International Leaders Program

The International Leaders Program accompanies the ELCA’s global companion churches and institutions to equip leaders for mission and ministry in a global context. For 35 years the program has provided transformative leadership development experiences to current and future leaders of the Lutheran communion worldwide.

The program provides leadership experiences through several means including:

• International scholarships: Support for individuals to pursue academic programs that equip them for leadership in the Lutheran communion.
• International Camp Counselor Program: Opportunities for young adults from global companion churches to work as camp counselors at ELCA summer camps.
• Leadership development programming: Mentoring, alumni networking, short-term exchanges, workshops, capacity building and other approaches to equip leaders at the grassroots.
• Equity and inclusion: Strategic focus on building access to education for women, members of the LGBTQIA+ community and other systemically excluded groups.

Altogether, thousands of leaders around the world have been equipped directly by the International Leaders Program. They go on to benefit countless lives through their leadership in church and society, multiplying the impact of the program in their own communities. The ELCA benefits too, receiving the gifts of the global Lutheran church as we live out our commitment to ministry with new, young and diverse people.

Together we are forming the next generation of pastors, professors, bishops, doctors, nurses, teachers, engineers, social workers, church administrators, community leaders, gender justice advocates and many more. This is what a leader looks like.