ABSTRACT
Programs are often launched by a founding staff advisor or student leader beginning with one or two small domestic trips that are typically led by that same student or a staff member. The stage of growth has been reached when programs do not depend on the founding leader to sustain the program but rather have established program protocols, procedures, and support from past participants and site leaders who share a common responsibility for the program and its future. Leaders of the domestic program were trained at Break Away's Alternative Break Citizenship schools, but the international program was not and functioned in more of a staff-led model. Each campus's alternative break program starts at a different place. Focusing energy on garnering the support of those key departments and leaders can help organizers identify the resources needed to found or strengthen a program.
