Podcast Summary: Reinventing Education—How ICL Academy Builds Global Young Leaders

The Amazing Authorities Podcast
Host: Mitch Carson
Guest: Kirk Spain, Founder of ICL Academy
Date: November 18, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode explores the evolving landscape of education, with a focus on how ICL Academy uses innovative models to equip the next generation of global young leaders. Host Mitch Carson interviews Kirk Spain—a fourth-generation educator and founder of ICL Academy—on rethinking learning for passionate, high-achieving youth, particularly those with aspirations in sports, performance, and entrepreneurship. The discussion highlights personalized, purpose-driven approaches that move beyond traditional classrooms and exam-focused systems.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Origins and Mission of ICL Academy

• Roots in Civic Leadership:
  • The ICL Foundation began as the Institute for Civic Leadership post-9/11 to empower youth as agents of change, focusing on character and social entrepreneurship (02:00).
  • “The Institute for Civic Leadership was to bring back the idea of civic education and civic responsibility, which turned really into social entrepreneurship… really to show that the power of youth is very, very strong and they can be agents of change.” —Kirk Spain [02:07]
• Evolution to ICL Academy:
  • Transformed from performing arts school to a broader mission: serving students passionate in various fields, enabling them to blend purpose and passion while receiving a full education (03:00–04:00).

2. The Role of Champions, Advisors, and Real-World Mentoring

• Notable Supporters:
  • The academy’s advisors and mentors include champions like Steve Nash (NBA), Novak Djokovic (tennis), and Olympians who share key life lessons with students (03:45–06:00).
  • These champions emphasize growth mindset, process, and rituals that transcend sports and apply to all of life (05:00).

3. Rethinking Online and Hybrid Education

• Online Learning’s Evolution:
  • Kirk notes the shift from "Online Education 1.0"—which focused on rote memorization and lacked socialization—to modern, interactive, hybrid models (07:00–09:00).
  • “If you use technology the right way…a great teacher can now impact thousands of students instead of the 20 students in their classroom.” —Kirk Spain [08:29]
• Socialization Strategies:
  • To address parental concerns, ICL builds digital-native communities with global peers and organizes in-person summer camps and hybrid programs (10:53–12:46).
  • “You don’t make your best friends in geometry class… It’s when you’re working on projects together… That’s when real relationships form.” —Kirk Spain [12:11]

4. Flexibility and Access for Students Everywhere

• Catering to Diverse Lifestyles:
  • The academy’s flexible, blended model allows for students with demanding athletic, artistic, or entrepreneurial pursuits, including those in remote areas (12:46–13:19).
  • AP and other standardized exams can be done in-person, supporting parallel engagement with traditional systems (13:19).

5. Impact-Based, Passion-Driven Learning

• The "Impact Learning" Philosophy:
  • Engagement and application are at the heart of ICL’s model: lessons are connected to students’ real passions and immediately applied to real-world scenarios (15:40–17:17).
  • “If you can…internalize the material and talk about it as it relates to you, as opposed to traditionally…memorize, shoot out the name and date… That’s not how does that apply.” —Kirk Spain [16:12]
• Who is ICL For?
  • Ideal students include athletes, performers, and young entrepreneurs who wish to turn passion into purpose and need non-traditional schooling flexibility (17:22–19:14).

6. Hybrid Model and Flipped Classrooms

• Structure & Scheduling:
  • Asynchronous (self-paced) learning for content absorption, supplemented by live sessions focused on discussion, application, and debate—mirroring a college-style syllabus (21:20–23:52).
  • “In a normal school, you don’t really know…what you’re supposed to be learning the following Monday…whereas in college you get a syllabus…you can jump ahead… That’s the concept we use.” —Kirk Spain [23:28]
• Relevance-Driven Application:
  • Students must see how learning is relevant to their passions (e.g., math applied to tennis or biomechanics to performance).

