The Golden LEAF Foundation is a nonprofit organization established in 1999 to help transform North Carolina’s economy. The foundation receives one-half of North Carolina’s funds from the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement with cigarette manufacturers and places special emphasis on assisting tobacco dependent, economically distressed and/or rural communities across the state. The Golden LEAF Foundation works in partnership with governmental entities, educational institutions, economic development organizations and nonprofits to achieve its mission. The foundation has awarded 1,110 grants worth over $511 million since its inception.

Golden LEAF’s grants-making focuses on three priorities: agriculture, job creation and retention, and workforce preparedness. To complement these areas, they also fund projects that provide education and other opportunities to support and develop economic growth in tobacco-dependent, economically distressed, and/or rural communities. Golden LEAF’s work extends to every part of North Carolina, helping bring about positive change for many industries and communities. To learn more about applying for a grant, visit www.goldenleaf.org or call (888) 684-8404.

Scholarships are awarded to students all over the state of North Carolina. You must be a current Golden LEAF Scholarship recipient to apply to the Scholars Leadership Program outlined on this website. If you are not a scholarship recipient and would like to learn more about the scholarship, please visit https://www.ccl.org/

Founded in 1970, the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL®) has a long history in leadership research, training, and development. CCL has ranked among the world’s Top 10 providers of executive education for 10 consecutive years in an annual survey by Financial Times. Each year CCL provides leadership training to more than 20,000 individuals and 2,000 organizations across the public, private, nonprofit and education sectors worldwide. Participants in CCL programs include CEOs of over 80 Fortune 100 companies, top ranking military officers and government officials, school superintendents and principals.

The mission of the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL®) is to advance the understanding, practice and development of leadership for the benefit of society worldwide. CCL conduct research, produce publications and provide a wide variety of educational programs and products to leaders and organizations in the public, corporate and nonprofit sectors. Funding is derived primarily from tuition, sales of products and publications, royalties and fees for services. In addition, the Center seeks grants and donations from corporations, foundations and individuals in support of our educational mission. Center for Creative Leadership: www.ccl.org

CCL has a history of developing young people as leaders – the NC Fellows Leadership Development Program and the Rotary Youth Leadership Program in Greensboro have both run for over 20 years. The Center launched Leadership Beyond Boundaries (LBB) initiatives in 2006 to make leadership development more affordable and accessible in the world. With the launch of LBB, CCL has been able to expand it’s work with young adults even further.