Churches and Christian organizations need a way to develop leaders consistently without adding more meetings to the calendar. Develop.Me is a learning management platform built specifically for that purpose — turning leadership content into flexible, on-demand courses that people can work through from their phone or desktop.^1
Created by Cultivate Leadership Institute (CLI) in 2021, Develop.Me combines video lessons, live streaming, peer-reviewed assignments, group discussions, and gamification features like badges and progress tracking into one clean interface. Organizations can either use CLI's ready-made leadership curriculum or build and upload their own courses under their own branding. Since v2.4, the platform also supports cohort-based learning with dedicated cohort management tools, so learners grow together rather than in isolation.^2
Dr. Eric Freeman, a Christian bishop and leadership strategist, founded CLI in 2018 at Definition Church in Greensboro, NC. What started as a small leadership development program expanded digitally in 2021 with the launch of Develop.Me, now serving 700+ learners across 15 organizations including churches, Christian businesses, schools, and academic institutions like Reliant Mission, Manna University, and WIN Leadership College.^3
Why Christians Love It"This app is the perfect tool to use in helping connect with the next generation of Christ-followers in an attempt to help them grow in their ability to understand who they are in Christ, how God has uniquely designed and gifted them, how to establish meaningful connection with God, and how to transform the community they live in one life at a time."^4
"Develop.Me has been a great way to develop leaders in our church, especially the younger generation because it is how they learn. It is definitely on the cutting edge of education." — Martha & Matt Fry, Founders & Pastors, C3 Church^2
"What I really love about Develop.Me is the user experience. It makes it easy to focus on the things you're actually supposed to focus on when developing leaders." — Stephanie Eertel, Executive Director of Academics, Manna University^1
"They're reading books together, studying the academic side of the program, and being exposed to ideas that allow them to think strategically long term and work through problems creatively." — Mark Pavlansky, President & CEO, Hibco Foam Plastics^1
Notable- Trusted by 700+ learners across 15 organizations since 2021^3
- 160 courses available across leadership, ministry, and custom tracks^3
- Well-reviewed on iOS with a top rating from users in education and ministry^4
- Actively maintained — v2.4.2 released April 2026 with cohort management, updated mobile dashboard, and chat improvements^4
- Available on iOS and Android, in English and Spanish^4
- Founded by Dr. Eric Freeman, a Christian bishop and leadership development scholar^5
- Guided by core values: "Jesus is our focus" and "People are our priority"^3
