tree growth on globe glass in nature

ILA's Educating Tomorrow’s Sustainability Leaders Conference

Forthcoming in 2025
Johns Hopkins University, Washington D.C., USA
(555 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW)

About the Conference

The imperatives of sustainability demand not only new and reimagined curricula, courses, and content, but also new ways of delivering these learning opportunities. Sustainability has relevance across, and is shaped by, multiple disciplines and domains, and as an interdependent, complex problem that impacts local and global communities, it is a critical lens and area of knowledge to equip leadership learners to address.  

 This conference will focus on both sharing and generating emergent and necessary strategies for teaching sustainability within leadership programs and teaching leadership skills in other sustainability focused programs, as well as leadership practices that precipitate a more viable future for our planet and its people.  

Thank You for Sponsoring

Topics/Session Themes will include:

  • Knowledge sharing and engagement on how leadership for sustainability is taught and imparted through coursework, pedagogy, praxis, research, workshops, co-curricular activities, and civic engagement
  • Exploring complexity of leadership for sustainability, and the intersectional nature of sustainability and its impacts on human, ecological, economic, social, and political systems
  • Emphasis on the collective/collaboration; Collaboration and cross-pollination among sectors, industries, and interests to engage in multi-sector partnerships and problem solving
  • Systems literacy as a foundation for individual, organizational, and collective change/progress/leadership capacity

Who should attend?

This conference is meant for leadership educators, students, practitioners, and others who are passionate about infusing sustainability into the learning, worldview, and applied practice of leadership learners.  

Registration Will Open Soon!

Registration Rates Price
All rates in USD
ILA Member
$250
Non-Member
Become an ILA member during registration to receive ILA member rate
$275

I confirm that within the conference event space, my remarks and comments, both written and oral, will not violate any proprietary or personal rights of others (including any copyright, trademark, and privacy rights). They will be factually accurate and contain nothing defamatory or otherwise unlawful. I agree to release ILA from any liability if my presentation is found to violate trademark, copyright, or any other intellectual property right.

Being in Community With One Another
When we enter into the trusted space of the ILA, we are making a commitment to be in community with a diverse group of learners from around the world. The most powerful lever for change is in how we relate to, and connect with, one another, especially across differences.

Connections are created and nurtured as we share our experiences and learn from the experiences and perspectives of others. This engenders a feeling of belonging that nourishes our creativity and advances our collective purpose of advancing the practice and study of leadership for a just and thriving future.

Being in community with one another at an ILA event is not just a vision, it is a leadership practice. Each person who enters this trusted space shares the responsibility to create an environment where everyone is respected and valued.

I am aware that ILA conference sessions may be recorded, streamed, and rebroadcast or reproduced as images. By registering, I consent to the recording or photography of my image, voice, name, and any content I provide, including presentations, logos, trademarks, comments, questions, or chats.  I consent to the future use of video recordings, images, or photographs by ILA, its agents, and its authorized third parties in whole or in part for promotional or educational purposes.

Event fees are non-refundable. If the person who registered cannot attend and you wish to make a substitution, please email conferences@ilaglobalnetwork.org by 29 December 2024.

Group Invoicing
Streamline your team’s registration with our convenient group invoicing option. Perfect for organizations bringing 5 or more attendees, this option consolidates your payments into one easy transaction.

  1. Email conferences@ilaglobalnetwork.org with the subject line “Sustainability Conference Group Invoice”.  Please include the names of everyone who should be included in the group invoice.
  2. Receive Your Invoice: We’ll send you one comprehensive invoice for your group, eliminating the hassle of multiple payments.
  3. Apply Group Code: Upon payment, we’ll provide a group code linked to your invoice. Your attendees can then use this code to register seamlessly, bypassing the payment step.

Please Note: Obtaining a group invoice does not automatically register the attendees for the event. Each attendee will need to complete their individual registration using the group code.

Featured Speakers

Plenary: Reflecting on Leadership Experiences: Rejuvenating Your Leadership

The conference opening plenary panel will explore the speakers’ own lived experiences of leadership during times of great uncertainty. In particular, the discussion will consider ways to navigate difficult leadership situations that require evolving tactics. One thing most people will agree is that leadership is tiring. With this in mind the plenary speakers will consider how they have maintained their own well being and what tactics they engage with to support their rejuvenation to continue their leadership journey.

Karen Blackett OBE

Karen Blackett

Plenary Speaker

Country Manager, WPP, United Kingdom; CEO, GroupM, United Kingdom

Katie Bell

Katie Bell

Plenary Speaker

Chief Marketing Officer, Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, United Kingdom

Kristin Engvig

Kristin Engvig

Plenary Speaker

CEO & Founder, WIN

Karen began her media career in 1993 at CIA MediaNetwork (now known as Wavemaker), working across a range of media performance accounts. Karen continued her career by joining Zenith Media in 1995 working on the prestigious BT account. Karen was quickly head-hunted by The Media Business Group.

