CONFERENCES

Fill out this form.  One of our recruitment directors will reach out to you with more details.  

All conferences will be held on the campus at Michigan State University. Students and volunteers will be housed in the dorms for the weekend.  Conference alternatives are:

• Conference 1: May 17-19, 2024
• Conference 2: June 7-9, 2024

The MYLead Conferences are exclusively available for high school sophomores that have been nominated by their school to attend.

Absolutely!  Each individual is assigned to a “homegroup” of eight to ten participants, plus 2-3 MYLead volunteers for the duration of the conference. You will be immediately introduced to your homegroup and have an opportunity to spend time together intermittently throughout the weekend.  

This small group provides a personalized, thought-provoking, and memorable home-base where you will be able to connect and engage with peers from across the state.  Many recall their homegroup time as the most powerful and impactful time for building new friendships.  

In addition to time with your homegroup, you will be able to meet leaders from other groups during structured activities, games, and energizers.  MYLead does everything it can to make meeting new people fun and easy.  

The weekend will begin with a keynote speaker.  For the next two days, participants attend a series of interactive workshops and team-building sessions where dialogue, hands-on experiences, and informal debate enhance the learning process. 

Fun exercises, games, and energizers are mixed in to keep things fun and encourage networking with peers from across the state.  Reflection time and small group discussions are used to help individuals process everything they are learning. 

On Saturday evening, there will be a talent show, where individuals are encouraged to showcase something they love to do. On Sunday, the weekend will wrap up with networking, the final keynote speaker, and discussion about opportunities after the conference.

Absolutely not.  Volunteers are asked to refrain from encouraging any specific political party, religion, or way of thinking. Instead, we focus on providing a safe, positive, and open space where individual young leaders can express themselves without fear of judgment or intimidation.  

Yes! There are no exceptions to this rule. All participants and group volunteers are required to stay on campus and with the group, for the entire duration of the conference.  They are not permitted to leave and return, for any reason. The program is designed so that each session builds on the last, which means we strictly adhere to this rule for the benefit of all participants. 

One of the reasons MYLead offers multiple weekends is so that students can select the weekend that works best for their schedule after taking into consideration college prep tests, sports schedules, graduation, end of year performances, etc.  

All conference activities take place on campus at Michigan State University.  

Programming takes place in MSU classrooms, conference facilities, and outside.  Everything is conveniently located within walking distance. 

Students and staff are housed in a dormitory designated specifically for MYLead.

Nutritional breakfasts, lunches, and dinners are provided. MSU publishes its menu daily.  You are welcome to check the MSU Eat at State website to see what menu options are available at The Vista in Shaw Hall once on site.

MSU Dining staff is more than willing to accommodate for allergies and will provide personal tours so students know where to find foods that meet their needs. 

Attendance is mandatory at all activities, including meals.

MSU has many very large dormitories, staffed 24×7 by MSU staff, trained specifically to provide for the needs of youth organizations such as MYLead. 

Genders will be assigned rooms in separate areas of the building. Maintaining that separation in the residential quarters of the dorm is enforced at all times, not just for sleeping. 

Each dorm area is staffed to maintain a ratio of roughly ten minors per adult. 

Information about MSU’s Code of Conduct for conference visitors can be found here.

All participants, volunteers, and presenters will be required to adhere to recommendations from the CDC, the State of Michigan, and our host site Michigan State University.  Protecting the health & safety of participants and our volunteers is paramount.  

Face coverings can be worn at personal discretion. Proper hygiene and health practices will be required.  

Given the ongoing global pandemic, MYLead will continue to monitor the information available from public health experts and keep you informed of any changes that may need to be made.

Comfortable walking shoes are advised because we will be walking to and from activities all weekend. On Friday, wear clothing that displays your school’s name and/or colors. On Saturday, MYLead will provide a conference t-shirt for you to wear. On Sunday, wear clothes that best display who you are as a leader. 

In addition to the clothing recommendations listed in the “What should I wear?” question, please feel free to use the MYLead Packing List, which provides you a printable list of all recommended items you may want to bring to conference with you

If you signed up for early arrival, you will need to turn in money upon arrival to cover those fees.

MYLead provides a conference t-shirt completely free of change to wear on Saturday.  For those that want additional MYLead merchandise including sweatshirts, long sleeve shirts, decals, and more, they will be available for purchase.

We can help! Please contact MYLead at recruitment@mylead.org or (888) 269-4075. We can provide names and contact information for other attendees that live near you so you can arrange to carpool with another MYLead participant.

Email recruitment@mylead.org.  The recruitment directors can help you switch to a new weekend, or coordinate with your school so that another young leader has the opportunity to attend.

Email recruitment@mylead.org.  The recruitment directors can help you update the registration form.  The person who is picking you up from the conference on Sunday must present a state-issued photo ID and his/her name must match the name on our check-out list before we can sign you out.  This is a safety precaution.

A link for the consent form along with instructions is located here. 

MYLead works with the school, not individual students to collect payment if needed. 

MYLead fully covers the cost for at least one person nominated by every school in the state to attend in-person, free of charge to the school and the student.  We do this to ensure MYLead is accessible, no matter where someone lives or what financial circumstances they might be facing. 

If a school nominates more than one student to attend in-person, MYLead bills the school $185 for each additional student.  Each school handles processing payments differently.  Please check with the school administrator who nominated you to see if you owe anything and how payment should be handled.  

Students will be asked to keep cell phones off for the majority of the conference weekend.  MYLead does not allow calls or texting during any of the programming sessions, except for designated dorm time in the evening.  Because our time together is limited, we must respect the speakers, volunteers, and all of our peers by staying present and engaged.  

In case of emergencies, parents may contact MYLead conference leadership at (888) 269-4075 or via email at questions@mylead.org. They will have an onsite conference headquarters set up to address anything that comes up.

If family members would like to spend the weekend in the area, we recommend a few nearby hotels: Candlewood Suites or East Lansing Marriott.  

Conference participants will be housed in dormitories on campus.  For the safety and security of all attendees, outside visitors that have not undergone a background check are not welcome inside the residential quarters of the dorm, other than for drop-off and pick-up.

MYLead offers a family program on Sunday morning.  It usually starts around 10:30.  Family members are invited to see behind the scenes and learn about what students have been experiencing.  They then join the students for the closing ceremonies and the final keynote speaker.  

The family program is open to all and completely free of charge.  We highly encourage folks to take part so they know how to best support their young leaders in putting the things they have learned into action once they get home. 

MYLead is fully run by volunteers that are committed to the mission and values MYLead upholds. We are always looking for volunteers. If you or your family members are interested in learning more about the volunteer opportunities with MYLead, please visit our Volunteer page.

MYLead Community has a student-led board that plans social and philanthropic gatherings for MYLead alum throughout the year.  Past events have featured picnics, sport-outings, scavenger hunts, park clean-up efforts, formal galas, movie/game nights, college prep Q&As, etc.  You are welcome to attend any event, or volunteer for the community board to help plan them for others. 

Many folks choose to come back as weekend volunteers for the Summit and Conferences to provide the MYLead experience for future young leaders that attend.

The planning team takes it a step further and actually organizes weekend volunteers and puts together all the details for the big events – Conferences and Summit – from start to finish.    

The corporate board provides more senior folks an opportunity to engage their expertise in a given field.  They set the longer-term vision and strategic direction for the organization.