Global Young Leaders Conference
| Private | |
| Founded | 1985 – current |
| Founder | Barbara Harris Richard Rossi |
| Headquarters | Vienna, Virginia, USA |
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Area served
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Worldwide |
| Subsidiaries | Explore STEM, National Young Leadership Forum, NYLF MED, NYLF Law, NYLF Engineering, Envision Game & Technology Academy, Advanced Emergency Medicine, Intensive Law & Trial, Pathways to STEM, International Scholar Laureate Program |
| Website | envisionexperience |
Envision EMI, LLC is a privately held, for-profit education company that, as Envision Experience, creates, markets and runs a number of youth leadership programs under various names. The company develops curricula for, markets, manages, and produces a variety of summer educational experiences, including leadership and career-oriented education programs, for elementary school through college-age students. The company is based in Vienna, Virginia and runs its organizations' programs across the world.
Critics have accused the company of recruiting students by claiming that attendance is selective, when the company actually markets its programs to tens of thousands of youth. In 2009, the company attracted 15,000 youth to events related to President Barack Obama's inauguration, but was unable to fulfill the promises it made in its promotional materials. It settled a lawsuit, promising to pay out up to $17 million in vouchers to event attendees.
The company was founded as Envision EMI in 1985 by Barbara Harris and Richard Rossi. As of 2010[update], neither were affiliated with the company. Envision Experience plans, organizes, and runs seminars, programs, and conferences around the world. As of 2006, the predecessor company Envision EMI had over 200 staff members and annual revenues of over US$75 million, with over 47,000 students from fourth grade through college attended Envision programs around the world.
According to the 2008 IRS filing for one of its subsidiary programs, the Congressional Youth Leadership Council, "all full-time staff working on the account of CYLC are employees of Envision EMI LLC." Envision EMI formerly operated some of its programs on behalf of non-profit entities that it had an exclusive marketing relationship with, including the Congressional Youth Leadership Council and the National Youth Leadership Forum, which Envision purchased in November 2007. Envision acquired the assets of the Congressional Youth Leadership Council, including its name and the rights to run all of the programs.
The company hosted more than 56,000 students in 273 conferences during 2009 in the United States, China, and Australia focusing on career education and qualities of leadership. The week-long programs cost from $1,440 to more than $3,060. Students are encouraged to raise money to help fund the trip.
The programs are marketed as conferences that help scholars develop their leadership and educational skills. The company strives through its marketing efforts to reach students it describes as high-achievers. While the company is privately held and a for-profit enterprise, all of its wholly owned, subsidiary programs' web sites utilize the .org domain suffix, which was originally intended for generally non-commercial non-profit organizations.
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