On October 15, 2005, in the Atlanta headquarters of Operation Mobilization USA, the leaders of eight different organizations discussed the critical need for leadership development across the worldwide mission scene. They decided to establish a partnership of organizations, with the aim to help each other in the training of leaders. They signed an agreement, giving birth to the International Training Alliance (ITA). “Our vision is to help develop mission leaders” said the elected executive director Joop Strietman from the Netherlands, when he carefully explained the path that to the formation of the Alliance. “The dream is to see a network of ten to twenty organizations come into being, enabling the training of hundreds of missionary leaders and upcoming leaders each year all around the globe.” As the new CEO, Jeff Turnbough states that "our vision is to continue to energize leaders on mission globally with the same high quality training that ITA has been known to give." Over 3,000 mission leaders have completed the training in the more than 100 courses that have been offered in over 40 nations. Participants from over 190 mission agencies working in over 100 nations have participated, and these numbers are growing every year. The focus of the training is to give basic skills in such vital areas as building effective relationships, management, public relations, communication and personal life planning. The response of one of the participants, a fifty-year-old career missionary in France was: “This was the most intensive but also the most rewarding course I have ever attended.” More information about the background, the vision, the content and the upcoming courses is available on the website: www.wetrainleaders.org