For more than five decades, HOBY has inspired young people to make a difference and become catalysts for positive change in their home, school, workplace, and community. As America’s foremost youth leadership organization, HOBY has a long history of successfully motivating young people to develop into outstanding leaders.
Much of the work at HOBY involves young people exploring and identifying their unique leadership skills. Every student is different, and there is no attempt to impart a predefined set of attributes onto HOBY participants. We stress self-knowledge, uniqueness, and authenticity, not conformity. Students learn to mobilize their own unique traits and are exposed to particular leadership principles that they can explore and incorporate in a fashion that is true to their own personality.
Vision
To motivate and empower individuals to make a positive difference within our global society, through understanding and action, based on effective and compassionate leadership.
Mission
To inspire and develop our global community of youth and volunteers to a life dedicated to leadership, service, and innovation.
Core Values
Volunteerism – Volunteerism is the heart and soul of our organization. We appreciate the myriad contributions of our volunteers and recognize the power of thank you and of giving back. We seek to promote and encourage service among our stakeholders. We recognize and value the positive accomplishments that volunteers can achieve by working together. We believe that volunteers are positively impacted by our programs as much as the youth and communities we serve.
Integrity – Integrity forms the foundation of our organization. We demand the highest level of ethics. We grow our organization based on interactions that promote mutual trust and respect with our stakeholders and partners. We strive to ensure the highest level of organizational effectiveness by continually reviewing our programs and processes to improve quality and efficiency.
Excellence – We strive to continually raise our programs and business to new levels of excellence. We encourage entrepreneurship and innovation in business, education, and social responsibility. We develop creative solutions to address challenges and to utilize opportunities. We believe that leadership skills can and should be continually improved and refined.
Diversity – We value and embrace diversity. We seek out views that reflect all walks of life and reflect those views in our programs. We are sensitive to the special needs and diverse backgrounds of individuals. We give all individuals an equal opportunity to be heard and to benefit from our programs.
Community Partnership – We value community partnerships. We recognize the importance of working with community organizations to strengthen our supportive network. We value the input we receive from our community partners and strive to work together cooperatively and constructively for the betterment of all.