World Leadership Congress
About the WLC
Since 1968, the HOBY World Leadership Congress (WLC) has empowered students around the world to broaden their perspective and see themselves as part of something larger—the global community. The WLC is a weeklong program designed to empower rising junior and senior high school students to become more confident, caring leaders, and active global citizens.
Each summer, the WLC hosts student ambassadors representing all 50 states and 15+ countries in a major U.S. city. This week-long, immersive leadership experience challenges students to think critically, communicate effectively, and act with integrity. The WLC leaves students with a robust global network and the tools to change the world around them.
WLC Dates and Registration
The 2025 World Leadership Congress will be held at Loyola University in Chicago, Illinois during the week of July 19-26, 2025.
Registration for the 2025 WLC will open in November.
Leadership Curriculum on a Global Scale
The World Leadership Congress curriculum guides student ambassadors in an immersive leadership experience as they appreciate and explore five leadership competencies. This curriculum is rooted in the Social Change Model of Leadership and students learn skills that transcend culture and geography.
At the WLC, student ambassadors learn that:
Leaders are critical thinkers.
After completing this competency, student ambassadors will be able to:
- expand their views when presented with new information and perspectives
- ask questions in order to build understanding, rather than their own ideas
- change their behavior when they learn something new
Leaders create community through effective communication.
After completing this competency, student ambassadors will be able to:
- understand how they function as a communicator
- work with people who have a different communication style than their own
- disagree with someone and discuss opposing viewpoints with respect
- build positive relationships with others through practicing empathy
Leaders actively seek opportunities for growth.
After completing this competency, student ambassadors will be able to:
- create and follow through with leadership goals
- maintain resiliency and a growth mindset when faced with challenges, failures, and setbacks
- appreciate and reflect upon their growth as a leader in order to pursue new challenges
Leaders respect and appreciate diversity and strive to include all.
After completing this competency, student ambassadors will be able to:
- seek to explore their identity and how it may develop and change over time
- understand that their environment shapes how they approach the world
- skillfully collaborate with people who have different identities and experiences
- incorporate others’ perspectives when working with others
Leaders change the world around them through action with integrity.
After completing this competency, student ambassadors will be able to:
- properly assess a leadership opportunity and determine a responsible path forward
- identify the needs of their community and what they can do to foster positive change to address those needs
- act with integrity and in alignment with their leadership values
- strive to change the world around them
Program Outcomes
WLC Highlights
Who Attends
Each year, hundreds of high school students, rising high school juniors and seniors, from nearly every state in the U.S. and 15+ countries expand their leadership skills and global perspectives at the World Leadership Congress.
While the majority of student ambassadors have attended a HOBY State Leadership Seminar, students who have participated in other leadership or service organizations are also eligible to attend the WLC.
Fast Facts
1 Major U.S. City
7 Days
300+ Student Ambassadors
15+ Countries Represented
100+ Volunteers
Established More than 50 Years Ago
Ambassadors have attended from:
Albania, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, France, Germany,
Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Korea, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Sierra
Leone, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sudan, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey,
Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and more!
International Participation in the WLC
Since the World Leadership Congress began in 1968, student ambassadors from 80+ countries have attended. As our WLC alumni know well, building a global network of peers when you’re in high school not only expands personal perspectives, but helps students acknowledge their role as a global citizen.
Are you a student living outside the United States interested in attending the WLC? Are you interested in sending students to the WLC to represent your school, community, and country? Let us know! We look forward to connecting with you!