What is the Interfaith Leadership Summit?
The Interfaith Leadership Summit (the Summit) is the largest gathering of students and educators with a commitment to American religious pluralism. Join the hundreds of people who care about the future of our religiously diverse society as they learn to bridge divides and forge friendships across lines of religious and worldview differences. Learn new skills and return to your campus inspired and ready to build.
Any undergraduate student or educator at a U.S. undergraduate college or university is eligible to attend the Summit. Graduate students are also welcome and should register as Summit educators.
INTERFAITH LEADERSHIP SUMMIT 2023
Photo Gallery
Schedule
Friday, August 4
10:00 am–12:00 pm: Registration and check-in
11:30 am–1:15 pm: Opening Lunch & Plenary (program begins at 11:45)
1:30 pm–3:15 pm: Training Session 1
3:15 pm–3:45 pm: Break
3:45 pm–5:15 pm: Training Session 2
5:30 pm–8:00 pm: Dinner & Entertainment
Saturday, August 5
8:00 am–9:00 am: Breakfast
9:00 am–11:00 am: Saturday Symposia
11:00 am–11:15 am: Break
11:15 am–12:45 pm: Training Session 3
12:45 pm–2:00 pm: Lunch
2:00 pm–3:30 pm: Training Session 4
3:30 pm–4:00 pm: Break
4:00 pm–Bedtime: Free Time
7:30 pm–9:00 pm Ice Cream Social & Open Mic
Sunday, August 6
8:30 am–9:30 am: Breakfast
9:30 am–11:00 am: Training Session 5
11:00 am–11:30 am: Break
11:30 am–1:00 pm: Closing
Registration
Registration closed June 30th.
No, we do not offer on-site registration. Registration closed June 30th.
Registration includes a Summit t-shirt and covers your training for the weekend and the following meals: Friday lunch & dinner, Saturday breakfast & lunch, and Sunday breakfast.
Lodging and travel costs are not included.
The Early Bird rate for registration is offered through June 2nd.
We want to do our best to support attendance to the Summit. If you have inquiries about payment, please contact [email protected].
Check your inbox and spam folder for your registration confirmation, which is automatically emailed from [email protected] once the registration form is completed.
Interfaith America recognizes that, due to various circumstances, the cost of attending the Summit may not be feasible for everyone who wishes to attend. Because we do not want cost to be a hindrance to engaging with interfaith leadership, IA has limited lodging scholarships available for undergraduate and graduate students on a first-come, first-served basis. Here is the link to the application!
If your campus has not attended the Summit (formerly the ILI) within the past 5 years, you are eligible to receive 2 free registrations! Email [email protected] to see if you are eligible and receive your discount code.
Our system does have group registration capabilities, which allows you to register more than one person under a single transaction. This feature appears on the Registration Summary page during the process. Please note that our registration does include personal questions ranging from demographic information to dietary restrictions to accessibility needs.
Dates & Venue
August 4 – 6, 2023
Sheraton Grand Chicago Riverwalk 301 E North Water St, Chicago, IL 60611
Rooms are available at a discounted rate of $229/night for the nights of August 3 – 5 at the host venue of the Summit, the Sheraton Grand Chicago Riverwalk. Rooms will be available for reservation until July 3 or until they sell out. Please use this link to book.
You may also call the hotel to book at: 1-877-303-0104 and mention Interfaith Leadership America 2023 and the dates of the room block, which are August 03-05.
Both Chicago airports, O’Hare International Airport (17 miles from the hotel) and Midway International Airport (13 miles from the hotel), are roughly equidistant from downtown Chicago and have taxis, rideshares, and public transportation available.
Public Transit Resources:
The Amtrak Station is located at Union Station in Chicago, located at South Canal Street, Chicago, IL 60606. The train station is approximately 1.8 miles from the hotel. Taxis are available and CTA buses run between Union Station and the Sheraton. If you’re interested in taking public transportation from Union Station, please use the CTA trip planner.
Programming
You can find the descriptions for the tracks here!
Throughout the Summit, an interfaith room will be available for prayer, meditation, reflection, and more. Due to the great diversity of traditions and practices represented, IA does not provide organized services or observances at the Summit. Instead, we encourage participants to organize their own DIY reflections and observances in the interfaith room or our staff can provide information about local houses of worship and observance.
The interfaith room will be outfitted with prayer rugs and sheets for the floor, candles, kosher challah bread, kosher grape juice, and a whiteboard and markers to organize observances with other participants.
The Summit is sprinkled with short breaks so that participants can take the time to meet their physical, spiritual, and mental needs. For example, on Friday there is a break after the opening lunch when Muslim participants can break away for jummah service. Additionally, free times on Friday and Saturday may be used by Jewish participants to organize Shabbat observances in the interfaith room.
Most of what you will need for the Summit will be provided at registration and in your training rooms, though you may want to bring something to write in. There may be few opportunities during the weekend where it might be useful to have spending money.
On Saturday evening, the conference will not a host an evening meal. Instead, participants are encouraged to explore Chicago and grab dinner in this great city. The only programming Saturday night will be an Open Mic Night & Ice Cream Social starting at 7:30pm
Bring your guitar, poetry, or whatever other talent you would like to share with other interfaith leaders. We are hosting this space to encourage the creativity of participants and spark inspiration. If you decide to share, please remember to be respectful of the many faiths, traditions, and perspectives present at the Summit.
Please come dressed in what makes you feel comfortable. Remember that hotels tend to pump air conditioning into the conference spaces all day, so even though it is summer in Chicago it will be wise to wear warmer clothes and maybe even bring a sweater. On Sunday, we hope everyone will wear their conference t-shirts to commemorate the interfaith leadership skills they have developed over the weekend.
Before the Summit, Complete this Course
We strongly encourage all participants to complete the Foundations of Interfaith Leadership course before attending the Summit. Summit sessions are structured as training workshops. This means that instead of covering a lot of information in presentation-style sessions, participants will be introduced to a concept and spend the majority of their time practicing the skills of interfaith leadership. To understand the intellectual framework of interfaith work as posited by Interfaith America, participants should complete the Foundations course. This course will prepare participants for the training room by offering shared language, resources and examples of interfaith leadership to draw from as they practice interfaith leadership skills in the training room.
The cost for the course is included in registration for the 2023 Summit. If you have any questions about the course, please email us at the Leadership Institute [email protected].
