5-Point Safety System™

At Global Leadership Adventures, safety is our first priority.

LAST UPDATED: OCTOBER 08, 2021

Safety & Risk Management

Safety is our first priority. While we believe in the transformative power of stepping outside comfort zones, we remain invested in managing the risks of doing so.

We’ve carefully crafted and continue to enforce our 5-Point Safety System™, a set of rigorous standards that support the safety, health and well-being of students on every travel program.

Beneath the 5-Point Safety System™, you’ll also find a section highlighting our risk management protocols for virtual programs. These standards are particularly tailored to online programming and can be seen as our counterpart to the safety system as implemented on travel programs.

1. GLA Home Base: Safe & Secure Lodging

Utmost care is taken to provide safe and secure lodging. Accommodations vary based on location, but all include exclusive spaces reserved for GLA students and staff.

Home Base is our home away from home, a place to relax, the gathering place for meals and sanctuary for reflection, team building and leadership after active days.

2. Caring Supervision & Expert Local Knowledge

GLA policy is for no student to ever be by themselves at any point in time outside the established Home Base. Students may be with staff members, in groups or assigned to a buddy.

Our student-to-staff ratio on our travel programs is a maximum 8:1. However, the ratio is usually lower on average.

Our local partners and on-site staff have intimate knowledge of the host community and region, are familiar with the area’s medical facilities and are uniquely equipped to handle itinerary adjustments and emergencies.

3. Safe Transportation

From the moment students arrive, they are greeted by GLA staff and transported to Home Base in approved transportation by experienced and licensed drivers. In the case of a flight delay, staff will wait for their arrival.

Transportation between Home Base(s) and activities is always in GLA-approved vehicles or via the mode of transport most appropriate for each specific location.

For example, in Europe or the United States, students may take public transport such as commuter buses or trains in small groups supervised by a staff member; in other countries and regions where public transport is not as reliable, we will use GLA-approved vehicles such as buses or vans. In some cases, a taxi or rideshare may be used, but only with staff in accompaniment.

4. Healthy Meals & Pure Water

Meals are prepared fresh daily by Home Base staff or vetted restaurants, and include a healthy mix of grains, protein, fruit and vegetables. Students will enjoy local cuisine, but familiar staples such as rice are typically available.

We are happy to provide a list of select programs that can best accommodate a student with particular food allergies or dietary restrictions.

Students will always have access to unlimited safe drinking water and will be provided three meals per day, plus snacks.

5. 24/7 Support & Emergency Response

GLA provides 24/7 support and a hotline while programs are in session.

While incredibly rare in occurrence, GLA has a plan in place for all types of emergencies and situations that could arise through diligent risk management and identifying proper health and support facilities within the vicinity of our programs.

We provide secondary medical and evacuation insurance to all students traveling internationally outside the United States, and professional medical support is also available to our teams 24/7 should specialized guidance be needed.

Risk Management for Virtual Programming

We apply the following standards to each of our virtual program experiences.

Protected Interaction. GLA virtual programs are delivered via secure password protected and invite-only exclusive platforms. Facilitators must admit participants to each live session, to ensure unwanted guests are not able to interact with our students.

Expert Facilitators. Facilitators go through an extensive training supported by our Psychological Consultant, which focuses on guiding interactions in a virtual context as it applies to student mental health, group dynamics. Our goal is to create safe and open virtual learning environments.

Carefully crafted curriculum. Our virtual learning curriculum is carefully crafted to meet the age-specific learning needs of the participants, offering feedback and individual support as necessary to meet each student where they are at. Our online programs also include an onboarding module to teach participants how to network and engage safely and efficiently in the digital world, in addition to the steps they should take to report any incidents online.

PARENT TESTIMONIAL: TAYLOR L.

It was a difficult choice to send my daughter on a Global Leadership Adventures program because there were many different summer travel programs available. I wanted to pick the one I thought would be the best match for my daughter.

We contacted a number of families who had students on previous GLA trips and every parent reported that their child had a great experience. I wanted to make sure there was adequate supervision at all times during the program. And I wanted to make sure that my daughter felt safe and was able to enjoy her adventure without any concerns about her environment and her support staff.

I learned after her return that there were fascinating discussions every night from the program staff not only about the specific country that they were in, but also about traveling and human nature as a whole that she looked forward to.

GLA Directors and Mentors quickly became advisors and friends, not only supervising the students, but also participating in the adventures alongside them. Her experience was excellent from beginning to end.