Rippleffect offers two programs specifically aimed at nurturing the emerging dedicated, determined, and dynamic leader; the Youth Leadership Summit and the Youth Leadership Expedition.

Rippleffect's second leadership development program, The Youth Leadership Expedition, is a ten-day exploration of Maine for alumni of the Youth Leadership Summit. Students hike to the summit of Katahdin Mountain, kayak expedition-style down the Penobscot River, and cap their achievement by hiking Cadillac Mountain. They say that a picture is worth one thousand words: Following this link will bring to you L.L. Bean's homepage, our sponsor for the YLE, where you can view much of the Youth Leadership Expedition through video and photgraphs.

Once students have completed the YLS, they are able to apply to participate in the YLE, held in June of their senior year. Both programs have inspired students to take on international problems at a local level. For instance, Jeff (YLE, '05) received a Scholarship to attend a NOLS program in Patagonia, Chile; Eric (YLE, '06) is working as a canvaser with Opportunity Maine and co-leading wilderness adventure trips at the University of Southern Maine; and Kate (YLE, '06) spent a month in Ecuador over her winter break from college and explored opporutnitities for volunteerism in Ecuador.

The Youth Leadership Summit and the Youth Leadership Expedition are bookend programs that enable us to give hands on experience to Maine youth that ties them to their natural heritage and to the state of Maine as a living and evolving place. It also gives them a worldly sense of responsibility and stewardship. It is our hope at Rippleffect that the seeds planted during the Youth Leadership Summit and the Youth Leadership Expedition, on Cow Island and beyond, will grow into sturdy oak trees that will make a difference in the lives of those most needy and without the resources to address their daily challenges.

Youth Leadership: An often repeated, often underestimated, term that describes what we at Rippleffect hope to instill and nurture in our students.

Our guides and educators inspire our students to conduct themselves with respect for the individual while respecting one's immediate and global environment and our shared natural resources. Through this process, we encourage our students to discover the wilderness within while exploring the wilderness of the Gulf of Maine. We remind our students through initiatives, group work, kayaking, and service projects to always use the knowledge you already have, but to keep in mind that,

"If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything, it is open to everything. In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's mind, there are few. That is the real secret […], always be a beginner."
-Shunryu Suzuki