The Wilberforce Leadership Program
A complete overview • North Carolina Study Center
Program Goal & Foundation
The Wilberforce Leadership Program is a two-semester formation and leadership experience grounded in a biblical theology of faith and work. Its methodology draws on design thinking principles — applied to the questions of leadership formation and vocational discernment — integrated with the best of the Christian formation tradition, biblical theology, and leadership development. Its central conviction is this:
To help students become more fully and truly human — which is to say, become more like Jesus.
“The glory of God is a person fully alive.” — Irenaeus
What Do We Mean by Formation?
Formation is the slow work of becoming a particular kind of person — not just acquiring knowledge or skills, but being shaped, over time, into someone wiser, more honest, more rooted, and more fully alive.
Scripture calls this being “conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:29). The word itself is telling: to be con-formed is to be formed-with — shaped, little by little, into the likeness of Jesus. Formation, in the end, is the lifelong process of becoming who you most truly are in Christ.
You will hear the word formation a lot around here. It is worth slowing down to say what we mean by it — because it is probably not quite what you expect, and it sits at the very center of everything this program is trying to do.
Most of your education so far has been about information — taking in facts, ideas, and skills, and being able to show what you know. That matters. But formation is asking a different and deeper question. Not what do you know? but who are you becoming?
It’s about who you are becoming, not what you accomplish
There is a difference between a résumé story — your life narrated as a sequence of achievements — and a formation story, which asks what is actually being formed in you. College will relentlessly push you toward the first. This program is trying to hold open space for the second.
It involves your whole self, including your body
You cannot simply think your way into becoming a more patient, generous, or courageous person. You grow into it through practice — through what you repeatedly do, pay attention to, and love. Formation isn’t only intellectual. It is what your habits, relationships, and daily rhythms are quietly making you into, whether you have chosen it or not.
It can’t be rushed, and it can’t be done alone
Formation is slow — closer to how a garden grows than to how a task gets checked off. And it happens in community. You become yourself by being honestly known by a few trusted people over time. That is why relationships, conversation, and friendship are not extras in this program — they are where the real work happens.
It’s something you take part in, not just something that happens to you
You are not merely a passive recipient of your own life. Made in the image of a creative God, you are invited to take an active, intentional hand in shaping the person you are becoming — while remaining open to being shaped by God, by others, and by reality as it actually is.
Formation Framework
Who Students Are Becoming
By the end of the program, students are growing in five core character qualities — not competencies to be achieved, but attributes of a person who has been genuinely formed.
Humble
Holding gifts, opportunities, and influence with openness rather than grasping. Genuinely teachable and other-oriented, aware that everything is a gift to be received and stewarded well.
Rooted
Theologically and spiritually anchored — in the Gospel, in a clear sense of identity in Christ, and in a biblical understanding of faith, work, and vocation.
Self-Aware
Honest about their own interior life — strengths, limits, desires, fears, and patterns. Leading from integrity rather than from unexamined wounds or ambitions.
Called
Actively discerning and owning their vocation — not just planning a career, but developing a sense of who God is making them to be and designing a life of faithful contribution.
Engaged
Present, courageous, and active in relationships, on campus, and for the world — bringing faith and formation into genuine contact with friends, campus life, work, leisure, culture, and institutions.
Ways of Showing Up
At the heart of the WLP’s methodology are five design mindsets drawn from the design thinking tradition. These are not techniques or rules — they are ways of showing up, ways of orienting yourself to your own life. Each carries a deep theological resonance.
Wonder
Shifting from “What needs fixing?” to “What is here to notice?” Stepping out of autopilot into the flow world where meaning becomes visible.
Theological Resonance: Creation is good and God is present in all of it. Psalm 19, Psalm 8.
Availability
A moment-by-moment readiness that widens what’s possible. Moving from guarded to open, from bracing to receiving.
Theological Resonance: The spiritual discipline of openness. “Here I am, Lord.” Isaiah 6.
Radical Acceptance
Beginning with reality before trying to change it. You cannot solve a problem you are not willing to have.
Theological Resonance: The theology of lament. The Psalms that do not resolve neatly. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Psalm 88, Lamentations 3, Romans 12:15.
Fully Engaged & Calmly Detached
Showing up fully for what you can control — releasing gracefully what you cannot. A good decision and a good outcome are not the same thing.
