Faith Leaders Week

Leading Into an Unknown Future

Faith communities will be confronted with a series of never before seen challenges and opportunities. Faith leaders, and the congregations they lead are called upon to to be the light in the darkness of today's world. How do faith leaders rejuvenate themselves and explore new ideas to serve their congregations and communities in the complex, volatile, uncertain world of today? The Kellogg School Center for Nonprofit Management at Northwestern University is pleased to host Faith Leaders Week, our annual executive education program designed purposefully for faith leaders - pastors, rabbis, bishops, congregational and denominational leaders, at Northwestern University's downtown Chicago campus.

Our theme this year is "Leading into an Unknown Future". Led by Kellogg School of Management faculty as well as outstanding faith leaders from different denominations, this highly interactive program will share frameworks, tools and new ideas to support faith leaders in their quest to lead their communities though this period of change, uncertainty, and polarization. Join us for this week of inspiration and information that will help you prepare to lead faithfully into an unknown future.

Center for Nonprofit Management

VIDEO: Learn more from Academic Director Nicholas Pearce

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Who Should Attend

  • Senior and associate leaders of all faith communities
  • Teams of leaders from the same faith community wishing to attend together

Program Content

Leading in the 4 C-Able Future

  • Understand the challenges of the volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world in which faith leaders are operating
  • Learn tactics to be more creative in identifying solutions for your community
  • Build skills to manage competing perspectives and tensions

Leadership as Partnership: Dynamics of Leading and Following

  • Explore the entanglement of being a leader and a follower
  • Learn strategies for moving forward and moving back to empower others to reach the goal
  • Share perspectives on collaboration between leaders and followers

Crisis Communications

  • Learn effective crisis communications principles and frameworks
  • Immerse faith leaders in the opportunities and challenges presented by crisis
  • Foster critical thinking through class dialogue and group exercises

Enlightened Disagreement

  • Learn about the psychology of disputes
  • Learn about the role of interests, rights, and power in dispute resolution
  • Learn how to harness the power of disagreement to bolster professional and organizational success

Leading Purposeful Change

  • Understand the stages of change for faith communities
  • Learn the importance of social capital and networks in affecting change
  • Discuss the role that leadership plays in creating the vision and action for change


The Power of Imagination

  • Explore ways to rekindle the flames of imagination and creativity to address current challenges and see new opportunities
  • Overcome barriers to change and inertia
  • Use imagination to energize and unite others around a shared mission
  • Communicate visions compellingly through stories and metaphors

Faculty

Nicholas A. Pearce - Academic Director; Clinical Professor of Management & Organizations

Liz Livingston Howard - Academic Director; Clinical Professor of Management; Executive Director of Nonprofit Executive Education

Reginald Blount - Murray H. Leiffer Associate Professor of Formation, Leadership and Culture, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary

Michelle L. Buck - Clinical Professor of Executive Education

Ernest Duplessis - Industry Lecturer, Integrated Marketing Communications, Northwestern Medill (retired); Founder/Pastor, S.T.U.D.Y.S. Ministries; Former – SVP, Communications and Government Affairs, Mondelèz International; VP, Corporate Communications, Kraft Foods; Public Affairs Officer, US Navy

Eli Finkel - Professor of Management & Organizations; Professor of Psychology, Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences

Nancy Sayer - Leadership Evolvement Institute

Accommodations, Fees & Policies

Location

Nonprofit Management Programs are held at Northwestern University's Chicago Campus.

Wieboldt Hall
340 East Superior Street
Chicago, IL 60611
Directions

Chicago Campus Parking Map - Please Note: the Huron Superior Parking A lot and the Erie Ontario Parking C & D lots are available to the public and should be used when attending programs at Wieboldt Hall.

Application Deadline

The deadline for registration is 10:00 am one business day prior to the program start date.

Scholarship Assistance

Up to 50% scholarships are available for all of our nonprofit executive education programs for those working in nonprofit organizations. All scholarship requests are reviewed by our Registrar and any scholarships granted will be reflected in the amount charged to your credit card.

Payment

  • If you request a scholarship, your credit card is submitted upon registration and will be charged once your request is approved (allow 1-2 business days for review).
  • If you do not request a scholarship, your credit card will be charged upon application submission.

Hospitality during the Program

We strive to provide healthy meal choices for our participants for breakfast, lunch and breaks. We typically provide a range of choices, including some vegetarian-friendly and gluten-avoidant selections. We cannot meet all dietary preferences, but we will do our best to accommodate health restrictions, religious restrictions and food allergies.

Accommodations

Participants are responsible for booking their hotel accommodations during their stay in Chicago.

Download Nearby Hotels List

Cancellation Policy:

Participants must notify the Program Manager five business days in advance of the program start date if they are unable to attend. Otherwise, participants will be charged 20% of the stated program fees.

When canceling a program registration, participants may choose to rollover their payment to a future program or receive a refund. Participants are allowed two rollovers, after the second rollover, participants forfeit the money paid to the Center for Nonprofit Management.

*Refund or rollover must be requested at the time of the program cancellation. Once a program payment has been rolled over, a monetary refund is no longer an option. The participant must continue with the rollover process.

What Participants Say

“Faith Leaders Week was an inspiring, motivating, and reflective experience filled with the kind of wisdom and warmth not usually associated with a business school environment. The faculty were knowledgeable and felt very real to me--not only teachers but practitioners. This first experience has led me to seriously explore more training opportunities with Kellogg.”
Pastor, Harvest Community Church

“The Faith Leaders Week program was the most valuable leadership training that I have taken because the information was applicable to a congregational setting, grounded in research, and taught by professors who have experience in leading congregations. Anyone who serves in a leadership position within a congregation would benefit from the knowledge itself and exercises that help us to apply [it] in our own communities.”
Rabbi, Temple Beth Haverim Shir Shalom

“The Leadership aspect of the program was so informative, relevant, and clearly had been planned with great thought & attention. The Faith component added a dimension I had underestimated before arriving. There was a uniquely special energy that was imbued in everything we did. I loved being with a group of people (fellow students & professional staff) that "got me". Exploring the nuances among faith orientations was fascinating! And it is no surprise that we are more similar than not. In addition to the plethora of skills I hope to employ, I also discovered pieces of my personality that have a huge impact on my leadership style and success.”
Co-President, Central Synagogue Beth Emeth

Learn More

Please email or call us if you would like additional information about Nonprofit Programs

2025 Session

June 9-12, 2025

Start: June 9 at 11:30 AM

End: June 12 at 3:00 PM


Format: In-Person on Chicago campus

For more information about this program, please contact us at nonprofit@kellogg.northwestern.edu

$1,500

Scholarships Available

Kellogg School of Management

James L. Allen Center
2169 Campus Drive, Evanston, IL 60208
Directions
847.467.6018