NEXTGEN LEADERSHIP SYMPOSIUM 2026

St. Luke Community UMC's fourth annual NextGen Leadership Symposium will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Saturday, March 7, 2026, at Paul Quinn College in Dallas.

This year's theme is Climbing the Ladder: Cultivating Authenticity, Power, and Identity. We will focus on Redefining leadership during turbulent times.

Join us for an empowering keynote with Sheria D. Smith on turning your passion and skills into real-world impact through advocacy, service, and community action.

You’ll also be inspired while learning more about:

• creating social impact byleveraging their passion and skills through volunteering, advocacy, and community action
• authenticity and building relationships that equips you to create genuine, lasting personal and professional connections
• sharpening your personal brand in an interactive networking experience designed to bring together eperienced and emerging professionals

Other perks:

• FREE CHILDCARE on-site (9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.)
• lunch and refreshments
• raffles
• a resource fair

Seating is extremely limited. Please register by 5:00 p.m. Monday, March 2.

Enjoy this recap of our 2025 symposium!

Young adults have the power to shape communities, influence policy, and create lasting change — when they learn how to leverage their passions and skills with purpose.

In this inspiring keynote, Sheria D. Smith shares her journey of continual pivots — from educator to judicial clerk, corporate litigator, civil rights attorney, union president, and national spokesperson — demonstrating how courage, community, and calling can lead to meaningful impact. Currently serving as a civil rights attorney for the U.S. Department of Education, Sheria has spent her career protecting students’ rights, advocating for workers, and amplifying the importance of public service on national platforms including CNN, ABC, FOX, MSNBC, The Washington Post, and The New York Times.

As a former St. Luke Young Adult ministry leader and ADORA mentor, Sheria brings both professional insight and personal connection to this moment, encouraging the next generation to embrace life’s pivots and lead with authenticity, courage, and compassion.

Your passion is powerful. Your voice matters. Your impact begins now.

An interactive session on authenticity and relationship-building that equips you to create genuine, lasting personal and professional connections.

This interactive experience will help you:

✨ Discover what authenticity really means (and why it matters)

✨ Learn practical strategies to build trust and rapport quickly

✨ Strengthen communication skills for deeper, more impactful connections

✨ Create relationships rooted in honesty, respect, and purpose

Moderators: Renita Smith, ACC - Founder, Chief Authenticity Officer, and Executive/Leadership Coach & Tracy Williams . . . will walk participants through an authenticity exercise in building their own personal brand statements.

Build meaningful connections and sharpen your personal brand in this interactive networking experience designed to bring together past panelists, speakers, and emerging professionals.

This session features speed networking paired with a personal brand lab, where participants will practice sharing their personal brand statements and receive real-time feedback from peers and experienced professionals.

You’ll gain:

✨ Hands-on networking experience

✨ Feedback to strengthen your personal brand

✨ New professional connections

✨ Practical tools to confidently introduce yourself in any setting

Come ready to engage, exchange ideas, and expand your network — because relationships don’t just happen, they’re built.

Hear accomplished young adult leaders share how they navigate today’s challenges, lead with impact, and turn obstacles into opportunities. Get inspired, gain insights, and strengthen your own leadership journey.

Moderator: Angelou Johnson, XXX

Panelists:

• Carrington Whigham
• John Bowers, III -
• Brent English

Event Venue

Paul Quinn College, 3837 Simpson Stuart Road, Dallas, United States

Concerts, fests, parties, meetups - all the happenings, one place.

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