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 use CLI's ready-made leadership curriculum, build their own courses with the drag-and-drop Course Builder, or white-label the entire platform under their own branding. Cohort-based learning with dedicated management tools means 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 1,500+ learners across churches, Christian businesses, schools, and academic institutions like Reliant Mission, Manna University, Uwharrie Charter Academy, 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 allowed our courses to replicate and be available in real time. What used to be limited to my availability is now limitless in who we can serve." — Patrick Hayes, Owner, Safe Eats Consulting^1
"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 Ertel, Executive Director of Academics, Manna University^1
"It's fantastic the way the app is laid out. There's a digital component where your leaders can go through individually." — Chris Wheat, Assistant Superintendent, Uwharrie Charter Academy^1
Notable- Trusted by 1,500+ learners across 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 — v2.4.5 released May 2026 with chat improvements and performance updates^4
- Available on iOS and Android with web-based Course Builder and admin dashboard^4
- Founded by Dr. Eric Freeman, a Christian bishop and leadership development scholar^5
- Guided by core values: "Jesus is our focus," "People are our priority," "Authenticity is our aim," "Generosity is our privilege," and "Amen is our attitude"^3
- Expanded use cases now include church staff development, business leader training, residency programs, academic coursework, and volunteer equipping^1
