D Day Leadership Academy Summer Programs 2026

Summer is when students have time and space to become someone new. D Day Leadership Academy uses that window to do something simple and rare. We take students out of routine and put them into living history and leadership expectations that require effort, humility, and follow through.

This summer, DLA is building programming around one primary objective. Get scholarship students onto meaningful ground, with the right supervision, the right instruction, and the right standards, so they return home steadier, more capable, and harder to break.

The Leadership Scholarship Trip

The Leadership Scholarship Trip is the centerpiece of DLA summer work. It is designed for students who have earned a seat and who may not otherwise have access to travel, mentorship, or historic immersion. This is not tourism. It is structured time where history becomes personal and leadership becomes measurable.

Students will experience guided learning and reflection built around three pillars

History that is firsthand and properly framed

Leadership that is practiced instead of discussed

Character that is built through standards and accountability

DLA’s approach is intentionally direct. Students are challenged to show up on time, listen carefully, carry their share, and take responsibility for their conduct and their teammates. DLA does not manufacture hardship for entertainment. We use difficulty with purpose, because that is where growth becomes real.

What students gain from the experience

Students do not come home with a souvenir version of history. They come home with perspective and the beginning of a standard they can apply to school, family, work, and relationships.

They learn how to move through a demanding schedule without excuses

They practice making decisions under fatigue and time pressure

They learn to communicate clearly, respectfully, and fast

They develop gratitude that is grounded in real sacrifice

They build confidence that comes from competence, not hype

When a student is placed into the story, they stop seeing leadership as a slogan. They start seeing it as a responsibility.

Why DLA is expanding summer programming

DLA has one job. Preserve the legacy of those who served and use it to shape the next generation. Summer programming is where that mission becomes scalable. It allows DLA to run longer days, build stronger cohort cohesion, and deliver deeper reflection without the interruptions of the school year.

This summer also marks a step forward in DLA’s evolution. DLA is developing additional advanced pathways for participants who want deeper leadership training on historic ground. Some of what is being built will be introduced first in limited pilot capacity, with strict standards and careful oversight. DLA will share more publicly when it is appropriate and when the operational model is fully proven.

For now, the focus remains clear. Scholarship students come first.

How you can help

If you have followed DLA for any length of time, you already know the limiting factor is not mission. It is access.

Scholarship funding is what moves the work from intention to action. It covers travel, lodging, instruction, safeguarding, and the operational backbone required to run these experiences responsibly. Every gift helps put a student onto the ground where perspective changes and character is tested.

If you want to fund the kind of leadership development that actually holds, support the Leadership Scholarship Trip this summer.