August 6-8, 2021
Chicago, IL
Register your Early Interest for the 2021 ILI
Fill out our early interest form to be the first to know when registration opens for our August 6-8, 2021 ILI. We hope to be in person together next year, but we'll share more in spring 2021 about our plans for the 2021 ILI.
Learn more about the 2020 ILI experience
Watch the Opening and Closing plenaries from the 2020 ILI and learn more about what to expect next year at the ILI. See below for details on this year's schedule and speakers.
What is the ILI?
The Interfaith Leadership Institute (ILI) is the largest gathering of students and educators with a commitment to American religious pluralism. Each year, hundreds of people who care about the future of our religiously diverse society converge in Chicago to learn, train, share, and get inspired to bring the movement for interfaith cooperation back to their campuses and communities. Over the course of three days, participants learn to bridge divides and forge friendships across lines of religious and worldview differences. For the 2021 ILI, we will offer an online component to the ILI and more will be shared about this in the winter.
Come to the ILI with the passion to bring people together, and leave equipped with the knowledge and skills to make it happen.
Who is the ILI for?
Any undergraduate student, graduate student, or educator at an undergraduate college or university within the United States is eligible to attend the ILI. Learn more about the 2020 ILI's programming and we'll share more this winter about our program offerings for 2021. Email leadershipinstitute@ifyc.org if you have questions or want to talk with an IFYC staff member.
2020 Virtual ILI Schedule
Thursday, September 17, 2020
- 10:00am - 10:30am: Orientation
- 10:30am - 10:45am: Talk Better Together
- 10:45am - 11:30am: Opening Plenary with Eboo Patel
- 11:30am - 12:00pm: Break
- 12:00pm - 1:15pm: Deep Dive Sessions
- 1:15pm - 2:00pm: Unconference
- 2:00pm - 2:15pm: Break
- 2:15pm - 3:00pm: The Role Of Interfaith Leadership In Movements For Change
Eboo Patel, Founder and President, Interfaith Youth Core

J.T. Snipes

Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville
Kaytlin Butler

Chaplain at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City
Olivia Elder

