National Fellows
Conference
November 7-8, 2025
Washington DC Metro Area
Welcome to the TFI National Fellows Conference! We are excited for you to join with roughly 260 others from the TFI Fellows programs around the country. We pray that this will be a wonderful weekend for you to hear from our great speakers, to meet fellows in other programs, and to enjoy the Washington DC area. The TFI National Fellows Conference has been happening for 19 years!
Conference Schedule
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2025
​​
5:00pm Meet & Greet - Hilton Garden Inn, Tysons Corner
This is a casual, "come as you can" gathering for anyone that has arrived in town. There is no scheduled programming. It's just a time to meet some people informally. You're encouraged to come and greet old friends and to make some new ones.
FRIDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 7, 2025
​​​
8:00 – Check-in and Registration
8:45 – Welcome and Announcements
9:00 – Prayer and Worship
9:15 – Keynote: Go! Get After It At Work – Julie Silander
10:20 – Group Photo - Please put on your new TFI sweatshirt!
10:45 – Table Discussions
11:45 – Find the Fellow
12:00 – Lunch (Directors Lunch w/ TFI Board, McLean Room)
1:00 – Free Time
​​
FRIDAY AFTERNOON
You have free time to explore the city and see the sights. We encourage you to join up a Fellows programs and see the city together.
​
FRIDAY EVENING
​
5:00 – Meet and Greet
5:45 – Blessing and Dinner
7:00 – Welcome & Announcements
7:10 – Prayer & Worship
7:30 – Keynote: Go! Get After It In The World – Liz & Eric Ha
8:30 – Closing Announcements
SATURDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 8, 2025
​​​
9:00 – Welcome & Announcements
9:15 – Breakout Session 1 (8 concurrent options)
10:15 – Transition / Short Break
10:30 – Breakout Session 2 (same 8 options offered again)
11:30 – Team-Building Activity (everyone together)
12:00 – Prayer
12:10 – Lunch (Directors Lunch starts at 11:30a, McLean Room)
1:00 – Free Time
​​
SATURDAY AFTERNOON
You have free time to explore the city and see the sights. We encourage you to join up a Fellows programs and see the city together.
SATURDAY EVENING​
​
5:00 PM – Meet & Greet
5:45 PM – Blessing & Dinner
7:00 PM – Welcome & Announcements
7:10 PM – Prayer & Worship
7:30 PM – Keynote: Go! Get After It In The Church – Ryan Laughlin
8:30 PM – Charge to the Fellows Class of 2026 - David Frerichs
8:45 PM – Closing Announcements
​
Fellows and Guests: You are free Friday and Saturday afternoon. We encourage you to explore the city. To make the most of this time, find fellows from other programs and enjoy the sites together.
​
Directors and Fellows Program Staff: You are invited to lunch from 12-1 on Friday and from 1130-1 on Saturday, to meet with the TFI Board and to check in with each other. Lunch will be in the church. The room will be announced prior to the lunch.
​
​
Breakout Sessions: To give everyone the chance to attend more than one breakout sessions, there will be two sets of breakouts on Saturday. The same breakout sessions will be available both times. MANY thanks to the awesome folks that are leading these sessions for our Fellows. Program leaders, you are encouraged to attend these sessions as well!
​
​
Conference Speakers
Julie Silander is the Executive Director of the Charlotte Institute for Faith & Work. She is also the founder of Greener Trees, focused on strategic human resource planning, leadership development, and events to promote human flourishing. Two of Julie’s more notable endeavors were her contribution to Makoto Fujimura’s Culture Care project and a pilot program for young adults at the Center for Creative Leadership. She attended Furman University and holds an MS in Talent and Organization Development from Queen’s University. She and her family live in Charlotte, NC.
Liz Ha is the President of Five Talents, a micro-enterprise development organization that helps families living in extreme poverty save, invest, and develop small businesses. She has held leadership positions at several non-profit organizations, including Jill’s House, CRU, and the China Institute. She is passionate to mobilize the global church to respond to the harsh realities of extreme poverty in the most practical, impactful ways. She is a graduate of Northwestern University, an enthusiastic world traveler, and a lover of night markets and street food.
Eric Ha is the President and CEO of Medical Teams International. He has more than 20 years experience in human rights and international development work. Previously, he served as Chief Operating Officer at International Justice Mission. Before that, he practiced law at Sidley Austin LLP, a full-service global law firm. Eric holds a JD from the University of Chicago and a BA in Economics from the University of Texas at Austin. He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife, Liz, and their three children.
Ryan Laughlin is the Senior Pastor of McLean Presbyterian Church. He was born and raised in the suburbs of Washington, DC. Before receiving a call to vocational ministry, he started his career as an Army officer. After serving for a few years as the Assistant Pastor for Young Adults at McLean Presbyterian Church, he was called to be the Senior Pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church in St. Louis. Ryan is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and Covenant Theological Seminary. He also holds a PhD from Concordia Seminary. Ryan and Heather have three boys, Nathan, Luke, and Zachary.
