MONTERREY, Mexico and Montreal, Canada - Tecmilenio and Harvest Performance have announced a partnership to expand the foundational elements of the Take the Leap! Program, which grounds emerging leaders in purpose and prosperity, to senior high schools in Mexico.  

Through this new partnership, Tecmilenio high school students now have the opportunity to apply new approaches like the one proposed in the book “The Apple in the Orchard: a story about finding the courage to emerge as a leader” to increase their clarity, purpose, and prosperity as they plan their professional and personal journey.  

Harvest Performance's Take the Leap! Program has received the Award of Excellence (AOE) for Outstanding Human Performance Intervention for its innovative approach to leadership development. The program emphasises the importance of purposeful leadership, and helps students and professionals develop the skills and mindset necessary to cultivate the courage to emerge and take action in their personal and professional lives.  

At the same time, Tecmilenio is recognized as a leader in promoting and developing the integral wellbeing of its community. Its vision is to develop positive people with life purpose and the competencies to achieve it.  

Sonia Di Maulo, Founder of Harvest Performance, is co-leading this research project with Alberto Perez Arroyo, Director of Mentoring at Tecmilenio. They have integrated Sonia’s Ken Blanchard-endorsed book, The Apple in the Orchard: a story about finding the courage to emerge as a leader, into the senior high school curriculum across 28 campuses in Mexico. As of April 2023, 6,724 students have participated in the project. The translated version of the book is a key part of the research at Tecmilenio.  

“We are excited to partner with Harvest Performance to bring new resources that can improve clarity and engagement to our high school students regarding their life purpose,” says Alberto Perez Arroyo, Director of Mentoring at Tecmilenio. “By offering them the tools and resources necessary to hone their leadership abilities, we are giving them the best possible preparation for their future academic and professional careers.”  

The 2-week activity is available to high school students in their senior years, providing them with a unique experiential learning opportunity to develop their leadership skills and gain clarity around purpose and goals for their careers and become the leaders they aspire to be.  

One student shares, “I think it's a great example of what many teenagers are going through right now, we are afraid to choose the wrong option or that it is not the right one; but we have to be brave and not stay in our little circle.” They continue, “We have to go out and know everything that is beyond our sight to grow as a person and to grow in society.”  

Another student describes a breakthrough after reading the book and completing the exercise, “I found it very interesting and inspiring. I liked that it was a story because it motivated me to make a change in my life and to transcend as a person.”  

“Our ultimate goal is to cultivate clarity in as many students as possible,” says Di Maulo. “We believe that by doing so, we can help to create a brighter future for the next generation of leaders.”  

Sonia Di Maulo adds, “We are delighted to be collaborating with Tecmilenio on this initiative. Our goal is to empower emerging leaders and provide them with the support they need to achieve their full potential. We know that by expanding to high school students, we can help them build the confidence and skills necessary for success in their academic and personal pursuits.”  

This partnership between Tecmilenio and Harvest Performance is a significant development for the education sector, and the benefits will undoubtedly have a positive impact in the lives of students for years to come.