About          IFS          Research          Partner with Us           

The Impact Fellowships Summit (IFS) is the annual flagship convening where fellowship leaders and designers gather to learn, share, and co-create the future of fellowships.

At IFS, participants lead and engage in hands-on workshops, peer-led sessions, and collaborative dialogues that surface new ideas, strengthen program design, and spark lasting partnerships. The Summit is a space to:

• Learn from diverse voices across sectors and geographies.
• Share tools, strategies, and stories that drive fellowship impact.
• Connect with a growing network of changemakers committed to leadership development.

"The conversations with the IFS community created a natural space for connection, and the workshops were a powerful opportunity to exchange ideas and perspectives with others." - IFS Attendee, 2025

IFS 2026 Celebrating 10 Years!

This year's Impact Fellowships Summit marks a special milestone—celebrating the 10th anniversary of the IFS community coming together.  The event provides a dynamic platform for the fellowships community to reflect on a decade of growth and innovation, and to engage with emerging challenges and opportunities, with a strong emphasis on belonging and impact measurement.

The 2026 Impact Fellowship Summit will take place on April 27-30, 2026. Early bird registration will open by November 20th. 
 

Overview and Timeline of IFS

• 2025 – IFS was a three-day virtual and in-person convening centered on the theme, Navigating New Horizons. Fellowship programs with very different structures and scopes (i.e. global, regional, national, local networks) discussed strategies to common challenges of operating with limited and uncertain resources.
• 2023 – IFS was held as a hybrid event on the theme All About Alumni. The research conducted under the Fellowship Alumni Network Study (FANS) was presented.
• 2021 – The theme for this year's IFS was Beyond Fellowship Adaptation: Towards Sustained, Inclusive, and Systemic Impact and focused on the impacts of COVID-19.
• 2020 – IFS was held virtually on the topic Diverse and Equitable Leadership for a Changing World.
• 2019 – 86 organizations attended IFS on the theme Dynamic Leadership for a Changing World.
• 2018 – IREX took on the primary implementation role of IFS.
• 2016 – IFS was founded by Atlas Corps, ProInspire, and Public Allies to foster inclusive learning, who ran it for two years.

IREX looks forward to continuing to leverage its expertise to evolve the structure and content of the summit and push the boundaries of a traditional learning conference, while maintaining the original spirit of collaboration, flexibility, and learning.

Previous Agendas

2025  Navigating New Horizons in the Fellowships Space

2023  Sustaining Equitable Networks and Getting to Positive Change

2021 Beyond Fellowship Adaptation: Towards Sustained, Inclusive & Systemic Impact

2020 Diverse and Equitable Leadership for a Changing World

2019  Dynamic Leadership for a Changing World