Our Mission: To develop values-based, impact-driven leaders.

About ILA

The Institute for Leadership Advancement (ILA) is a privately funded unit within the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia. ILA is an innovative, ever-evolving certificate program that combines coursework with real-world experience to sharpen the next generation of leaders who stand out distinctly because of their unwavering commitment to make values-based, impact-driven decisions.

The ILA program is completed in one or two years (Fellows or Scholars, respectively). Both the Fellows and Scholars programs follow a model to first learn, then reflect and ultimately practice. All students apply their learning through a final service-learning project, working to benefit nonprofits and underserved communities.

ILA students and alumni continuously demonstrate the core values of responsibility, stewardship, excellence, integrity and purpose. For these reasons, recruiters target the ILA network for internships and career positions at companies and organizations such as Chick-fil-A, EY, Google, KPMG, Newell Brands, The Home Depot, Wall Street banks, Delta and UPS. To date, ILA’s leadership development programs have graduated more than 1,500 UGA students.

Contact

Stacy Campbell
  • Synovus Director, Institute for Leadership Advancement

Leadership Programs for Undergraduates

Leonard Leadership Scholars

Open to all eligible Terry majors, the two-year Leonard Leadership Scholars program initiates a discovery process, asking students to uncover their leadership capabilities by identifying their personality, strengths and core values. 

The online application is open from December 1–January 31. Thirty students are selected annually.

Leadership Fellows

Open to all eligible UGA students, the yearlong Leadership Fellows program allows students to fine-tune their career planning skills and assess their personality, strengths and core values to achieve self-awareness — a key piece in identifying one’s leadership capabilities. 

There are two application periods for the Leadership Fellows: Applications for Spring Fellows open September 1, and Fall Fellows open December 1.

Additional Offerings

Leadership Dawgs

In recognizing the positive impact on a student’s leadership skills, Chick-fil-A pledged a record-setting donation to help ILA expand personalized leadership development beyond the scope of current undergraduate students at the University of Georgia.

ILA Speaker Series

ILA presents the Terry Leadership Speaker Series (TLSS), The Mason Public Leadership Lecture and the Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Speaker Series (DILS), inviting well-known executives from various organizations to share their career experiences and leadership approaches through a student-run forum.

Nonprofit Partnerships

Since 2003, ILA has partnered with local nonprofits and community partners to execute Service-Learning Projects (SLPs). These three-to-six-month projects allow student leaders to deeply connect with a nonprofit and help them advance their mission in whatever way they need, through marketing, student engagement efforts, fundraising, and more. Starting in 2022, we are extending these SLPs to UGA alumni to grow ILA’s impact and strengthen Georgia’s robust nonprofit sector.

Corporate Sponsors

By financially supporting ILA, you can be part of a transformational change that Terry offers future generations of business leaders.

ILA Honor Roll

ILA is grateful to the many students, parents, alumni, corporations, foundations and friends who continue to support the efforts of the institution. Because of you, ILA is able to develop values-based, impact-driven leaders.