D-Lab ‘26 is a unique gathering, inviting you into the spirit of New Orleans, in a generative community space to connect, collaborate, and explore leadership in action through dialogue, experience, and deep inquiry. D-Lab is guided by the question:
How might we exercise leadership in ways that respond meaningfully to the challenges of this moment?
When: 30 January – 1 February 2026
Where: Hosted at Tulane University
Cost: $450 USD
Description
Rather than a traditional conference – exchanging expertise, being taught, listening to presentations – D-Lab is an experiential immersion. We will co-create together, generating insights collectively through the practice and exercise of dialogue.
Attendees will gather for three days of engagement and inquiry through dialogue with each other. Dialogues will be attendee proposed and led, as well as inspired by the cultural fabric of New Orleans with local musicians, chefs, and civic leaders.
Educators, practitioners, community leaders, entrepreneurs, scholars, students – anyone eager to ask and explore with others the pressing leadership questions of our time should attend.
The ILA Dialogue Lab is designed to:
- Create a learning laboratory for leadership learning and practice needed to engage skillfully with a rapidly evolving, complex, interdependent living system.
- Co-create a space that invites and sustains deep inquiry, genuine curiosity, transformational learning and a willingness to be changed by the unique synergy of people and the place in which we gather.
- Strengthen our individual and collective capacities to practice and enhance the skill of dialogue, and lead in the emerging reality that we both mirror and influence.
Please review the Participant FAQ for more information.
Application & Registration Process
Interested in attending? Apply Now!
D-Lab ‘26 is an immersive, experiential gathering. Open to just 125 registrations, we want to ensure all participants are aware of and interested in our dialogue-based format. Therefore, the first step to attend the D-Lab is to complete a brief application process using this link: https://ila.memberclicks.net/d-labApp
Throughout the weekend, participants will engage in multiple forms of dialogue—some will be inspired by New Orleans, some will emerge through open space, and some proposed and hosted by attendees. If you would like to propose an Inquiry Session, we invite you to develop a clear, compelling question that you’d like to explore with a small group of fellow participants. Inquiry proposals are optional, and the link to submit a proposal will be included in your D-Lab application acceptance email.
(Optional) Inquiry Session Deadline: the deadline is extended for Inquiry Session proposals, please complete your D-Lab application as soon as possible in order to submit your Inquiry Session by December 19, 2025.
Registration Deadline: For all participants, whether or not you choose to propose an inquiry session, you will receive the registration link after you apply. While there is no cost to apply, the registration fee for accepted participants is $450, the registration deadline is January 12, 2026 and/or until we receive 125 registrations.
See FAQ for more information.
Agenda Overview
FRIDAY JANUARY 30
13:00 – 14:00
Participant Check-in
14:00 – 16:30
Welcome and Opening Session
17:00 – 18:45
Dinner and Dialogues Inspired by the Music of New Orleans
18:45 – 19:00
Closing of Day 1
SATURDAY JANUARY 31
8:30 – 9:00
9:00 – 12:00
12:00 – 13:00
13:00 – 14:30
15:00 – 16:45
16:45 – 17:00
18:00 – 20:00
SUNDAY FEBRUARY 1
8:30 – 9:00
Welcome and Opening of Day 3
9:00 – 10:30
Dialogue Circles: participant facilitated conversations and connections
10:30 – 12:00
Brunch and Dialogues Inspired by the Civic Life of New Orleans
12:00 – 1:30
Closing of D-Lab ‘26
Hotels & Transportation
We’re excited to welcome you to New Orleans, a city known for its rich traditions of music, food, and hospitality. D-Lab ’26 will be hosted by Tulane University in the Uptown neighborhood of New Orleans. Sessions will take place at the Lavin-Bernick Center (20 McAlister Place, New Orleans, LA 70118). The closest airport is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY).
Conference Hotels
D-Lab ’26 has partnered with two New Orleans hotels along historic St. Charles Avenue and on the St. Charles Streetcar Line. We encourage participants to reserve early to take advantage of specialty group rates. Staying at one of the partner hotels along St. Charles Avenue will make your trip to campus easy, enjoyable, and distinctly New Orleans!
St. Charles Inn ($160/night, 3-star)
Call 504-899-8888 and request the ILA D-Lab group rate.
- Just 2 miles away from Tulane campus and 3 miles from the French Quarter
- Located in the Garden District on the Saint Charles Streetcar Line
- Walking distance to Magazine Street (shopping, restaurants, bars)
- Includes continental breakfast
Hotel Tonnelle ($179/night, 3-star)
Book your group rate for ILA D-Lab Tulane University
- 2.75 miles from Tulane campus and 2 miles from the French Quarter
- Located in the Garden District on the Saint Charles Streetcar Line
- Walking distance to Magazine Street (shopping, restaurants, bars)
- Hotel Tonnelle also provides a daily streetcar pass (D-Lab registration also includes 3-day pass)
- The last day to book the group rate at Hotel Tonnelle is December 29, 2025.
St. Charles Streetcar Line
The conference hotels are steps from the St. Charles Streetcar Line. A part of your registration, all participants receive a 3-day Jazzy Pass for unlimited rides on all New Orleans streetcars, buses, and ferries. The ride to campus is 16-20 minutes, followed by a 5-10 minute walk to the Lavin- Bernick Center. Streetcars run approximately every 15 minutes, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Select green streetcars are ADA compliant and are marked as such on the exterior.
Dialogue Lab Design Team
The Dialogue Lab is co-created by an international design team of leadership educators, practitioners, and scholars — representing ILA’s commitment to learning through collaboration.