7. Tradition, Scale, and Internationalism

• Family History in Education:
  • Spain’s family has run schools globally, and his experience shaped ICL’s mission to tailor education to student needs (24:02–25:52).
• Student Numbers & Diversity:
  • Over 1,000 students from 49 countries with minimal marketing—mainly athletes but now expanding to the arts, entrepreneurship, and more (17:22, 36:23).

8. Building the Whole Person—The Six Ps

• Six Ps Framework: Passion, Purpose, Perseverance, Process, People, Perspective (31:00–33:50).
  • The approach is about helping students translate passion into purpose, sustain motivation through process and community, and develop resilience via setbacks.
  • “There is no such thing as the individual success story. There are always people around that have either been supportive… People is a really important ‘P’ to prepare you for perseverance.” —Kirk Spain [32:24]
• Building Inner Advisors:
  • Employs concepts like YODA (Your Own Decision Advisor, derived from Dr. Jim Loehr), to help students master their “inner voice” and become self-directed (29:38).

9. Future of Education and Leadership

• Education for the Jobs of the Future:
  • Focused on teaching critical, uniquely human skills: leadership, communication, debate, and the ability to harness AI—skills that can’t be replaced by automation (15:06).
• Collaboration, Not Competition, with Traditional Schools:
  • ICL views itself as an adjunct or partner that increases flexibility and efficacy, not a replacement or competitor (13:19, 39:52).
  • “We can actually get along with everyone. We can add value to everyone.” —Kirk Spain [13:31]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Every generation had their JFK moments of ‘ask not what your country can do for you.’ And it felt like a lot of people wanted to give back and didn’t know how.”
  —Kirk Spain [02:00]

• “The idea of being able to not have to be in a physical location, that you can be pursuing a passion while getting a great education and being with peers—it sort of resonated with a lot of people.”
  —Kirk Spain [06:22]

• “I do not believe that children should be taught by AI. I think that technology enhances and augments what great teachers can be about.”
  —Kirk Spain [08:00]

• “You don’t make your best friends in geometry class… It’s in the schoolyard, in pursuit, on a sports team, a choir, a school play. That’s when these real relationships get formed.”
  —Kirk Spain [12:11]

• “If a teacher gave a good answer [to why I have to know something], I would be all in. But if…‘you need it for the test’…you’re not convincing me yet.”
  —Kirk Spain [22:42]

• “There’s no such thing as just [a] hockey stick; you have to be ready…you are going to lose. There is not one athlete on this planet that doesn’t lose.”
  —Kirk Spain [33:23]

• “I’m not a disbeliever in traditional education. In fact, I think traditional schools up to a certain point is critical...But if [kids] have a passion…when they’re 12, they love that dad does this and…watching all of our athletes and performers.”
  —Kirk Spain [25:52]

• “We have over 1,000 students and 49 countries represented and no marketing…tennis is a very international sport, golf…people look to who the best are.”
  —Kirk Spain [36:23]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• ICL Foundation Origins & Motivation: [01:59]–[03:47]
• Role Models/Champions in Education: [03:45]–[06:00]
• Online Education's Stigma and Transformation: [06:53]–[08:29]
• Socialization & Hybrid Community Building: [10:53]–[12:46]
• Impact & Application-Based Learning: [15:40]–[17:17]
• Flipped Classroom Model/Asynchronous Learning: [21:20]–[23:52]
• Six Ps of Success: [31:00]–[33:50]
• International Reach: [36:23]–[38:21]
• Contact & Closing: [38:21]–[39:52]

How to Learn More

• ICL Academy Website: ICLAcademy.org
• Instagram: @iclacademy
• Open to New Disciplines: For youth with passion in any area, ICL continues to expand pathways and collaborations.

Podcast Tone

The episode is engaging, forward-looking, and conversational, blending humor, anecdotes from sports and education, and practical takeaways for parents, students, educators, and innovators considering new paradigms in learning. Kirk Spain’s commentary is optimistic, pragmatic, and rooted in both personal history and a global educational perspective.

For anyone interested in the future of personalized, purpose-driven, and flexible education—for youth who aspire to greatness inside and outside traditional pathways—this conversation offers invaluable insights and practical wisdom.