International Student Case Competition
Compete in Undergraduate or Graduate Divisions
Interested in Sponsoring This Year's Competition?
Contact Theresa Royal Brown +1-240-601-9624 or troyalbrown@ilaglobalnetwork.org.
Note: Exact times and locations of the Poster Session (28 October), Finalist Presentations (30 October), and Winner Announcement at the Plenary session (31 Saturday) are forthcoming.
Details on Poster dimensions are forthcoming and will be announced here when available.
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.
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 2026 competition, the following SDGs will be the focus:
Graduate Division - SDG# 16 - Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions
Undergraduate Division - SDG# 4 - Quality Education
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 (see link above). 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 person where all teams will participate in a judged Poster Session. The top 3 teams in each division will be part of the Finalists Presentations. Winners will be announced at the plenary on the last day of the conference. Exact times for the Poster Session on Wednesday (28 October), Finalist Presentations on Friday (30 October), and Plenary announcement (31 October) will be announced at the top of this page once finalized.
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.
One
Download Competition Document and form your team today!
Two
Sign Up Team for the International Student Case Competition by 23 September 2026.
Three
Register for ILA’s Annual Global Conference by 24 September 2026.
Four
Submit Round 1 Executive Summary via Email to:
casecompetition@ilaglobalnetwork.org by 15 October 23:00 EDT (UTC-4).
Five
Host your ISCC poster for judging at #ILA2026Global in Toronto, 28 October. Time and Room forthcoming.
Six
Notification emails sent to each team’s contact person by 23:00 EDT on 28 October regarding which teams are Finalists.
Seven
Finalist presentations in each division at #ILA2026Global in Toronto, 30 October. Time and Rooms forthcoming.
Eight
Finalists recognized and winners announced at the Saturday Plenary at #ILA2026Global in Toronto, 31 October.