In October 1999 Karen was promoted to the Board of Directors of the newly merged MediaCom and The Media Business Group Board. In January 2003, Karen moved from the Business Director role that she had held for so long to become the Marketing Director of MediaCom.

In 2008, Karen became MediaCom’s Chief Operations Officer for EMEA. Priority markets included Russia, Turkey, France, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Czech Republic and South Africa. After 3 years strengthening the EMEA network, during which time MediaCom moved from the 5th to 3rd largest EMEA network media agency, Karen was promoted to CEO of the UK Office in January 2011, running over £1.3bn of media billings and leading over 1,200 people in 5 UK locations.

MediaCom UK is the largest media agency in the UK with a range of diverse clients, such as Sky, Tesco, Coca Cola, Cancer Research UK, DFS, NBC Universal and Mars. MediaCom U.K represents Modern Britain with offices in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Edinburgh and Dublin. During Karen’s tenure as CEO the UK business won over £790 million of new business. (2011 -2015 inclusive)

In January 2016 after serving as CEO for 5 years, Karen was promoted to Chairwoman of MediaCom UK & Ireland and is closely linked with clients such as Tesco, Coca-Cola and Sky. In the role as Chairwoman, one of Karen’s many focuses was to support the continued growth and evolution of the regional UK offices which totalled 350 staff and had regional combined billings of £385 million. In January 2018, Karen took on a newly created role as the first UK Country Manager for WPP, the world’s largest communications network, overseeing 10,000 people across several well-known operating brands such as Ogilvy, Grey, H&K, VMLY&R and Wunderman Thompson. In this role Karen is responsible for delivering growth in WPP’s 2nd largest market, with revenue of $2 billion. Her focus is on developing customer experience, commerce strategies, marketing technology and relevant real-world communications for WPP clients.

In 2019 Karen was appointed a Non-Executive Director of the UK Cabinet Office. Karen was appointed as CEO of GroupM U.K, the world’s leading media investment company, in April 2020 – an additional role to her WPP UK Country Manager responsibilities. In November 2020 Karen featured in one of the Top 100 Great Black Britons, and in December 2021 was chosen to feature in the book; The Female Lead.

Dr. Katie Bell has extensive leadership experience across both corporate consumer goods and higher education sectors. She spent her early career at Nestle UK in various brand marketing roles based around the UK before taking the opportunity to work in Porto, Portugal as marketing director for Symington’s port wine company, and then in Barcelona, Spain as managing director of the European University business school. Her return to the UK saw her promoted through a number of marketing, innovation and board-level strategic planning roles at GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare, where she was most latterly Vice- President of the Global Digital Marketing function.

Katie left GSK to take up a role as Chief Marketing Officer at Middlesex University, London, where amongst other things, she evolved the university-brand, redesigned the admissions service, and most recently led on the launch of higher and degree apprenticeships at the University. She recently completed her professional doctorate in higher education leadership.

Katie is currently Chief Marketing officer at UCAS where she is responsible for marketing, sales, communication and PR for both UCAS charity and for its commercial fund-raising business. Her main focus is in reshaping student admissions towards widening participation and access to higher education goals, and also in driving growth and innovation in the commercial activities which underpin the charitable objectives.

Kristin created WIN to bring alive a vision of a more feminine, global and sustainable way at work, in communities and life. More than 22000 individuals and hundreds of world-class companies have attended WIN’s live experiences, expanding worldwide. She pioneered a new way of looking at business through WIN’s framework of change, bringing in wellness, sustainability, beauty, art, new language and wholeness years ahead of the current trends.

As a global thought leader in the field of creativity, feminine and authentic leadership, she embraces her global responsibility through innovative leadership experiences and personal speaking engagements to inspire women worldwide to become agents of possibility.

She was awarded the CEO for Life award in 2021, was named among Diversity Global Magazine’s Top 10 Influential Women in Global Diversity and also received the International Alliance of Women Award. In her early career she worked for big companies such as JP Morgan, Citibank and Innovation Norway, EU and an as international strategy and marketing Consultant. A business economist (BI, Oslo) with an MBA (Milan’s Bocconi), she has also completed a wealth of interdisciplinary studies including acting and yoga. She attends global meetings such as the W7 of the G7 and the Nobel Peace Prize Forum, and also chaired the Women in Leadership meeting at the SDG tent during Davos in 2020.

Agenda

This draft agenda is subject to change.

Date Forthcoming

12:00 – 17:00

Registration Check in

16:30 – 18:00

Welcome Reception and Plenary

Dinner on your own. 

