What World Leaders are Saying About HOBY

"Education plays an essential role in helping students develop into future leaders. The skills and ideas young people acquire will help them make wise decisions in the coming years. Through these seminars, held annually in each of our United States, Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership (HOBY) provides excellent opportunities for students to better understand the workings of democracy and the free enterprise system."

- George W. Bush, 43rd President of the United States

"You know, we business people like to say we're driven by the bottom line. The real bottom line is the future, and we owe it to our youth to prepare them for that. Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership (HOBY) does just that. By promoting leadership, HOBY is building a corps of young people who will be prepared to meet the challenges facing future generations."

- Ted Turner, Chairman, Turner Broadcasting Systems

"The mission of America's Promise is to equip the next generation of Americans with the character and competence they need to be successful adults. Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership (HOBY) is one of our staunch allies in this crusade...HOBY is encouraging each of the thousands of high school sophomores who attend these leadership seminars to volunteer at least a hundred hours a year to a community service project. The HOBY commitment to America's Promise will produce at least 1,400,000 volunteer service hours a year."

- Colin L. Powell, Former United States Secretary of State

"The work of Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership is an important factor in motivating future leaders to become full participants in our democratic process. The challenges we as a people will face in the years ahead will be more intelligently and skillfully addressed because of the investment we now make in our youth. It is the children who give Nancy and me such hope. They truly are saying no to the dangers of drugs and alcohol, and are standing up for what they know is right. HOBY also gives hope - hope for the future of our youth and our nation. Our deep appreciation goes to Hugh for his efforts."

- Ronald Reagan, 40th President of the United States
and First Lady Nancy Reagan

"Perhaps all of us - politicians, scholars and public opinion makers - have not yet fully realized one simple fact. It is that we are not just standing on the threshold of a new century but are present at, and participating in, a change of epochs. Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership (HOBY) is helping facilitate that change."

- Mikhail Gorbachev, Former President of the Soviet Union

"In this world, success comes to those with confidence and faith in themselves. Hugh O'Brian's youth organization, HOBY, is the GREATEST in developing that confidence in outstanding 10th graders selected annually to represent over 13,500 public and private high schools at one of HOBY's leadership seminars. What an outstanding role model for our future!"

- Muhammad Ali, Olympic Gold Medalist and Heavyweight Boxing Champion

"Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership (HOBY) - and its countless volunteers - have developed a way to educate America's next generation in the art and purposes of leading a free people; and that is an enduring and significant achievement."

- George H.W. Bush, 41st President of the United States
and First Lady Barbara Bush

"Attending the Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership (HOBY) seminar in 1971 was a genuine turning point in my life. It was my first time to fly on an airplane, travel out of the state, and meet people from around the nation and world. I forged friendships that have continued for years, and the impact of HOBY is a large part of why I am Governor of my state today."

- Mike Huckabee, Governor, State of Arkansas, and '71 HOBY Alumnus

"Perhaps most importantly Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership (HOBY) has created a vehicle by which tomorrow's leaders can interact with one another and with today's leaders in learning more about themselves and the institutions which they will shape in future years."

- Walter Cronkite, Award-Winning Journalist, CBS News

"The continued vitality of American business, our communities, and our nation is highly dependent upon the knowledge and capabilities of our young people. Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership (HOBY) nurtures today's young people into tomorrow's leaders."

- Al Gore, Former Vice-President of the United States and Tipper Gore

"Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership has continuously responded to societal changes over 45 years, ensuring its ability to inspire young men and women so that they, in turn, may make positive contributions to their communities. Through HOBY leadership seminars...young people are given an extraordinary opportunity to prepare to become the leaders of tomorrow."

- Norman R. Augustine, Former Chairman and CEO, Lockheed Martin

"Our country has some big and exciting challenges ahead, with some tough choices. Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership (HOBY) offers a program for our youth to prepare for these challenges and presents them with the opportunity to put their stamp on history."

- Elizabeth Dole, United States Senator, North Carolina

"World peace can only benefit from future leaders who have the ability to communicate their wisdom and understanding. The Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership (HOBY) experience offers these young people the opportunity to expand their horizons by increasing the knowledge of the world they live in, through interaction with today's leaders."

- Dr. Henry Kissinger, Former U.S. Secretary of State

"Developing and inspiring our nation's youth who will shape the achievements of a new century is critical to all of us. We invest in our future when we use our time, talent, and resources to help them prepare for the leadership role that they will soon be called upon to demonstrate. We are proud to support and advance the ideas of Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership (HOBY) as a means of achieving this worthy goal."

- J. Willard Marriott, Jr., Chairman & CEO, Marriott International, Inc.

"By encouraging leadership and educating teenagers about the vast world of opportunities before them, the Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership (HOBY) program is making a very important contribution to our nation's future."

- Hillary Rodham Clinton, United States Senator, New York

"One of the best things that Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership (HOBY) does is it labels every student who attends the conference a leader, whether they've ever considered themselves one before or not. Second thing it does is it allows sophomores, possibly for the first time in their lives, a chance to leave behind everyone else's ideas of who they are. For that weekend...they're completely free to come up with their own definition of self..."

- James Van Der Beek, Actor and '93 HOBY Alumnus