Theological Resonance: Faithfulness over outcomes. The parable of the talents. Jesus in Gethsemane. Micah 6:8, Philippians 4:11–13.
Create Your World
Recognizing that the story you tell yourself shapes how you experience your life. Designers participate in creating reality rather than accepting its default version.
Theological Resonance: Imago Dei — made in the image of a Creator God who invites co-creation. Genesis 1:26–28, 2 Corinthians 5:17.
Where Formation Actually Happens
Formation does not happen alone. Two distinct relational environments anchor the year — one with peers, one with a wise outside voice.
Formation Groups
Spiritual friendship with a few trusted peers
- Who
- Groups of 3–5 students, formed in Week 2 of Semester 1
- How Often
- 3 or 4 times a semester, plus a brief check-in opening every weekly session
- How Long
- 60–90 minutes per meeting, across the full year
- What You Bring
- Your Compass, your Focus Question, and your honest reflection on the past few weeks
Purpose: Help each other get more out of life rather than cramming more into it. Formation Groups are grounded in the ancient practice of spiritual friendship — the recognition that formation requires being genuinely known by a few people over time.
What You'll Practice
Each meeting runs on a simple, sustainable rhythm:
- Check In. Three words to describe how you are arriving today.
- Engage-Reflect-Storytell sharing. Each member shares the reflections they have been carrying since the last meeting.
- Focus Question updates. How is your living question shaping you right now?
- Problem-solving. Real questions from real lives, held by the group.
- Check Out. What I'm taking away and what I'm looking forward to.
The Engage-Reflect-Storytell Practice
- Engage
- Go out into the world and actually do stuff.
- Reflect
- Notice what shines a little brighter in your memory.
- Storytell
- Bring those reflections back to people who care.
What It Asks of You
- A desire to get more meaning out of your life
- A willingness to reflect on your experiences
- An openness to share authentically in community
Coaching Conversations
A wise outside voice, focused entirely on you
- Who
- One trained Wilberforce Coach paired with you for one-on-one conversation
- How Often
- Twice per year — one in the fall, one in the spring
- How Long
- 45–60 minutes per conversation
- What You Bring
- Your three living tools and a completed Coaching Reflection Exercise
Purpose: A coaching conversation is different from mentoring, counseling, or consulting. It is formational accompaniment — a focused, dedicated space where a trusted adult helps you make your own connections, name your own discoveries, and grow in your own capacity to navigate the questions in front of you.
What the Conversation Honors
- Curiosity. You will be genuinely listened to and asked thoughtful questions. There is real power in being noticed and inquired about by someone paying close attention.
- Voice. Your voice is the dominant voice in the conversation. The coach is there to draw you out, not to talk over you.
- Agency. The goal is not to receive advice but to grow in your ability to make wise decisions aligned with your values — and to trust the way you make them.
The Reflection Exercise You'll Prepare
Before each conversation, you'll walk through five movements:
- EmpathizeWhere am I right now? A snapshot of your current life, energy, and patterns.
- DefineWhat matters most — and what is the real challenge or opportunity in this season?
- IdeateWhat are 5–10 possible ways forward? No filtering, no judging.
- PrototypeWhat is one small experiment I could actually try?
- CommitWhat will I do next — and who will support me as I do?
What You Can Expect to Walk Away With
- Greater clarity about where you are and what matters most right now
- One or two concrete, low-stakes experiments to try in the next few weeks
- A growing trust in your own capacity to discern and decide
Two-Semester Overview
Becoming
The Inner Life of a Leader
Semester 1 establishes the formation foundation. Students build three living tools — Compass, Odyssey Plans, and Focus Question — at the Opening Retreat, then spend the semester deepening what those tools reveal. The arc moves from story and identity, through the five design mindsets, into the relational and embodied dimensions of formation.
Retreats
Weekly Themes
- Week 1Story & IdentityWhat story am I living in — and who am I becoming within it?
- Week 2WonderWhat would I notice about my life if I actually paid attention to it?
- Week 3AvailabilityHow do I show up — and what would change if I arrived more open?
- Week 4Radical AcceptanceWhat reality am I resisting — and what becomes possible when I stop?
- Week 5Fully Engaged & Calmly DetachedWhat does it look like to show up fully while releasing what I cannot control?
- Week 6Create Your WorldWhat story am I telling myself — and is it the most truthful one available?
