Applications open for hybrid Leadership Institute

A group of people smile as they talk while seated around a circular table. The words "Leadership Institute, University of Wisconsin–Madison" are overlaid.

The Learning Communities for Institutional Change & Excellence (LCICE) team is excited to announce the launch of the reimagined Leadership Institute for the upcoming fall semester.

The semester-long Leadership Institute will meet Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to noon from Sept. 13 to Dec. 13, with occasional three-hour sessions. Weekly attendance and added self-work are required. There will be no Leadership Institute gathering during the week of Nov. 22.

Please submit your application to join the Leadership Institute by Monday, Aug. 1, to be prioritized for the limited number of spaces in the fall 2022 cohort.

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What is Leadership Institute?

Launched in 1998, Leadership Institute is the longest-running learning community facilitated by LCICE. It provides participants with the opportunity for sustained exposure to divergent identities, experiences, and viewpoints through dialogue where each individual contributes to others’ learning and unlearning. Meeting weekly and co-creating a safe and respectful learning environment, participants share experiences, confront assumptions and deconstruct historically dominant social paradigms and systems of power. In doing so, participants develop their leadership capacities to interact more effectively across multiple perspectives and social identities. Semester-long engagement engenders relationship- and trust-building, which is key to promoting and sustaining equitable and just working, teaching, and learning environments for all at UW–Madison.

Who should apply to Leadership Institute?

This space upends the traditional definition of “leadership” based on position and hierarchy to build opportunities for all participations to hone their leadership capacities, commitment, and agency to be a leader of societal change toward equity and justice. To that end, Leadership Institute is a space for people engaging formally or informally with diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice work at UW–Madison. This may be written into your job description, part of your service work on campus, your informal role within your team or department, or infused in many other ways into your work at UW.

What is the time commitment for Leadership Institute?

Leadership Institute is a substantial time commitment: two to three hours per week with required self-work between sessions. LCICE encourages applicants to have conversations with supervisors and colleagues before applying to join Leadership Institute.

From Sept. 13 to Dec. 13, Leadership Institute will meet weekly on Tuesdays for two-hour sessions with occasional three-hour sessions. Weekly attendance and between-gathering self-work is required. All gatherings will be provided in a hybrid modality, with some participants joining in person and some joining virtually every week. Weekly dialogue provides essential, ongoing connection and exploration of life experiences similar to and different from one’s own, resulting in an increased understanding and recognition of multiple truths and perspectives, shedding light on the differential impacts of hierarchy, power, oppression, and privilege based on social identities (e.g. race, gender, age, class, sexual orientation, dis/ability, etc.).

Beyond the weekly attendance, participants engage in self-work through reflective journaling, engaging with materials to deepen their learning, and connecting with other participants for one-to-one or small-group conversations. Self-work is a crucial component of a participant’s journey through the Leadership Institute, with learning about self, others, and systems emerging through the guided exploration of the “textbook” of one’s life.

What should I expect?

The incoming fall 2022 cohort will consist of participants selected to reflect diverse social identities, backgrounds, and positions working for diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice within UW–Madison. Participants will meet predominantly in smaller groups, with some work in Caucus/Affinity Groups based on race/ethnicity and potentially other social identities based on the makeup of the cohort. All large groups will be shared when you are accepted to join Leadership Institute so you can make any necessary arrangements to attend the longer sessions more easily.

What have participants said about their Leadership Institute experience?

Please visit the LCICE website for testimonials about the transformative impact Leadership Institute has had on past participants.

How do I apply?

Complete the short application form here. Please submit your application by Monday, Aug. 1.

How can I ask other questions?

Please email the LCICE team at lcice@cdo.wisc.edu or call us at 608-890-0877. We will likely be able to respond to email more quickly than phone calls and voicemails.

We look forward to being in community with you soon in the Leadership Institute!

In community,

The LCICE team – Seema, Harry, Karin, and Jay

Apply Now