Criminal Justice Reform Associate at FWD.us
2020 Student Deep Dives
A session for students who are new or beginning interfaith work and one for those students who have more experience in the area. The choices are below:
- Foundations of Interfaith Leadership
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Best For: Undergraduate students new to interfaith work. All undergraduate students are welcome to join this deep dive.
Many students new to this work often ask: what do I need to know to produce change on my campus? This session will provide students with the essential information they need to understand the basics of interfaith action. Through discussion and activities, students will leave this deep dive with both new knowledge about interfaith cooperation and tools to utilize in their actions on campus.
- Advanced Interfaith Leadership
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Best for: Undergraduate students who have previously attended the ILI or have led and/or experienced interfaith work on campus.
For students with experience in interfaith engagement on campus, this session offers the opportunity to reflect and connect with their peers. By examining and analyzing different leadership approaches in this session, students will deepen their understanding of their own leadership style. Students should feel prepare to share some of their own stories and grapple with some of the challenging aspects of engaging religious diversity on campus.
2020 Educator Deep Dives
A session for those educators who need an introduction to interfaith concepts and approaches. And for educators with more experience in interfaith cooperation, we will hold a train-the-trainer session focused on an exciting new virtual tool for promoting interfaith action.
- Foundations of Interfaith Cooperation
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Best for: Educators (faculty, staff, graduate students, or administrators) who are new to interfaith work and would like to learn about the broader context for interfaith work in higher education.
In this session, educators will be introduced to some of the fundamental aspects, ideas, and concepts of interfaith cooperation. The content will particularly focus on connections between these ideas and the tangible work of campus life. Through the discussion of real-life events, educators will gain a basic skillset for engaging with religious diversity at their institutions.
- Interfaith Action Online
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Best for: Educators (faculty, staff, graduate students, or administrators) with experience in interfaith work on their campus.
As both a reckoning with systemic racism and an evolving Covid-19 pandemic force campuses to change, educators need tools to support engagement. This deep dive introduces educators to new online tools and trainings designed for this moment. Educators will leave the session with an understanding of how to use this specially developed material in their work with students.
ILI Stories
for all of us in that room
taken together were
the need for a safe
ILI Stories
starting in interfaith
diverse group
and helped show
was so practical
create an action plan
Who can attend the ILI?
Any undergraduate student, graduate student, or educator at a college or university is eligible to attend. The registration process for the ILI will help route folks to the deep dive best suited to their needs. Please note that graduate students are considered educators by IFYC as our student deep dives are designed with undergraduate student experiences in mind. While educators are welcome to attend without their students, IFYC recommends that campuses bring multiple students and educators to the ILI so you have a network already established to implement the skills gained. For this reason, there is no cap on how many participants from one campus can attend. We recommend a mixed group of students and educators from various faiths and traditions, majors, and levels of involvement with interfaith cooperation. Please email leadershipinstitute@ifyc.org if you have questions and want to talk to an IFYC staff member.
Registration Fee
We will share more this fall about the registration price for 2021 and will continue to offer significant discounts and scholarships to everyone as we have done in the past. Please email leadershipinstitute@ifyc.org if you have any questions and want to talk to a member of our staff."
ILI Discounts
Due to the shift to an all virtual ILI in 2020, we paused our discounts to save them for campuses and individuals to use in 2021. We'll share more about our full list of discounts in the fall and please email leadershipinstitute@ifyc.org if you have any questions.
ILI FAQs
- Who should attend the ILI from my campus?
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IFYC recommends that campuses have multiple students and educators attend the ILI so that you have a network already established to implement the skills gained. For this reason, there is no cap on delegation size. We recommend a diversity of students and educators attend from various faiths and traditions, majors, and level of involvement with interfaith cooperation.
The deep dive experiences are designed for both participants new to interfaith work and for those looking for advanced skills. Please be in touch with your IFYC contact directly or email leadershipinstitute@ifyc.org if you have questions about this and strategies regarding who you should attend the ILI from your campus.
- What are some strategies for building a delegation to bring to the ILI?
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Our deep dive sessions are designed for new and advanced leaders. We encourage representatives from a variety of student organizations and academic pursuits. For educators, we recommend a mixture of staff, faculty, and administrators to ensure that multiple perspectives are brought from your campus to engage in interfaith leadership. You can read more about the 2020 deep dive sessions here and we'll announce the training sessions for the 2021 ILI in the winter..
- Will IFYC provide for my accessibility needs at the ILI?
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We are always looking for ways to make the ILI more welcoming, accommodating, and inclusive for our attendees. Here are some of the ways we try to create that environment but if there is anything else we can do, please don’t hesitate to email leadershipinstitute@ifyc.org and ask.
- Dietary Needs and Food Allergies: Vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, dairy free, zabiha/halal, and kosher certified meals are all available for participants to select in their registration and there is space to include food allergies. We ensure that our caterers can provide or acquire foods that meet any dietary needs and allergies and no beef, pork, shellfish, or alcohol-based meals are served at the ILI. Please be sure to share your dietary needs and allergies in registration to ensure your needs are met.
- Event and Hotel Space: The Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile is accessible in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Information about accessible hotel rooms can be found on the hotel's webpage.
- Registration: Registration for the ILI asks for information regarding accessibility needs. If you indicate that you have accessibility needs when registering, an IFYC staff member will contact you to follow up closer to the ILI to ensure those needs are met.
- Audio and Visual Needs: Interpreters for American Sign Language and live captioning are available and can be requested within registration for the ILI. All videos shown in plenary sessions and within the training spaces will have closed captioning. Additionally, all presentations and downloadable resources are available for Braille programs upon request within registration.
- Allergy Accommodations and Fragrances: As a courtesy to attendees with chemical sensitivities, we ask participants of the ILI to refrain from using scented products, like cologne and perfume, to help ensure the comfort of everyone at the ILI.
- Gender Neutral and Gender Specific Bathrooms: Gender neutral (labelled as all gender) and gender specific bathrooms will be available at the ILI near all meeting spaces and signage will be posted to help direct attendees.
- Scooter and Wheelchair Rentals: IFYC can arrange for wheelchairs and scooters for attendees, which can be requested within registration. Two wheelchairs are also available for guests to use within the hotel where the ILI will be located and can be requested at check-in/hotel front desk.