GOLD2023

Torch Leadership Academy Inc

To empower the next generation of ethical, visionary leaders.

Haddon Twp, NJ   |  http://torchleadershipacademy.org

Mission

Our mission is to develop and empower leaders through meaningful connections and transformative experiences.

Ruling year info

2020

President

Bryan O'Donnell

Main address

148 Heather Road

Haddon Twp, NJ 08107 USA

Show more contact info

EIN

84-4219957

NTEE code info

Youth Development Programs (O50)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990-N.

Communication

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Torch aims to help close the skills gap in society. Research shows that the workforce lacks the key soft skills needed to succeed in today’s world (e.g. problem-solving, teamwork, communication).  Our programs aim to address this by providing developmental experiences at a young age, with the hope that these young people will show others the way.  We expand participants’ understanding of leadership from traditional ideas of “strength and confidence” to include more thoughtful characteristics like “loving and determined.”

Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

Annual Conference

Torch Leadership Academy's annual conference provides an exciting, fun-filled, four-day leadership training program for local high school students. 

Each year we invite emerging leaders from across the state to learn the skills and abilities they need to succeed. Our goal is to expand their horizons and build confidence of young people in our community through communication, goal-setting, self-awareness, problem-solving, empathy, and teamwork activities.

We believe in the leadership of young people by young people. 
A key aspect of our program is that we continue to provide past participants an opportunity to return as volunteers for the following year’s program. We are a group of 60+ passionate, diverse leaders who have a passion for youth development, volunteer, our time and donate our resources to the continued success of young people. Our volunteers have an average of 10 years of experience mentoring and coaching young people to reach their full potential. We host personal development days, align our experiential learning curriculum to emerging social and educational theories, and are constantly searching for ways to enhance our program. We are lifelong students - doctors and lawyers, MBAs and artists, teachers and innovators - and attribute much of our success to the skills gathered through this program.

Torch aims to help close the skills gap in society.
Research shows that the workforce lacks the key soft skills needed to succeed in today’s world (e.g. problem-solving, teamwork, communication).  Our programs aim to address this by providing developmental experiences at a young age, with the hope that these young people will show others the way.  We expand participants’ understanding of leadership from traditional ideas of “strength and confidence” to include more thoughtful characteristics like “loving and determined.”

Population(s) Served
Adolescents
Young adults

We provide fun and engaging opportunities for young people to explore their own unique leadership skills.
Our programming is based on leading educational research (experiential learning, challenge/support, social-emotional learning) and hands-on experience.

The TORCH staff has worked together for over 25 years, representing a diversity of ages and careers.
We currently offer tailored, virtual programs to engage students on the topics below.
- Communication
- Critical Thinking
- Leadership

We are offering our intro-level programs at no cost to schools.
To adapt to your needs, here are some ways to leverage TORCH for a customizable 75 minutes of programming:
- Class-time: We partner with teachers to take on scheduled instruction period
- Clubs: We can plug into meetings or events
- Assembly: Provides all students a unique opportunity

Population(s) Served
Economically disadvantaged people
Adolescents

Where we work

Our Sustainable Development Goals

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

To empower the next generation of leaders, we cultivate personal development, meaningful connections, and servant leadership through immersive and transformative experiences.

We aim to improve each and every participant's soft-skills around problem-solving, teamwork, and communication.

We also aim to attract and provide these opportunities to under-served communities and to ensure that our program is demographically representative of the areas we live in.

Our Programming & Continuous Improvement team build learning objectives and curriculum that are aligned with our mission and goals.

We assess the improvements through pre and post surveys at every event we hold to measure our progress towards this goal.

We are building outreach networks with school administrators, teachers, universities, non-profits, and businesses in various communities to be inclusive and build more diversity in our efforts.

We hold Personal Development Days to maintain the skills learned during our main program while also providing continuous learning opportunities and the ability to give back through service learning.

We have approximately 60+ passionate volunteers (advisors) from all walks of life. They are students, doctors, lawyers, MBAs, artists, teachers, and innovators.

We have organized ourselves as a holocratic organization with a three-person Organizing Committee and the following circles with lead/facilitator roles in place:
- Staff
- Finance
- Marketing & Outreach
- Governance, Risk, & Compliance
- Programming
- Operations

So far (March 2020), we have achieved what is necessary for future success. We have engaged and organized our team, incorporated, gained tax-exempt status, secured an insurance policy, developed cohesive branding, launched our social media presence, and scheduled our first Personal Development Day. We seek to confirm a campus location for our summer event in the next month and begin seeking sponsorships, applications, and nominations.

How we listen

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

done We demonstrated a willingness to learn more by reviewing resources about feedback practice.
done We shared information about our current feedback practices.

  • Who are the people you serve with your mission?

    High school students across the various counties and districts in New Jersey. We particularly aim to serve students who staff and guidance counselors have identified as having untapped potential and could benefit from a leadership development experience that may not be otherwise accessible to them.

  • How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

    To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals

  • What significant change resulted from feedback?

    We've made changed to get students more sleep through strict 11:30PM lights out and 7:30AM wakeup call. We've changed our student selection expectations to increase the diversity and quality of participants. We will better showcase the students by expanding their role at the Closing Ceremony, showing Follies highlights, and a speech contest. We will strengthen our youth protection posture to address youth staff and completeness of background checks for all.

  • Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

    We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback

Financials

Torch Leadership Academy Inc
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

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Build relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.

  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.

Torch Leadership Academy Inc

Board of directors
as of 01/20/2023
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Bryan O'Donnell

PwC

Term: 2021 -

Sarah Stefanelli

Pfizer

Joseph Seales

Marriott

Joshua Albrecht

Mckinsey

Meaghan Gallagher

JP Morgan Chase

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • Board orientation and education
    Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes
  • CEO oversight
    Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Not applicable
  • Ethics and transparency
    Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes
  • Board composition
    Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes
  • Board performance
    Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 1/20/2023
info Candid has made improvements to the race and ethnicity options.

Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.

Leadership

The organization's leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
Multi-Racial/Multi-Ethnic (2+ races/ethnicities)
Gender identity
Non-binary, Not transgender (cisgender)
Sexual orientation
Gay, lesbian, bisexual, or other sexual orientations in the LGBTQIA+ community
Disability status
Person without a disability

Race & ethnicity

No data

Gender identity

 

Sexual orientation

Disability

No data

Equity strategies

Last updated: 01/20/2023

GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more

Data
  • We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
  • We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
  • We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
  • We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
  • We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
  • We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
Policies and processes
  • We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
  • We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
  • We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
  • We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
  • We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
  • We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.