The L.E.A.D. Foundation: Quarter 1 Executive Summary (January 1 – March31, 2026)

After School Youth Wellness Programs

The L.E.A.D. Foundation delivers a no cost, evidence based after school wellness program designed to improve youth physical health, education, and personal development across underserved communities in the Capital Region. During Quarter 1 of 2026, L.E.A.D. successfully expanded programming across Troy Middle School and multiple Schenectady City School District elementary schools, providing consistent, structured programming that integrates physical training, nutrition education, and mentorship.

Program Reach & Delivery

●50 middle school students served at Troy Middle School

●12–20 students per session across 5 elementary schools

●4 sessions/week (middle school) and 1 session/week per site (elementary)

●Program delivered 100% free of charge, including snacks, water bottles, t-shirts, and bags

Key Outcomes

1. Physical Fitness

●Strength gains: +5% to +34% across participants

●Muscular endurance: Push-up improvements up to +45%

●Core strength: Increased sit-up performance and stability

●Students progressed from minimal ability to functional strength capacity

Key Finding: Students with 40%+ attendance showed the greatest improvements, with top participants reaching 80–95% attendance and the highest performance gains.

2. Nutrition & Health Literacy

●Calories & macronutrients: Up to 100% accuracy

● Average knowledge score: ~90% at tested sites

Students are developing:

● Nutrition label literacy

● Awareness of food composition

● Real-world decision-making skills

3. Attendance & Engagement

Core participants achieved 80–95% attendance rates

Students increasingly view L.E.A.D. as:

●A structured and reliable environment

● A positive outlet for energy and stress

● A consistent part of their routine

4. Leadership & Behavioral Development

●Increased student initiative and leadership

●Stronger peer accountability and encouragement

●Improved focus, discipline, and participation

These outcomes reinforce trends from 2025, where behavioral incidents decreased significantly and student engagement improved long-term.

Why the Model Works

The L.E.A.D. program produces meaningful and measurable results by integrating physical training, education, and mentorship into a unified approach to youth development. Through structured physical training, students achieve measurable performance gains, while the education component increases their knowledge and awareness of health, nutrition, and wellness. At the same time, mentorship fosters confidence, discipline, and leadership development. This multi-dimensional model drives outcomes across physical health, cognitive development, and social and emotional growth. As a result, students are not only improving physically, but also building consistent habits, gaining confidence through progress, and taking greater ownership of their health, behavior, and overall well-being.

Conclusion & Opportunity

Quarter 1 results demonstrate that the L.E.A.D. program is evidence-based through clear, measurable outcomes, scalable through its successful multi school implementation, equitable through its no cost access model, and preventative in its early intervention approach to youth health. Building on strong 2025 outcomes where up to 90% of students improved physically, the program is well positioned to expand its reach and deepen its impact across the Capital Region. The data is clear: when students are given consistent access to structured training, education, and mentorship, they improve physically, mentally, and socially. The opportunity now is to scale this impact, reaching more youth and creating lasting, community-wide change.