This summer over 300,000 pastors and leaders from all forms of professions congregated either in South Barrington, IL at the main-campus of Willow Creek Community Church or at one of the more than 675 telecast locations in 135 countries from all over the world to develop their leadership skills at the annual Global Leaders Summit conference.

The Hope Through Healing Hands booth at the Global Leadership Summit

Hosted by Bill Hybels, the senior pastor of Willow Creek Community Church, the conference’s objective was to teach the audience on executing important ideas, exploring and directing the power of emotional intelligence, identify virtues that accelerate teamwork, navigate cultural differences, and build cultures that value efficiencies.

The Summit’s impressive speaker list included: Melinda Gates, Alan Mulally, Bishop T.D. Jakes, Horst Schulze, Dr. Travis Bradberry, Erin Meyer, Wilfredo de Jesus, Patrick Lencioni, Chris McChesney, Danielle Strickland, Jossy Chacko, and John C. Maxwell. Each speaker brought their own unique leadership skills and experiences to their speaking sessions that inspired others to get involved in important work, to better develop their interpersonal skills, and leave a lasting legacy.

Speaker highlights included Melinda Gates, where she spoke about her work and passion with global maternal and child health and healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies. She discussed the investment that the Gates Foundation has made in this work, contributing  to child mortality rates being cut in half and maternal mortality rates falling by 43% since 1990. Melinda proved her example in leadership by saying, “All lives have equal value and we put our heart, mind, and money behind that every day.”


Hope Through Healing Hands was excited to play a key role in introducing Ms. Gates to Bill and Lynne Hybels at a faith-based event in Seattle earlier this summer.

At Willow Creek Community Church, more than 30 trade show exhibitors were showcased along with access to resource materials from the participating speakers. Hope Through Healing Hands was proud to be a sponsor of The Global Leadership Summit and engage with leaders from around the globe.

Melinda Gates speaking at the Global Leadership Summit

Towards the closing of the conference, John C. Maxwell charged the leadership group to “intentionally every day, add value to people.”  The Global Leadership Summit did not want attending leaders to simply show up for a 2-day event, but to be inspired, transformed, and discover practical leadership skills that can be applied each day to change people and communities for the better.