- Week 7Relational IntegrityWhat does it mean to speak the truth in love?
- Week 8Body & PracticesHow does what I repeatedly do with my body shape who I am becoming?
- Week 9IntegrationWhat has this semester been forming in me — and what do I carry forward?
Guest Speaker Dinners
Three dinners per semester. Guests speak to their own formation journey — how they became who they are, not just what they have accomplished.
Engaging
The Outer Life of a Leader
Semester 2 takes everything built in Semester 1 and puts it into active, embodied engagement with the world. The arc opens with a strong vocational sequence, moves through the harder realities of suffering, failure, and forgiveness, and closes with power, influence, and faithful presence.
Retreats
Weekly Themes
- Week 1VocationWhat is my work for — and how does it participate in something larger than me?
- Week 2CallingWhat specifically am I being called to — with these gifts, in this season?
- Week 3AmbitionWhat is driving my pursuit of calling — and is it ordered or disordered?
- Week 4Wayfinding & ChoicesHow do I navigate faithfully and decide well without a complete map?
- Week 5Suffering & FailureWhat is loss forming in me — and what do I do when I caused it?
- Week 6ForgivenessWhat is forgiveness — and what does it cost and give?
- Week 7Power & InfluenceWhat does it mean to lead faithfully — with or without a title?
- Week 8Faithful PresenceWhat does it mean to seek the welfare of the place where I study, live, and work?
- Week 9IntegrationWhat has this semester formed in me — and what do I carry forward?
Guest Speaker Dinners
Three dinners per semester. Guests speak to what faithful engagement looks like in their particular field or institution — and what its costs and gifts have been.
Jesus didn’t ask us to analyze and plan like him. He asked us to live like him.” — Dave Evans
WLP Summer
Summer is where the inner work of formation meets the outer world. Students choose to apply for summer experiences where they can exhibit leadership in the marketplace or the nonprofit sector — testing, in real conditions, the questions they have been living with all year.
Past students have worked with Bank of America, Sovereign’s Capital, Young Life camps, Edify, Middleground Capital, Northwestern Mutual, and a range of other challenging and rewarding opportunities.
Whatever the placement, students are encouraged to approach their work thoughtfully — alongside industry advisors, Study Center staff, and coaches drawn from the UNC faculty, student, and practitioner community. The aim is not simply to gain experience, but to inhabit it faithfully.
Throughout the summer, students meet over Zoom to pool what they are learning and to encourage one another. And as the summer closes, they are guided to reflect constructively on all of it — to consider what their work has taught them about God, his mission, and themselves.
Resources
Supports for Every Student
Throughout the program, students have access to a growing set of supports designed to help them discern, connect, and take faithful next steps:
Frequently Asked Questions
What you need to know about joining the Wilberforce Leadership Program
Any UNC student may participate, regardless of year. And if there is enough interest among graduate students, we will form a dedicated graduate-student WLP cohort.
To earn a certificate of completion, you commit to the following across the year:
- Attend the Launch retreat in the first semester and the Relaunch retreat in the second.
- Attend 2 of the 3 speaker dinners each semester.
- Attend 7 of the 9 weekly sessions each semester.
- Attend all Formation Group meetings held outside of the weekly sessions — 3 or 4 per semester.
- Commit to the weekly pre-work (about 20–30 minutes) and arrive ready to take part in the discussion.
Over the course of a semester, here is what to expect:
- We meet for 60–90 minutes across 9 weeks. Interspersed among those weeks are 3 guest speaker evenings, with dinner provided.
- We host a retreat at the beginning and end of each semester. The very first retreat of the program is two days; the others are a single day. All retreats are held locally.
- You’ll do some pre-work (about 20–30 minutes) before each WLP meeting.
- You’ll meet 3 or 4 times with your Formation Group outside of regular WLP meetings during the semester.
- You’ll be invited to prepare for and take part in one coaching conversation per semester.
Yes — we start a new cohort every semester. If the timing doesn’t work for you right now, that’s no problem at all. You can simply apply to join the next semester.
Yes. WLP alumni are offered a number of ways to continue their growth and development after finishing the program — including ongoing coaching conversations and networking opportunities.
Questions?
WLP leadership students on a vision trip to Atlanta in November of 2021.
This program was partially funded through the support of a grant from the John Templeton Foundation via the Stephen & Laurel Brown Foundation.