Founded in 1958, HOBY’s mission is to inspire and develop our global community of youth and volunteers to a life dedicated to leadership, service and innovation.
HOBY programs are conducted annually throughout the United States, serving local and international high school students. HOBY programs provide students selected by their schools to participate in unique leadership training, service-learning and motivation-building experiences. Over 4,000 committed HOBY volunteers plan and execute the programs each year, serving both at the local HOBY affiliate level and on HOBY’s Board of Trustees. Nearly 10,000 students participate in HOBY programs annually. Over 475,000 proud alumni are leaders in their schools and communities, throughout the United States and the world, making a difference for others through service.
O. Falade – HOBY Florida Alumnus, 2008
“HOBY was my first experience which forced me to intentionally change the way I viewed myself. They taught me to think for myself as a young leader capable of initiating change and, subsequently, I became one.”
O. Falade is the co-founder of the University of Central Florida’s Blackstone LaunchPad entrepreneurship consulting center. There, he helped raise nearly $500,000 within eight months and impacted the lives of more than 8,000 students through more than 300 workshops and events. O. is the founder and current director of Bauxio, a campus-based entrepreneurship advising center that also offers consulting services to other universities, both domestic and international. O. has received a number of first place and semi-finalist awards in business competitions focused on entrepreneurship, providing him funding and services to further develop his vision to provide entrepreneurial support for college students.
Sydney Kamen – HOBY DC Alumna, 2013
“HOBY helped me find a purpose and has given me the support and insight to find direction and accompany me on my journey to making a difference globally.”
Sydney Kamen founded the non-profit So Others Are Protected (SOAP), a self-empowerment initiative solving issues surrounding sanitation and the spread of disease in the under-resourced world. SOAP works with rural and vulnerable communities to recycle discarded soap from luxury hotels to promote sanitation, health education, emphasize community capacity building and provide alternative livelihoods for at-risk women and girls. Since being founded in 2012, SOAP has 14 community partners, 13 hotel partners and has produced over 50,000 bars of recycled soap. She is the president of the International Development Forum at Dartmouth College, an actively serving EMT, and a U.S. Army Cadet in the Reserve Officer Training Corps.
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