International Student Case Competition
Compete in Undergraduate or Graduate Divisions
The ILA International Student Case Competition provides undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to compete and showcase their knowledge about leadership through the analysis of a contemporary socio-political-economic problem on the global or national level.
Download and View ISCC Information Packet
Sign Up Your Team of 2-4 Students Now
Download This Year’s List of Competing Schools
Competition Goals
The International Student Case Competition, organized annually by the ILA Leadership Education Member Community, provides participating teams opportunities to:
- Develop a real-world case and learn about the systemic leadership complexities associated with a selected social problem.
- Comprehensively and collectively develop and articulate a deep understanding and proposed leadership solution to a problem you believe poses a significant societal challenge.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the complexity of leadership as it relates to contemporary social problems.
- Work together as a team to articulate a grasp of how leadership theories and practice can be applied to impact a local, national, and/or international social problem.
- Engage in dialogue and receive feedback from attendees at the Global Conference to strengthen one’s analytical and presentation skills.
- Compete in an international competition with other students.
Competition Overview
Due to the urgency and interconnectedness of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the SDGs are the focus of the ISCC. This provides an opportunity for teams to engage in research and propose solutions for contemporary issues on a global scale.
Each student team will identify a significant contemporary social problem they would like to address within the SDG assigned to their Division. For the 2025 competition, the following SDGs will be the focus:
Graduate Division – SDG# 11 – Sustainable Cities & Communities
Undergraduate Division – SDG# 8 – Decent Work & Economic Growth
The team will conduct research to gain an understanding of how to frame the problem and its complex, systemic causes (i.e., economic, political, social, cultural, and individual factors). The team then analyzes and develops recommendations that they believe would mitigate or solve the problem, with attention to a leadership theory or theories and actions that can be applied. The case study and plan of action should be realistic and practical — and the suggested actions should not create other unintended problems that could be worse than the original problem.
The International Case Competition (ISCC) consists of three rounds:
- Round One – Executive Summary
- Round Two – Virtual Poster Presentation
- Final Round – Finalists Presentation
Each round is further described in the International Student Case Competition Information Packet. Each round is judged separately, and the Final Round is comprised only of the three top teams in each division determined by the combined totals of their first- and second-round scores. Unique judges will be assigned to each round and the winner will be determined solely by a team’s performance in the Final Round.
In addition to submitting an Executive Summary before the conference, teams will attend the ILA Global Conference in Prague where all teams will participate in a judged Poster Session on Thursday during the Welcome Networking Reception. The top 3 teams in each division will be part of the Finalists Presentations on Friday. Winners will be announced at the closing plenary on Saturday.
The first-place team in each division will receive a prize of $1,000 USD, plus individual team members each will receive a complimentary 1-year ILA student membership.
Teams are encouraged to integrate the conference theme into their case. If advanced to the final round, teams should weave learnings from their conference experiences into Final Presentations.
Competition Steps and Important Dates
One
Download Competition Document and form your team today!
Two
Sign Up Team for the International Student Case Competition by 24 September 2025 23:00 UTC.
Three
Register for ILA’s Annual Global Conference by 1 October 2025 23:00 UTC.
Four
Submit executive summary via Email to:
casecompetition@ilaglobalnetwork.org by 31 October, 6:00pm CDT (UTC-5).
Five
Host your ISCC poster at #ILA2025Global in Prague, 15 October 18:30 – 20:00 CET.
Six
Notification emails sent to each team’s contact person by 23:00 CET on 15 October regarding which teams are Finalists.
Seven
Finalist presentations in each division at #ILA2025Global in Prague 17 October 2025 14:45 – 15:45 CET.
Eight
Finalists recognized and winners announced at the Closing Plenary, 18 October 11:00 – 12:30 CET!