The 2026 Interfaith Leadership Summit: A Road Forward was held on August 7-9, 2026 at the Sheraton Grand Chicago Riverwalk in Chicago, IL.
The Interfaith Leadership Summit (the Summit) is the nation’s largest gathering of college students and educators committed to American civic pluralism. Hundreds of people who care about the future of our religiously diverse society learn to bridge divides and forge friendships across lines of religious and worldview differences. Attendees gain skills, inspiration, and lasting connections to bridge divides and build a more united society.
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.
Our college and university educator tracks are a 3-day training experience in which participants stay in the same cohort for the entire summit. Take this short quiz to learn what track might be best suited for you!
(Registration for this track is limited to senior institutional leaders and approval will be required.)
As polarization intensifies across the U.S., college campuses have a unique opportunity and responsibility to lead with pluralism. But what does this actually mean and how does it actually help to mitigate the intense and diverse pressures faced by institutional leaders? This track will focus on moving forward institutional strategies for pluralism and the needs of those navigating competing priorities of various constituencies including trustees, the President’s office, staff, faculty, and students. Participants leave with concrete strategies for building on existing assets and supporting educators actively engaged in pluralism work, identifying key levers for change, and making the case for sustained pluralism building strategies with key stakeholders.
(This track is strongly recommended for faculty or those with formal teaching roles on campus.)
How do we create classroom experiences and curricula that support learning across difference? In this track, faculty will explore pedagogies and concrete practices to constructively engage a diversity of worldviews and experiences. Using case studies, peer expertise, and Interfaith America’s deep experience building genuine relationships across meaningful differences, we’ll consider how faculty can shape classroom experiences — and broader campus learning climates — that establish diversity as a gift and everyone as a contributor.
From the president’s office to the dorm hallways, pluralism comes to life when everyone has an opportunity to lead. Designed for educators who work directly with students, this track will explore specific ways to equip and activate students as campus leaders to build a respect, relate, and cooperate culture, even across deep difference. Participants will engage their current assets and challenges, their peers’ expertise, and IA’s curricular resources to advance students’ ability to be bridgebuilding and interfaith leaders on campus.
A campus’s culture is shaped by the daily, lived expressions of that culture across its ecosystem. This track will equip student-facing professionals to name the implicit pluralism happening around them, approach challenges with an interfaith leadership framework of respect, relationships, and cooperation, and locate themselves in the story of pluralistic approaches to diversity and how their work empowers their campus to deepen community understanding across lines of difference.
Our undergraduate student tracks are a 3-day training experience in which participants stay in the same cohort for the entire summit. Take this short quiz to learn what track might be best suited for you!
(Registrants for this track should be attending the Interfaith Leadership Summit for the first time.)
This introductory track will develop students’ understanding of interfaith leadership and its role on campus and beyond. Learners will explore the six skills of interfaith leadership and draft strategies for bringing those skills back to their campuses.
For students who already understand the basics of interfaith leadership, this track will explore the essential skill of storytelling to further pluralism and interfaith cooperation. Effective stories build relationships, define one’s leadership, and invite others into cooperation. In this track, students will hone their skills for telling personal stories, inviting others’ stories, and creating narratives that positively bind communities together. Students will leave with a deeper understanding of what draws them to interfaith leadership, the key features of a compelling story, and the value of storytelling for building genuine connections across difference.
For students who understand the basics of interfaith leadership, this track goes deeper on the skill of creating interfaith activities. Participants in this track will explore how to design and lead engaging activities that not only bring together people from different religious, spiritual, and secular traditions, but that also help build relationships across broader ideological divides. Learners will consider their contexts, goals, and communities to develop actionable plans for bringing people together.
A Road Forward: The Role of Pluralism in the Future of Our Country
In our opening session for the Summit, national leaders joined Eboo Patel on stage to highlight pluralism as a vital part of our democratic fabric and offer a vision for how we can chart the path forward and strengthen it along the way. Featuring Carlos Campo, Loretta Ross, and Amy Spitalnick.
A Pluralistic Roadmap for College Campuses
To conclude the Summit, a panel of campus leaders reflected on the opportunities and challenges of creating a road forward for pluralism in higher education. Drawing from their own institutions, panelists shared stories of how they’ve navigated difference, built relationships, and cultivated cooperation. Featuring Vanessa Gomez Brake, Simran Jeet Singh, Steven Collis, and Sabeen Safi. Moderated by Melissa Carter.
Please contact us with any questions about the Summit.
Noa Nakao
Manager of Student Experience
Interfaith America
