The campaign is aimed at equipping Alzar with the infrastructure and tools to help more young leaders gain confidence and community.
Our school was born from a radical idea—that education can be so much more than what is offered in a traditional classroom. Students exhibit leadership from the moment they choose Alzar, making the bold decision to forego the familiar comforts of home and embark on a semester or gap program that challenges them to discover all they are capable of through engaging academics, outdoor adventure, and cultural exchange.
Learning is ingrained in every moment at Alzar. Here, students don’t just hone the academic skills they need to be successful in their studies. Beyond the classroom, they grow skills that are more difficult to quantify—like intuition and decision-making from leading their peers on outdoor excursions; empathy and adaptability from daily life in Chile; and conflict resolution, collaboration, and personal responsibility from community living among their yurtmates. These experiences instill them with the confidence and experiential knowledge they need to be effective, positive leaders ready to tackle the daunting challenges of our world.
We know what we do works because we see the impact of the Alzar experience every day. Our alumni go on to make a difference in their communities, launching initiatives that range from providing outdoor learning opportunities to recently resettled refugee youth, to clean up projects at their local rivers. Since the beginning, we have employed the same sense of tenacity demonstrated by our students to evolve from a small, short-term program provider into the vital semester school and gap program that we are today.
All that we have achieved—like establishing our semester programming or building our permanent Idaho campus—has only been possible through the philanthropic support of those who believe in us most. Now, we are ready to write the next chapter for Alzar School.
We have already received early philanthropic investment that will help make our vision for the future possible—but we will need additional support from our community as we achieve a $4.5 million campaign that will establish Alzar as a permanent home for leadership development and education.
The Idaho campus that welcomes students has long been a home-away-from-home for future leaders. As we launched the quiet phase of the Leaders Rising campaign in 2020, Alzar’s neighbor in Idaho approached the school with a once-in-a-generation opportunity to acquire the adjacent land and add 268 acres (with another 2.3 miles of river/creek frontage). Thankfully, one of the first supporters to the Leaders Rising campaign stepped up with a bridge loan to allow us to purchase that land. A few years later, we negotiated the purchase of an additional 80 acres to fill in the gap that would allow the newly developed campus master plan to flow efficiently and maximize the potential of the site.
However, this initiative is about so much more. We have added and improved staff housing, as well as added elements to student housing. We have improved the water treatment system on campus. We have done important design work for an expanded road.
This campaign has radically improved the Base Patagonia campus, which sits on Lago Atravesado (just outside Coyhaique). We have added 3 staff houses, which opened up 3 refugios for students. We doubled the capacity of the water system, made the campus road much more useable, added a dock and stairs to the lake. And, our final piece is under construction: the Atravesado Lodge is being constructed, with an anticipated Grand Opening for December 2025!
“Resiliency & Resourcefulness” is one of Alzar’s 10 Elements of Leadership, and speaks to a leader’s ability to respond to challenging times and to seize opportunities. Alzar has gotten where it is by being able to weather difficult moments and by taking on exciting new endeavors. This fund positions Alzar to be able navigate pressures that face small nonprofits with grace. Since the Leaders Rising campaign launched, the school has faced a global pandemic, an enrollment spike of 33%, significant inflation, and more.
The Empowering Leaders Annual Fund supports Alzar’s essential work and directly impacts the daily operations of our nonprofit organization. Meeting our annual fund goals each year allows us to offer competitive teacher salaries, maintain facilities, supplement financial aid, and continue to provide culturally significant experiences abroad.
The Empowering Leaders Annual Fund provides the financial foundation for Alzar to move sustainably forward. As a small school, your gift to the annual fund has a significant impact.
There are many ways you can contribute to the Leaders Rising campaign.
Alzar School is helping to fill the leadership void. The world needs more leaders to tackle social and environmental issues. Many students think that the point of an education is to prepare them for a job, to make a living, or for more education (college, medical school, etc). We believe that education is meant to prepare you to make the world a better place, and that this requires rigorous academics as well as opportunities for meaningful character growth and development. Our students are well prepared for the challenges of university life, in many respects due to the personal growth that comes with living independently of their families, and spending intentional time working to become a better leaders. They will be able to achieve these things and have the leadership skills to direct their energy and
talents toward improving their local communities and confronting global issues.
The overwhelming majority of support for this campaign has come from the Alzar community… that’s our board, students/alumni, their families, staff, and volunteers. Additionally, private foundations and individuals committed to the unique educational experience that Alzar offers have supported this campaign.
Alzar School is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that is officially registered with the State of Idaho and the IRS. Contributions to the school and this campaign specifically are tax deductible (check with your accountant to maximize your donation). It was approved as a 501c3 in April 2008.
The Leaders Rising Campaign Chair is Board Member Mike McIntyre (parent of Spring 2016 student). Alumna Lily Leebern (Spring 2015) leads the alumni committee supporting this campaign.
Family-owned ranch land like the land adjacent to the Alzar School campus is rarely sold – maybe once in several decades or more. The last time this land was sold was in the 1950’s. Additionally, due to the zoning, a sale now to a buyer intending to develop the land would mean that this opportunity would never be available to Alzar School again. The Board of Directors and leadership felt that any owner of the property other than Alzar School was a serious threat to the environment we are creating on our Idaho campus. It was important that we took this property being for sale seriously.
This initiative directly impacts students! We have improved student housing and greatly improved the water quality on campus. We have added staff housing, which means more of the great educators live right on site and participate more fully in the student experience. The hundreds of acres added have resulted in miles and miles of additional hiking trails for students (we can now run the entire semester 10K fun run on campus!).
For years, Alzar has improvised classrooms in Chile, proving that “when we need a classroom, the world awaits.” However, with a stunning location on a Patagonian lake, we have the opportunity to have inspiring, comfortable classrooms that allow our academic sessions to be even better. This lodge will also provide a welcoming dining hall and community quincho, allowing us to host community events.
One of the best parts of working for Alzar is the chance to spend approximately 5 months per year in Patagonia. However, living internationally can also be one of the most trying aspects of life for Alzar teachers. By adding additional staff housing at Base Patagonia, this campaign has made it possible for teachers to lengthen their tenure with the school, which means they can support even more students through the experience.
Alzar School has always been committed to equity when it comes to how we serve our students. One major element of this is the role of financial aid—ensuring students from marginalized communities have access to the resources that enable them to have a life-changing Alzar experience.
Financial aid is one of our most important resources for making these experiences possible for students who might not otherwise be able to access them—and much of that support for students comes from our endowment dollars. As a growing organization, there are times when it is absolutely necessary for us to use some endowed funds to grow our programs and make improvements to our campus in order for our students to have the best possible experience here. This campaign will address those kinds of needs while freeing up more of those endowment dollars to be directed toward financial aid to students who need this support. Because we are fortunate to have this endowed fund to support financial aid, we can make this decision.
When these campus needs are met, not only will we elevate the Alzar experience for every student, we will also have even more resources to direct to financial aid for students who need it—with a focus on increasing access for students.
Alzar’s annual operating budget relies on raising about $100,000/year in the Annual Fund.
