Threshold is a six-day programme for young adults between 18 and 28 who face a decision that will shape what follows. Two guided days alone in nature, a small group, one concrete next step and six weeks of support afterwards.
Helping, without prescribing the way.
Parents know this tension. You see that your child is at a point where something is being decided. You have experience, opinions and usually a fairly clear sense of what would be good. And at the same time you know: the more clearly you say it, the less it becomes their own answer.
Threshold does not take this relationship from you and does not replace parental guidance. For six days it creates the conditions in which your child can find out for themselves what their next step is. Without your opinion in the room. And without anyone else’s.
Funding
Who funds the places.
Some participants pay themselves. Some are supported by their parents. And some places are covered by foundations, educational institutions or employers who want to open access for young people who could not otherwise afford it.
In return
What you receive.
For scholarships: a written reflection from the person you supported, with their consent. Not marketing material, but the words of a young person about what has changed.
Partnership with Threshold
Why these years. And why now.
Between 18 and 28, much of what a life later draws on is decided. Which direction someone takes. By what standard they measure it. Whether they stay capable of acting under pressure. It is also the phase of life with the least support. School is over, an employer is not yet responsible, and parents are not neutral.
There is a second shift, and it concerns every organisation. The more routine is automated, the more depends on what a person can contribute that is not a copy of something that already exists. That question cannot be read up on. It needs a place where no one prescribes the outcome.
Self-knowledge
Someone who has worked out their own strengths still knows them in five years. A test result is known until the next folder.
Innovation from clarity
People who have found their own ground move differently under pressure. They build instead of freezing.
Agency in uncertainty
Taking a real step without waiting for the next instruction. That is precisely what a machine cannot do.
Funding a place in this founding group is an investment in exactly that resilience, at the point in a young person’s life where six days can shape decisions that last for years.
Ways of working together
Scholarship Partner
Fund one or more places for young adults who could not otherwise take part. Your support is credited directly to the people you help, and with their consent you receive a short written reflection on what has changed.
Impact Partner
Receive access to anonymised before-and-after reflections and outcome notes from each cohort. Built for foundations and institutions that track what actually builds resilience in young people.
Employer and Talent Partner
Send your own emerging talent or leaders in transition. The place is positioned internally as an investment in their development.
Founding Partner
This is the first Threshold group. Those who carry the programme through this first year are named Founding Partners of The Threshold Program, with visibility in future materials and first access to the next groups.
Costs
Costs.
An introductory rate applies for the founding group. We discuss the cost per place in conversation. Our terms and conditions apply.
Next Steps
Four routes, depending on where you actually stand.
Not every enquiry fits May 2027. Take the route that matches your situation — each one leads to a different next step.
The date works
You want to make a place in the Founding Group in May 2027 possible — for your child, for someone you accompany, or anonymously for someone who otherwise wouldn't get one.
What happens next: David replies within two working days and offers a conversation of about 30 minutes. That covers places, process and costs. Nothing is agreed until it is confirmed in writing afterwards.
The group is full
If all ten places are taken, funding isn't off the table. People do drop out, and then it matters who is already standing by.
What happens next: You get a short confirmation. David gets in touch only if a place opens up, in the order requests came in. No newsletter, no reminder emails.
May 2027 doesn't fit
The budget year, a board decision, or the situation of the person you want to support — sometimes timing is the only thing that doesn't line up.
What happens next: David records your time window and gets in touch once a group falls inside it. Until then you hear nothing. If the window changes, just write again.
Your own cohort or in-house
Several places at once, a group of your own, or a format that runs at your site. There is deliberately no page to click through here — there is a conversation.
What happens next: David replies within two working days. The first conversation covers number of places, time frame and format. There is no price list for organisations; we settle costs there.
None of these four routes is a booking or a binding commitment. All four open an email to mail@davidliebnau.com with the details David needs — write directly if your email app doesn't open. Funding is agreed only once David confirms it in writing after the conversation. An introductory rate applies to the Founding Group; costs per place are settled in the conversation, and the participant contribution is set out in the investment block on the Threshold page. Our terms and right of withdrawal apply.
In 30 minutes we will know whether it fits.
In 30 minutes we explore together whether this programme is the right one, how the six days unfold and what value it creates.