Date Forthcoming

08:00 – 12:00

Registration Check in
Continental Breakfast

09:30 – 10:00

Plenary 

10:15 – 11:15

Concurrent Sessions 1

11:30 – 12:30

Concurrent Sessions 2

12:30 – 13:45

Lunch on your own

14:00 – 15:00

Concurrent Session 3

15:15 – 16:45

Applied Learning Sessions

17:00 – 18:00

Reception 

Dinner on your own 

Date Forthcoming

08:00 – 09:00

Continental Breakfast

09:00 – 10:45

Applied Learning Sessions

11:00 – 12:00

Closing Plenary

Hotels and Travel

Hotels

Here are some hotels nearby where you can book your own room. Please note that we don’t have an official room block at any of these properties, so guests will need to make their own reservations wherever is most convenient for them.

Nearby Parking Garages

Conference Program Team

Eric Rice

Eric Rice

Program Co-Chair
Associate Teaching Professor; Director of Sustainability, Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering

Bill Smedick

William Smedick

Program Co-Chair
Associate Teaching Professor; Director of the Leadership Studies Program, Leadership Programs, Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering

Rian Satterwhite

Rian Satterwhite

Concurrent Sessions Chair
Director, Office of Service Learning and Leadership, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Kathleen Allen

Kathy Allen

Applied Learning Sessions Chair
Kathy Allen & Associates

Sponsor

  • Recognized as the conference platinum sponsor from main stage
  • Opportunity for representative of the organization to welcome conference attendees
  • Opportunity to collaborate with ILA on a webinar or work with ILA’s podcast partner on a podcast production
  • ILA Organizational Membership for Two Years
  • Eight complimentary conference registrations
  • Logo placed prominently on all marketing material
  • Logo and a link to your website on conference sponsor webpage
  • Opportunity to work with ILA staff to plan a session or special event at the conference which your organization will be recognized as sponsoring
  • Opportunity to host unlimited Pop-Up Stands whenever your team is available: multiple networking breaks and three group luncheons will take place over the three-day conference
  • First page of full color conference PDF session guide reserved for your organization
  • Logo displayed prominently on conference APP
  • Two messages of your choosing sent during the conference via the conference APP
  • Attendee list three weeks in advance for three-time honor system use
  • Logo displayed prominently on on-site sponsor thank you banner
  • Logo on screensaver in breakout rooms and general session
  • Recognized as a sponsor of one of the five breakout rooms, the poster session, or the Interactive Roundtable Discussion Session
  • Invited to have a collateral piece you provide placed on every seat at one of the three luncheons
  • Provide ILA with a header banner advertisement and we will include it on the ILA Interface Newsletter three times in a calendar year
  • Create an html message and ILA will send it to the entire ILA database once within a calendar year (exposure to over 20,000 leadership professionals worldwide)
  • Recognized as a conference supporter sponsor from main stage
  • ILA Organizational Membership for One Year
  • Four complimentary conference registrations
  • Logo placed prominently on all marketing material
  • Logo and a link to your website on conference sponsor webpage
  • Opportunity to work with ILA staff to plan a session or special event at the conference which your organization will be recognized as sponsoring
  • Opportunity to host unlimited Pop-Up Stands whenever your team is available: multiple networking breaks and three group luncheons will take place over the three-day conference
  • Full page ad in full color conference PDF session guide reserved for your organization
  • Logo displayed on conference APP
  • One message of your choosing sent during the conference via the conference APP
  • Attendee list three weeks in advance for two-time honor system use
  • Logo displayed on on-site sponsor thank you banner
  • Logo on screensaver in breakout rooms and general session
  • Recognized as a sponsor of one of the five breakout rooms, the poster session, or the Interactive Roundtable Discussion Session
  • Provide ILA with a header banner advertisement and we will include it on the ILA Interface Newsletter once in a calendar year
  • Create an html message and ILA will send it to the entire ILA database once within a calendar year (exposure to over 20,000 leadership professionals worldwide)
  • Two complimentary conference registrations
  • Logo on all marketing material
  • Logo and a link to your website on conference sponsor webpage
  • Opportunity to host six Pop-Up Stands: multiple networking breaks and three group luncheons will take place over the three-day conference
  • Half page ad in full color conference PDF session guide reserved for your organization
  • Logo displayed on conference APP with link to your website
  • Attendee list three weeks in advance for one-time honor system use
  • Logo displayed on on-site sponsor thank you banner
  • Logo on screensaver in breakout rooms and general session
  • Recognized as a sponsor of one of the five breakout rooms
  • One complimentary conference registration
  • Opportunity to host three Pop-Up Stands: multiple networking breaks and three group luncheons will take place over the three-day conference
  • Organization’s name on all marketing material
  • Organization’s name and a link to your website on conference sponsor webpage
  • Organization’s name on conference APP