Dear Friends,

The Inspired Leadership Initiative (ILI) was created at Notre Dame out of a dedication to the life of the mind and a focus on lifelong learning and personal development. It was created for individuals who have completed their chosen career paths and are looking to design the next chapter of their lives – a program for people who are ready to embark upon a transformational journey to clarify and deepen their sense of purpose, and to identify new interests or explore and develop already existing passions.

The Program allows fellows to reimmerse themselves in the academic experience, to reflect on where they’ve been, and to begin designing their next chapter. While on campus, they journey alongside world-class faculty members, dedicated program staff, and the ND student body, with the full support of Our Lady’s University. All of this is done with a cohort of others who have the same mission and bring a breadth of experiences across professions, geographies and interests.

ILI fellows audit classes, engage in rich academic discussions, attend guest lectures, forge meaningful relationships with students, and engage with the campus community on a daily basis. They are given an academic year to stretch and challenge themselves, to grow, and to redefine what it means to step away from one’s career and to chart a new, meaningful path alongside other fellows in their cohort on a similar journey. Witnessing these cohorts and their personal and collective transformations is one of my great joys. Their continuing relationships after the program is complete is a testament to the community they form.

The Inspired Leadership Initiative is pleased to partner with ThinkND to bring you our Inspiring Conversations speaker series. Each academic year, we focus on a new topic of interest and feature guest speakers and leaders from across industries and disciplines to share stories, perspectives, and lessons learned from their diverse experiences, both professionally and personally. We invite you to explore our library of content at the link below, and check back in the fall for information on our 2024-2025 series. If you wish to learn more about our program, please visit our website at ili.nd.edu.

With Best Regards,

Tom Schreier
Founding Director, Inspired Leadership Initiative
Term Teaching Professor, Designing an Inspired Life
University of Notre Dame

Dive Deeper into the Inspired Leadership Initiative on ThinkND