Founder & CEO
Riley Simpson
Riley founded LeapYear to transform how young adults discover and pursue their calling.
About us
We want to see the next generation thrive.
LeapYear helps young adults experience, discover, test, and become who they were made to be.
Formation happens around real tables, with people worth learning from.
Who we are
A team built around the whole student.
Our team brings together career design, experiential learning, leadership formation, and a rooted Christian vision of the good life.
Career Design & Experiential Learning
Haley Robison Dake
Haley brings expertise in career development, leadership formation, strategic design, and experiential education.
Spiritual Formation
Bill Walker, PhD
Bill brings deep expertise in spiritual formation, vocational discernment, and theological education to LeapYear.
Coaching
Tami Peterson, MA
Tami brings 24 years of experience helping young adults and families navigate seasons of transition.
Operations & Program Delivery
MacKenzie Korsi Thomas
MacKenzie builds the systems and experiences that turn LeapYear's vision into a coherent year for every student.
Our exemplars
Students should meet adults whose lives expand what feels possible.
Thought leaders, builders, investors, lecturers, and allies who bring honest stories and hard-won perspective into the LeapYear community.
What we believe
A meaningful life is formed through more than information.
Young adults need room to ask honest questions, work on real problems, practice responsibility, and encounter people whose lives are worth studying.
We integrate faith, work, character, relationships, and practical experimentation because those parts of a life cannot be designed in isolation.
Our design principles
Experience. Discover. Test. Become.
Four durable ideas shape how students move through the year.
- 01
Start with the right questions
Before deciding what is next, understand who you are, what you love, what you are great at, and what the world needs.
- 02
Test instead of guessing
Hands-on projects and professional experiments reveal what fits before years of time and tuition are committed.
- 03
Build the whole person
Faith and character development belong inside every experience, not in a separate side program.
- 04
Practice guided independence
Coaching, frameworks, and community provide support while students increasingly direct their own growth.
Build with us
Want to be part of the LeapYear mission?
Start a chapter, become a partner, or explore ways to bring your experience into the community.