Elevate Training Academy provides experiential leadership programs that support people in unlocking their passion, power, and purpose. Developed using positive psychology and behavioral science, our emotional intelligence trainings are proven to make substantial and lasting impacts on graduates’ personal and professional lives while also improving our local communities.

Founded in 2019, Elevate Training Academy was started as a way to build community, create impact, and develop leaders. Its success is a testament to the extraordinary students who have used its platform to reach the next level in their own lives. The founders were originally invited to participate in a similar training on the west coast. Inspired by the value they created for themselves, and also witnessing their peers experiencing extraordinary results, they decided to launch their own program in Chicago.

Students begin with the Discovery Training to scratch the surface of leadership and identify what is holding them back from living their best life as their best self. Once complete, students move onto the Breakthrough Training to create freedom from old habits and thought processes that are getting in the way of those freedoms. The final stage of the core curriculum is the Leadership Program, which supports students in utilizing all the tools learned from previous trainings and applying them to their lives. As a capstone, each Leadership team also completes a large-scale community service project designed to have a massive impact in the world.

The core curriculum trainings are sequential and cannot be taken out of order. The trainings build on one another and are cumulative in nature. The trainings are to be taken in the following order: Discovery → Breakthrough → Leadership Elevate Training Academy offers a variety of additional workshops at several times throughout the year. Some workshops do require core curriculum trainings as prerequisites.

Each student’s experience during the training is different and unique to them. Exactly what you get from the trainings depends heavily on your participation and openness in the process. The training curriculum, the process itself and the value of making a commitment to growing as a person and developing yourself as a leader affects each participant in meaningful ways and ultimately creates results to our students and their communities.

Transformation is redesign and reinvention. In the context of Elevate Training Academy, it’s a reinvention of the self in a way that, with constant practice, is sustainable and long-lasting.

The trainings are experiential in nature and focus on practical skills, leadership principles, and conceptual information with strong focuses on developing emotional intelligence (EQ), stress-management skills, integrity, resilience, responsibility, and leadership. The purpose of the trainings is to create extraordinary results in your life, including: Intimacy at a deep level Trust within yourself and with others Communication in all relationships Increased self confidence Career success Financial abundance Healthy body, mind and spirit Leadership in your life and your community The curriculum of the trainings accomplishes this by creating breakthroughs in self-awareness, uncovering blind spots that hold us back, and then providing tools to break through these barriers to success. Leadership is not only for people in positions of authority or management. Everyone has the potential to be a leader in their lives. This looks like both living their own lives to their greatest potential and supporting those around them into living theirs.

EQ is the ability to motivate yourself to take actions that you determine will serve your vision and assist you in reaching your goals. Among many things, EQ is the ability to: Be joyful regardless of your circumstances. Manage stress Connect and be sensitive with others’ feelings Understand what motivates you Respond to situations instead of reacting in order to allow for intentional, conscious choices that are more likely to lead to desired outcomes in life. EQ has been identified by a number of employers and educational institutions as being the number one contributing factor to success. It is regarded as more important than IQ, resources, contacts, or other environmental factors. Our trainings develop these EQ skills and deliver intuitive, simple to understand principles to implement as leadership in life.

Traditional schools specialize in instructional education: A teacher at the front of the room conveying conceptual information relying primarily on lecture. This is an effective method for teaching knowledge, but is not typically as effective at developing practical skills and wisdom that are obtained through experience and practice. Experiential education bridges the gap from concept to practice. Think of the difference between reading about riding a bike versus actually riding one. Emotional intelligence and leadership are skills often treated as conceptual topics when, realistically, to fully develop them as functional tools requires putting the ideas into motion. Our trainings utilize a series of dynamic exercises in order to develop various leadership skills and traits. Exercises include one-on-one sharing, small group interactions, games, and guided visualizations. The trainings are extremely engaging and the time passes very quickly. These activities require some physical movement and active participation.

People love their favorite sports teams. When avid sports fans meet other fans of the same team, it doesn’t matter that they may be strangers, friends, or family; there is a shared enthusiasm and camaraderie. This level of excitement is seen in many activities with a passionate following such as running, crossfit, yoga, certain diets, March For Our Lives, Rocky Horror Picture Show, student organizations, and other popular trends. The environment is similar within the ETA alumni network. We are each other’s fans and have created a bond that makes it easy to show excitement about each other’s accomplishments and successes. As a result, we then enjoy sharing the trainings and experience with others. Our participants are excited because they want to see people they care about enjoy what Elevate Training Academy has to offer. There is no other reward, financial or otherwise, for enrolling someone in one of our trainings. It’s truly the experience of giving for the sake of giving.

The trainings are intended for people of all backgrounds, genders, orientations, education levels, ethnicities, and religions.

We have had students complete this program successfully that have a history of alcoholism and/or substance abuse. However, Elevate is not designed for treating addiction in any way, shape or form. For those currently battling addiction or recently in recovery, it is important to achieve sobriety prior to participation in the trainings. A minimum of 6 months of sobriety is strongly recommended and the student is encouraged to seek support from their sponsors. All students must be sober for the entire duration of the training weekends. Events hosted by Elevate are drug and alcohol free.

The health of our participants is our number one concern. We are a coaching organization, not a therapeutic practice, and we rely on our participants to accurately disclose any health conditions which may contradict participation. The trainings are rigorous and at times emotionally challenging. Therefore, they may not be suitable for those with a history of, or currently undergoing treatment for, mental illness. To ensure everyone’s health and safety, all participants must complete a confidential health questionnaire prior to attending. You may be required to get a waiver signed by a medical professional attesting to the safety of your participation.

This training is about you and your personal development, which is different and uniquely designed for each student. We focus on you, and not meeting third-party standards. Therefore, this training does not qualify for professional continuing education credits at this time.

Tuition may only be refunded within three days of your enrollment date, and must be requested in writing. You can transfer your deposit to a future training of the same type by calling the office. You can also transfer a balance to another student for an equivalent training for a fee of $45.

No. The curriculum for this leadership training is not rooted in any religion nor does it have religious elements included in the training. We welcome students of all denominations, belief systems, and religious and non-religious backgrounds. The feedback we invariably receive from people of various faiths that have participated, is that this work deepened their faith. Elevate Training Academy is truly a family-oriented organization. Our events are all alcohol and drug free and children are welcome to many functions.