IGNYTE 2026- Family Reunion: Our People, Our Power
IGNYTE 2026 marks a powerful new chapter as the first IGNYTE convening hosted by The Rustin Institute for Leadership Development. Rooted in the belief that movements are strongest when generations lead together, this year’s theme– Family Reunion: Our People, Our Power– celebrates LGBTQ+ community as chosen family and leadership as a shared responsibility.
Like any family reunion, IGNYTE 2026 brings together elders, youth, mentors, organizers, creatives, and advocates across lived experience and generations. It is a space to reconnect, to learn from one another, and to strengthen the relationships that sustain movements over time. By centering intergenerational dialogue and collective care, IGNYTE affirms that our greatest power lies in one another.
Participants will engage across multiple workshop tracks– including Forward Together, COLAGE, Georgia Youth Advocacy Fellowship (Rustin Fellows), National Youth Advocacy Corps, YOU(th) Belong, AllianceQ: Disciples of Christ, and The Alain Locke Initiative– designed to meet leaders where they are while fostering shared learning across age, identity, and experience. Together, these tracks reflect a leadership ecosystem that is expansive, interdependent, and deeply rooted in community.
Family Reunion: Our People, Our Power is both a celebration and a call to action—rooted in a shared spiritual and civic commitment to one another, honoring the legacies that shaped us while cultivating the leadership and relationships needed to move forward together.