI’s mission. You can give financially, sponsor student learning, introduce LMI to your church, foundation, business, or community, attend an event, volunteer your time or professional expertise, or share LMI’s work with others.
Every act of support helps equip young women in Honduras with education, leadership formation, practical skills, and opportunities to create lasting change in their families and communities.
Whether you give your time, talent, or treasure, you are helping invest in ethical women leaders across Honduras.
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LMI offers several ways to give. Supporters can donate online by credit card, debit card, ACH, or express payment options through LMI’s donation page. Gifts can also be made by check and mailed to LMI’s Seattle PO Box.
Donors may also support LMI through Qualified Charitable Distributions from an IRA, gifts of stock or securities, or grants from a donor-advised fund. LMI’s EIN is 46-2488422.
In some cases, LMI may be able to accept gifts in-kind.
Please contact admin@leadershipmission.org for support with your questions.
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Yes! LMI welcomes mission-aligned partnerships with churches, foundations, businesses, civic groups, universities, and nonprofit organizations.
Partnerships may include funding, technical expertise, internships, professional mentorship, in-kind support, event collaboration, or other forms of strategic support. Please contact admin@leadershipmission.org for partnership inquiries.