History and concept

The Leadership For Good Academy builds on over a decade of tested practice.

Although the Leadership For Good programme in its current guise was formally established in 2024, the programme grew out of a collaboration with the British Exploring Society. Since 2011, co-founders Scotty and Rich have combined structured leadership development with nature-based settings to facilitate programmes for the next generation on a near-annual basis.

From Morocco to Norway, Romania and the Yukon, they have delivered programmes for the British Exploring Society that challenged young people while providing the facilitation and reflection needed to turn those experiences into leadership growth. 

Year after year, participants reported transformative impacts on their confidence and sense of purpose.

These programmes drew inspiration not only from modern leadership practice but also from the pillars of Plato’s Academy: courageous dialogue, self-awareness, community, integrity, and learning in and from nature. Scotty and Rich anchored expeditions in challenge and reflection, and proving that this approach builds character in ways that classroom education cannot.

When the main benefactor of the British Exploring Society, Tony Mellows, sadly passed away in 2017, the programmes were forced to stop despite their impact. Scotty and Rich were determined not to let that legacy disappear - drawing on their first-hand experience, and supported by a committed alumni community, they created the Leadership For Good Academy to carry the programmes forward. In 2024, the first official Leadership For Good launched under a volunteer-led structure and subsidised with funding from the Explore What Matters Foundation.

Supporting Leadership For Good today means securing the future of a proven concept: one refined over two decades, validated by hundreds of participants, and uniquely led by Scotty and Rich into its next chapter.