The Monarchs Leadership Conference is taking place Friday, February 13th, 2026 from 10:30am-3pm, in the Webb Student Center and Online! This conference provides opportunities to highlight students' experiences gained in hands-on leadership practice at Old Dominion University. Sessions highlight knowledge and experience gained from leadership programs, mentorship, internships, project management, research, advocacy, and activism for community change.
The conference offers sessions facilitated by community members, alumni, faculty, and staff who are also joined by student leaders. Federal Work Study students can receive compensation for each session they attend, and all students can earn raffle tickets to win free prizes, including Monarch Plus! Raffle will be drawn at the end of the day (2:55 pm).
The sessions offered are as follows:
|
Time |
Sessions |
Presenters |
Location |
Individual Session Registration Link |
|
10:30am-11:00am |
Breakfast, Registration & Opening with Vice President for SCL |
Dr. Brandi Hephner LaBanc |
Hampton/Newport News Room in Webb Center and Zoom |
|
|
11:00am |
Building Your Personal Brand on LinkedIn! |
Michelle Carpenter, Nia Newton, Amie Burdette (Strome College of Business) |
Online, Zoom |
|
|
Start With Duty: Leadership and Career Excellence Through the Eyes of a Cyber Officer |
Mateo Portelli (Cybersecurity) |
Executive Dining Room and Zoom |
||
|
Using Marketing to be a Leader in Accessibility |
Kcatt Christian, Emily Harmon (Perry Honors College) |
York & Potomac River Room and Zoom
|
||
|
12:00pm |
Lunch and Networking |
|
Hampton/Newport News Room in Webb Center |
|
|
1:00pm |
Student Entrepreneurship in the Age of AI: Communication, Networking, and Building Your Own Path |
Lajuane Lindo Jr., Emily Harmon (Perry Honors College) |
James & Lynnhaven River Room
|
|
|
Leading Out Loud - Building Authentic Leadership Together |
Drew Ferebee (Center for Career & Leadership Development), Celeste Kelly |
Executive Dining Room |
||
|
Campus to Career: Advancing Women's Leadership Through Collaboration and Inclusion |
Ozioko Onyinye Mary, Charlies Mathies (Department of Educational Leadership & Workforce Development) |
York & Potomac River Room |
||
|
2:00pm |
Cultivating a Disability Affirming Environment |
Adam Mandell, Kat Creveling (Department of Human Movement Studies & Special Education) |
James & Lynnhaven River Room & Zoom
|
|
|
Lead With What You've Learned: Turning Coursework and Internships Into a Leadership Statement |
Alison Lietzenmayer (Department of Communication & Theatre Arts) |
Online |
||
|
The ABCs of Work-Life Balance |
Katherine Sasu-Twumasi, Ti'Mani Hargrave (Center for Career & Leadership Development) |
Executive Dining Room
|
||
|
Stone Ethical Leadership Challenge* |
Dr. Timothy Reed (Omicron Delta Kappa) |
York & Potomac River Room |
Please make sure that you register for each session that you are interested in attending per time block. Altogether, you could attend 4 sessions throughout the day.
Light breakfast items are provided at the 10:30am session. The menu is as follows:
Lunch is provided at the 12:00pm session.
Please make sure you RSVP for those sessions so that food numbers can be accurate!