The Leadership Institute
Develop leadership skills and advance your impact as a student veteran.
Applications Open September 12-23, 2025
The Leadership Institute is for Future Changemakers
Become an SVA Leadership Fellow. This premier student leadership experience brings together our country’s top chapter leaders through an immersive experience designed to equip tomorrow’s leaders to serve and create a lasting community of impact.
Student Veterans of America Leadership Institute conference has no registration fee or cost to attend. All travel, lodging, and per diem expenses in connection with the conference shall be covered by SVA for those who have applied and are selected to attend.
The Leadership Institute event will take place October 15-19, 2025 in Washington D.C.
Unlock Your Leadership Potential at The Leadership Institute
Previous classes of the Student Veterans of America® (SVA) Leadership Institute represent a wide diversity of backgrounds and experiences. In general, SVA is looking for the following three core strengths in each attendee:
- Growth Mindset: You’re a dedicated life-long learner who recognizes the need to sharpen skills not only in leadership but all aspects of life.
- Humility: You’re receptive to discussing and adopting new concepts and leadership philosophies, even when they may challenge your own.
- Collaborative: You believe strongly in working as a member of a team and adopting a mentality that is conducive to collaboration and sharing of responsibility.
The Leadership Institute is open to all chapter leaders currently enrolled or those who have recently graduated. If selected* Student Veterans of America will fly you to Washington, D.C. to attend this immersive leadership experience to develop your core values and hone leadership skills. The application process is competitive; you will leave this experience with the tools needed to better serve others, a lasting network to support you, and an expectation to grow your impact on your campus, in your community, and for your country.
Connect to Your Inner Leader
TRAINING
Our Leadership Institute curriculum is designed to better equip you to serve and create a lasting community of impact.
ENGAGEMENT
Attend virtual discussions and team building activities with your mentors and leaders in business, nonprofit, and advocacy.
MENTORSHIP
You will be coached directly by SVA Alumni mentors in groups of 10 on leadership behavior, personal branding, fostering relationships, and driving impact.
ADVOCACY
SVA’s National Headquarters Staff will coach attendees on the latest developments in national policy and advocacy for student veterans, supporters, and allies.
The end result is the development of your personal leadership ethos...
Must create a MySVA account and apply within the portal.
Build Your Leadership Ethos and Vision for Impact
What You Will Learn
CORE VALUES
Understand your most impactful core values and learn how core values directly support and reinforce your leadership ethos.
IMPLEMENTATION
Develop a strategic action plan to see your vision come to fruition.
PURPOSE
Create a defined personal leadership vision to directly support the “why” behind that ethos.
COMMUNITY
Join an established support and follow-up network with your fellow chapter leaders, facilitators, and mentors.
1. Login to MySVA Portal
The Leadership Institute applications are available only through the MySVA portal. Login or create an account.
2. Record a Video
Share what motivates your service to others, and what makes you a good fit for the Leadership Institute in a 1-2 minute video —see below for additional details. Make sure your video submission is complete as it is a part of the application process. Please follow these instructions for your Leadership Institute application video submission.
A minimum of a 60-second video is required with all applications. Submissions should demonstrate your potential to both contribute to the experience, as well as benefit from it. Video submissions do not need to be professionally produced, but they should be professional in nature, and speak to your personal narrative. Watch example 1 and example 2. Please include the hashtag #SVALeads
3. Complete the Application
Take a few moments to detail your background, educational goals, leadership interests, and link your video. The deadline to submit your application and video is 11:59 PM (ET) on Thursday, September 18, 2025.
Must be available October 15-19, 2025.
If your video is not ready when you submit your application, you can ‘edit’ your application and add the video URL until the deadline. Note, this is the only field within the application that can be changed after submission.
4. Selection Process
Final acceptance decisions will be made by an SVA committee, and all applicants will be notified.
*Student Veterans of America Leadership Institute conference has no registration fee or cost to attend. All travel, lodging, and per diem expenses in connection with the conference shall be covered by SVA for those who have applied and are selected to attend.