More than 300 students attended the 17th annual Inclusive Leadership Conference (ILC) at Temple University’s Howard Gittis Student Center on Saturday, Feb. 7. The event, titled “We the People, We the Future,” was organized by Temple’s Office of Student Leadership and Engagement in collaboration with IDEAL, Campus Philly, and Drexel University. This year marked Drexel’s first participation as a conference partner.
The ILC received $7,500 in funding from Campus Philly, working alongside the Philadelphia Higher Education Network for Neighborhood Development. The grant is part of an initiative to support community-focused projects that commemorate America’s 250th anniversary in 2026. The ILC was one of thirteen projects recognized for its efforts to connect students, faculty, and community partners in exploring the region’s role in American history and future directions.
“We were honored to receive one of the Campus250 grants,” said Jodi Bailey Accavallo, vice president for student affairs. “Our partnership with Campus Philly—where President John Fry serves as honorary board chair—reflects Temple’s commitment to civic engagement. This award strengthened a program aligned with America’s 250th semiquincentennial, bringing together students and professionals to explore leadership, inclusion and civic engagement during this historic year.”
Participants came from over 20 institutions including Arcadia University, Chestnut Hill College, the College of New Jersey, Community College of Philadelphia, Penn State Abington, Saint Joseph’s University, Stockton University, Swarthmore College and West Chester University.
The conference began with a keynote address and Q&A session featuring Isaiah Thomas, councilmember and majority whip for the City of Philadelphia. Students then joined more than twenty sessions focused on topics such as leadership development, diversity initiatives and inclusion strategies.
Campus Philly also conducted a grant-writing workshop aimed at student leaders interested in applying for future rounds of Campus250 grants.
A panel discussion held in the afternoon featured members from the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals Council who discussed how young professionals are redefining inclusive leadership within Philadelphia.
Conference programming included breakout sessions and interactive events designed around four main themes: bold leadership development, self-discovery opportunities for attendees, civility practices within communities and fostering social change.
“Our main goal for the day was for students to feel empowered to do impactful work and make meaningful changes in their communities,” said Craig Scott, associate director of student leadership and engagement. “We hope they take what they learned here and apply it to their own work.”
Scott highlighted partnerships formed through the conference: “We held a lunch session with significant corporate and community engagement with a mini tabling resource fair with corporate partners,” he said. He also noted that Believe in Students—a nonprofit addressing food insecurity among college students—donated 350 meals for attendees this year.
Barbara Perlman, senior director of student leadership and engagement at Temple University emphasized relationship-building as an important takeaway from this year’s event.
