An institute of formation for men

The long apprenticeship
of formation.

The Grotius Leadership Institute is Stichting Grotius's project for men — a community of young leaders committed to integrity, service, and the patient work of becoming.

Our mission

We help young men become better versions of themselves.

GLI forms young men through virtue-based leadership: character before technique, practised in ordinary life — personal, academic, professional. That was the aim its founders set out with, and it has not changed.

Our vision

A society led by principled leaders.

Leadership of that kind is plainly not the preserve of men, which is why the foundation also runs the Van Reigersberch Leadership Institute for women. Two programmes, the iPLC and the CLE, are shared between the two.

GLI’s own work stays with the men. Keeping it focused is what gives the formation its depth; where a separation remains, it is there to serve the people attending.

photo · GLI gathering · 1600×900

Why GLI

Virtue first. The rest follows.

painting · Hugo Grotius · 3×4

Virtue-based leadership starts with the moral character of the individual. It emphasises qualities like integrity, courage, and empathy — going beyond mere skill or strategy, and focusing on doing what is right for one’s team and the broader community.

By aligning their actions with deeply held values, the men we form earn trust, foster mutual respect, and inspire others toward shared goals. It is slower work than the leadership industry promises. It is also the work that lasts.

A man cannot govern a nation if he cannot govern a city; he cannot govern a city if he cannot govern a family; he cannot govern a family unless he can govern himself; and he cannot govern himself unless his passions are subject to reason.— Hugo Grotius

We read the last clause as the root of the rest. Passions ordered by reason are held there by the virtues, and what grows from that root reaches further than the person: into a family, a community, a nation.

GLI in brief

The first project of Stichting Grotius, and its institute for men.

Founded	2023 · Maastricht
Founders	Oliver Tuazon · Robin Maximus · Jeffrey Mennen · Daniele Maria Ripani
First LITE	September 2023 · Maastricht
Part of	Stichting Grotius, established 26 July 2024
For	Men, 18 to 40
Cities	Maastricht · Eindhoven · ’s-Hertogenbosch
Contact	gli@grotius.org

How GLI came about

Laying the foundation for the greater vision.

Four friends, Oliver Tuazon, Robin Maximus, Jeffrey Mennen and Daniele Maria Ripani, wanted a way to help young men grow in virtue-based leadership. The idea was brainstormed about in Aachen, which turned into a format, and in September 2023 the first Grotius LITE was held in Maastricht.

The room and the speaker both said it had worked, so the evenings continued. Larger speakers followed, and as more people joined they brought their own ideas with them: the Encounters, the iPLC, the Grotius Leadership Course and the CLE all began here.

That growth was the point. On 26 July 2024 Stichting Grotius was established to carry it, and what had been built inside GLI became the foundation’s, with several programmes now shared with vRLI. GLI kept the work for men, and remains the first of its projects.

What GLI runs