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.

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
*The 2021 ILI schedule will be shared this winter.

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

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

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

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

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

"I think it was important
for all of us in that room
to sit down and discuss the problems we all faced on our campuses and to help one another overcome them. Campus leaders tend to feel pretty isolated and it was great to come together for a common cause and to realize that we are not alone and that we are all in this fight together."
- Mandy Tu
Student, Sewanee: University of the South
"The five training sessions
taken together were
of both conceptual and practical use to me. They helped me learn a new vocabulary for expressing interfaith cooperation and they did help me develop at least the beginning of an action plan for our campus activities this year."
- Brian DuSell
Educator, University of San Francisco
"After ILI, I identified
the need for a safe
space to conduct dialogues, and I plan to collaborate with the convocation office (religious office) at my school to organize events where discussions can be had with people to monitor the progress of these dialogues."
- Carolina Borjas
Student, Pepperdine University
twitter logoOlivia Elder@livlikespolicy
One of the truest forms of interfaith work is simply to stand up and demand better for all of us. Incredibly grateful to @ifyc, Rev. Kaytlin Butler, & @snipesjt for the opportunity to discuss faith, BLM, & Covid-19 to close out the 2020 Interfaith Leadership Institute. #ifycili
twitter logoCaleb J. Keith@DrCalebJKeith
In continuing to reflect on @EbooPatel's keynote from yesterday's #ifycILI, I'm struck by the ways in which he emphasizes that all aspects of our lives - academic, civic, personal - are intertwined and it is possible, even necessary, to view them as such and act accordingly.
twitter logoTom Reid@tomtdr
Thank you to @ifyc for a wonderful virtual version of #ifycILI 2020! Great speakers. Great conversation. Hope we can do it in person again next year, but thankful for this opportunity to gather. Feeling energized to keep doing the work. #interfaith

ILI Stories

"For those who are just
starting in interfaith
it provides a good, basic foundation to begin with. This way anyone can feel welcome to come and learn based on their skill levels."
- Natalie Nabass
Student, Pacific Lutheran University
"This was an incredibly
diverse group
in representation across positional power, robust interfaith programs, teaching and research experience, and other content knowledge."
- Liane Ortis
Educator, University of Northern Colorado
"The panel was great
and helped show
some amazing things that an interfaith leader might do."
- Marion Larson
Educator, Bethel University
twitter logoInterfaith Program at Virginia Tech@interfaithVT
Great Unconference Session about IDEALS research with Shauna Morin @ifyc Interfaith Leadership Institute Down pointing backhand index #ifycILI Thank you!
twitter logoSean Watson@Mrseanwatson
I was enjoying the conversation too much to tweet, but that's always the sign of a great conference! #IFYCILI @ifyc #SAPro
twitter logoMatt Hartley@rmatthartley
Great to see @revjenbailey inspiring Interfaith story shared at @ifyc #ifycili, and glad she contributes as a Trustee to Jacksonville local @duPontFund. I was a freshman in college on 9/11, and the aftermath too spurred my Interfaith vocation
"I felt like I was learning substantive things
that were also very applicable… It got the mix of theory and practice just right, and was fun, to boot. I'm excited to bring some of the exercises back to my campus."
- Matisse Peppet
Student, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
"The track I was in
was so practical
and so easily applicable. Because we were asked to come in with a particular program or initiative in mind that we were hoping to start, I spent the whole weekend being able to immediately apply the things I was learning to my actual work, rather than in a vague, hypothetical sense..."
- Katherine Grooms
Educator, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
"The opportunity to
create an action plan
for a project that can be implemented on my campus was beneficial."
- Tondaleya Jackson
Educator, Benedict College
twitter logoBryce Bunting@brycebunting
I've thoroughly enjoyed participating in the 2020 Interfaith Leadership Institute today. Big thanks to the #IFYC for putting together an excellent program. We are each other's.
twitter logoAmanda Armstrong@amandarae88
“If you had a megaphone loud enough to be heard by the world, what’s one sentence you’d want to share about your worldview?” #IFYCILI
twitter logovic@vicwcu
‏We Are Each Other's. Beautiful way to view cooperation and navigating ways to work together in such a polarizing climate. We need each other for today and our future #IFYCILI

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? 

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? 

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?

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.
Content adapted from the Nonprofit Technology Conference.