Triennial International Conferences
Connecting Local Communities and Service Initiatives Through Global Networking
Introduction
The Let Us Dream (LUD) Triennial International Conference takes place once every three years. It brings together LUD chapters and partners from around the world for sharing, learning from, and celebrating the diversity of people’s selfless acts of care, compassion, and concern for community.
Let Us Dream began with a simple yet powerful idea: those who dream for others can create lasting change. In Monroe, Louisiana, everyday stories of hope reignited Fr. Lijo Thomas’s vision during a tough phase with the DREAMS project. This led to the first Let Us Dream Conference on October 21, 2017, at Louisiana Tech University with under 100 participants and 15 service organizations.
By 2019, the model expanded to Binghamton University (New York), Christ University (Bangalore), and Trivandrum (Kerala), connecting communities across continents. Amid the 2020 pandemic, Let Us Dream hosted its first and second virtual Triennial International Conferences with 130+ volunteers, 18,000+ registrations, and 40,000+ viewers, fostering global dialogue.
n 2022, local conferences in Chennai and Kottayam deepened grassroots impact. The 2023 Triennial Conference at Christ University marked a return to in-person gatherings, featuring global panels, student voices, NGO showcases, and the launch of LUDEx Talks— a platform for bold ideas and shared visions.
Empowering local communities for sustainable global impact and improvement.
The Let Us Dream Conference was established in 2017 for the purpose of providing a
forum for sharing experiences with successes and challenges in community improvement
organizations and efforts.
Broad conference goals are to:
- Improve networking and collaboration among all those interested in community improvement organizations and programs.
- Promote volunteerism and empower all those involved in community improvement organizations and initiatives, including employees, volunteers, post-secondary students, researchers, and practitioners.
- Create a professional learning organization dedicated to improving local communities and characterized by a culture of shared researcher and practitioner knowledge.
What To Expect At LUD Triennial International Conference
The LUD Triennial Conference is more than just an event, it's an experience of learning, sharing, and collaboration, for community empowerment. Whether you're a student, educator, social worker, researcher, or volunteer, here's what awaits you:
Panel Discussions & Focus Groups
- Engage in focused conversations on Education, Health, and Social Work, moderated by experts and practitioners.
- Meet and learn from people across all walks of life on issues of global concern.
Changemakers
- Celebrate real-life stories of extraordinary service and quiet leadership.
- Find out what great change makers have done for their communities at large.
Poster & Table Presentations
- Discover grassroots initiatives and research through interactive visual displays.
- Reach out to and uncover more of these presentations from the makers themselves.
Networking & Collaboration
- Connect with diverse community service projects, social entrepreneurs, NGOs, corporate social responsibility, educators, students from diverse colleges and volunteers to spark new ideas and partnerships.
- Come away with contacts and opportunities for building further social entrepreneurship, community development and outreach initiatives around the world and many more intangible assets
Stalls
- Present your projects, initiatives, and success stories to a diverse, socially- driven audience.
- Spark interest, attract volunteers, and share your mission through interactive displays. Gain exposure among 20,000+ students, NGOs, educators, researchers, and donors.
Opening & Closing Keynotes
- Be inspired by thought leaders from academia and community service.
- Listen to engaging stories and anecdotes connecting you with wider purposes of international resonance.
The best part? The Conference is open to all without any cost.
Why? Because community empowerment should have no barriers.
Conference Roadmap
Visual Timeline of our journey from Louisiana to India, uniting changemakers worldwide
Louisiana Beginnings
Let Us Dream community conference initiated at Louisiana Tech University, USA, inspired by community changemakers in Monroe. A small but powerful gathering of under 100 participants and 15 organizations. different universities in Louisiana are hosting the conference each year.
USAGlobal Expansion
The model expanded to New York, Bangalore, and Trivandrum, connecting education, health, and social work sectors globally
3 CountriesVirtual Conference
The first Triennial International Conference went virtual—welcoming 20+ countries involved, 60+ partner organizations, 16 universities, 18,000+ registrants and 40,000+ viewers from around the world.
GlobalIndian Expansion
New chapters launched in and Hyderabad furthering local engagement and impact.
IndiaBangalore Conference
Second triennial conference held in-person at Christ University, Bangalore, with 50+ international panelists, 100+ transnational organizers, student voices, 600+ participants, 20+ universities and NGOs, and the launch of LUDEx Talks.
IndiaPune Chapter
New chapter launched in Pune.
IndiaPartners & Sponsors
Collaborating with visionary organizations to create global impact through local action
Why Partner With Us?
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Global Visibility
Showcase your brand to our international network of educators and changemakers
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Local Impact
Directly support community-driven initiatives with measurable outcomes
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Knowledge Exchange
Access to cutting-edge research and best practices in education and social innovation
Partnership Opportunities
1 Conference Sponsorship
Align your brand with our flagship events reaching 60,000+ participants
2 Program Collaboration
Co-create initiatives with our global network of educators and students
3 Research Partnerships
Collaborate on action research projects with measurable community impact
Testimonials
Discover what our community members have to say about their experience
I've witnessed the program change lives in a way that I have never seen any program with similar goals could ever even imagine. Everyone should have a chance to see that they can do anything, and I will help in any way I can to make that happen.
Really innovative concept.. I was looking forward for such curated content and i got more than i was expecting. I am so far very thrilled with overall experience and improvement.
I was organizing my closet and came across my DREAMS tshirt. This reminded me of how much fun I had with your students and how your volunteer team made me feel extremely welcome. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of the DREAMS.
Connect With Us
Post 1st Main Road,
Bengaluru, Karnataka 560029.