Built on one
conviction.
Every child
is gifted.
Leslie B. James founded Dream Chaser Kids because he watched too many kids grow up knowing they were loved — but not knowing what they were for. That gap became a mission.
"For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep."
Acts 13:36 KJV — the founding verse of Dream Chaser Kids
He didn't build a program.
He answered a question.
The question was simple: why do so many kids grow up knowing they're loved — by their family, their church, their community — and still arrive at 18 with no real sense of what they're for?
Leslie James had seen it too many times. Kids who were bright, caring, creative — kids who had been told they were special their whole lives — standing at the edge of adulthood without a map. Not because they lacked ability. Because no one had ever given them a structured, guided pathway from "I think I'm good at something" to "I built something real with it."
"Discipleship taught them who they are. I wanted to build something that showed them what to do with it."
Dream Chaser Kids started with that conviction. Not a curriculum. Not a curriculum first, anyway. A conviction. That every child is given something by God. That those gifts aren't decorations — they're directions. And that the job of every adult who loves young people is to help them name those gifts, develop them, and aim them at a real need in the world.
The name comes from Acts 13:36 — David, who served his own generation by the will of God. Not the generation before him. Not the generation after. His own. That's the call Leslie built Dream Chaser around: not preparing kids for some vague future someday, but equipping them to serve their neighbors, their communities, and their world now.
What he built was a model that works without him in the room. Every facilitator kit is designed so a youth pastor, a teacher, or a community org staff member can run a complete Dream Chaser program — from TalentExplorer to final StoryBuilder page — without Leslie traveling anywhere. That's not a limitation. It's the architecture. A mission that scales doesn't travel on the founder's calendar. It travels in a kit that any leader who loves kids can pick up and use.
Ten years of conviction
becoming infrastructure.
Dream Chaser Kids didn't arrive fully formed. It was built student by student, partner by partner, program by program — tested, refined, and rebuilt until the model was tight enough to scale without Leslie in the room.
"I didn't start Dream Chaser Kids because I had a business plan. I started it because I kept meeting kids who were gifted and directionless — and adults who loved them but didn't know how to close that gap.
I built the model I wished had existed for the kids in my own life. Structured enough to produce real outcomes. Flexible enough to work in a YMCA, a church youth room, a public school computer lab, or a summer camp. Affordable enough that a community org with a $500 budget can run it without apologizing.
And I built it so it doesn't need me. Not because I don't care — but because the mission is bigger than my calendar. The adults who are already present in these kids' lives are the ones who matter most. My job is to give them the best possible kit — and get out of the way."
Three ways to build together.
Leslie's broader ecosystem.
Dream Chaser Kids is one thread in a larger 100-year investment. Leslie is an author, scholar, and advisor building the permanent infrastructure for the church to reclaim its place in the neighborhood — across three interconnected platforms.
The model is built.
The kit is ready.
Your students are waiting.
Complete the scoping form and Leslie's team will design a Dream Chaser pathway for your context — one-day workshop to full-semester program — within 3 business days.