Aliyah Price, a Memphis native, coordinates the events and training programs for TFI. After receiving her BS in Education from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 2017, she became a Knoxville Fellow!! As a Knoxville Fellow Alumna, she wanted to serve the organization that has poured into her so significantly as a Christ follower and young adult. She is a 2022 graduate of the University of Memphis with a Masters of Social Work and views work with Fellows as a way to connect her passions related to nonprofit work, community development, and serving Christ.
John Kyle is the Executive Director of TFI. Prior to joining TFI, he held leadership roles with several global companies, nonprofits and startups in North America and Europe. He has served as the director of the Capital Fellows program in the Washington DC area since 2013. He is the author of Around the Table: Exploring Vocation, Service, Community and Leadership. John has a PhD in organizational leadership from the University of Derby (UK), an MBA from Heriot Watt University (UK), and a BS degree from the University of Kentucky. He and his wife live in Loudoun County, Virginia. They have two children and two grandchildren.
David Frerichs is the Director of Young Adult Ministries and Fourth Fellows at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Bethesda, Maryland. He has undergraduate degrees in business and bioengineering and a master's in biotechnology from the University of Pennsylvania. He started his career with a medical device company and then a biotech startup. In 2008, David moved to Romania, where he continued to bring ideas from concept to reality, but this time in Christian ministry. In 2017, he returned to the US when he joined the Fourth Presbyterian staff. He and his wife Eric have five children and live in Bethesda.
About the Venue​
​
McLean Presbyterian Church, home of the Capital Fellows program, will be hosting the TFI National Fellows Conference this year. The main events, including all keynotes and scheduled meals, will be held in the Fellowship Hall. Breakout Sessions and Director Meetings will be held in other rooms in the church. A digital program guide will be provided when you arrive at the conference venue.
​
Thank you to Krissy Brown, Yujin Oh and the facilities team led by Cooper Thurston for making this site possible for the conference this year!
​
McLean Presbyterian Church
1020 Balls Hill Rd
McLean, VA 22101
TFI Alumni - Get Involved!
​
The TFI network of Fellows alumni grows every year. Including the class of 2025-26, there are more than 3,750 Fellows program alumni living, working, and serving around the world.
To stay connected with this community, please join the TFI Alumni Groups on social media. The TFI Alumni Group on LinkedIn is where we post job announcements, program announcements, and other topics of interest to the TFI community.
​
​
​
HOW YOU CAN SERVE: The best way for you to serve the TFI movement right now is to encourage your friends to apply to be fellows! Here's a simple 4-step plan that you can follow during the National Fellows Conference:
​
-
THINK about 3 people that should do a Fellows program - friends, siblings, cousins.
-
TEXT those 3 people with an encouragement to apply on thefellowsinitiative.org. Tell them why you're a fellow and why you think it will be good for them next year. Let them know about the November 15th and January 15th application deadlines.
-
PRAY for them.
-
CHECK-IN on them in a few days.
​
​
JOIN THE LINKEDIN ALUMNI GROUP - TFI has a great Alumni Group on LinkedIn. You can join by clicking here. We post program news, job opportunities, and other fun things here throughout the year.
​
​
About the Washington DC Area​
​
The conference will be held this year at McLean Presbyterian Church, which is in McLean, Virginia, part of the Greater Washington DC Metro area. The DC Metro area is home to 6.3M residents and spans the regions of Northern Virginia, Central Maryland, and the District of Columbia. The McLean address extends from just inside the Washington Beltway to just outside the beltway in an area called Tyson's Corner. Among other employers in teh area, McLean is home of Capital One, Mars Corporation (think M&Ms!), and Hilton Corporation.
​
The two nearest Metro Stations are McLean and West Falls Church. Unfortunately, neither of these stations are a short walk from the church. McLean is on the Silver Line, but has no parking facilities. West Falls Church is on the Orange Line and does provide garage parking. Uber, Lift and taxis are common ways to get around this area. Once on the Silver or Orange Line, you have access to the entire Metro System through easy connections around the city. You can access the DC Metro System with a credit card or with your phone using the SmarTrip app.
​
Most people know the city of Washington because it is the nation's Capitol established by the Constitution as a "federal district". It is home to many federal government agencies, the seat of federal politics, and many nonprofits and think tanks. There are many amazing museums and green spaces here, such as the National Mall. We hope you take time to visit some of the sites while you are here! The Smithsonian Institution manages 18 individual museums and the National Zoo, all of which are free. There are more than 60 other museums and memorials in the city, although not all are free.
​
There are, at times, rallies and protests in our city. It is extremely rare for them to be in Virginia or Maryland. It is rare for protests to get out of hand. Protestors are required to have permits and are confined to specific areas of the city in order to minimize disruption to tourism and commerce. Even though protests in the city are normally uneventful, we recommend that National Fellows Conference attendees stay clear of any protests, small or large. The conference MCs will provide more detailed information about any planned events during your time in DC, including specific streets or neighborhoods to avoid.
​
Need help navigating? Members of the three local Fellows programs - Capital Fellows, The Fellows at the Falls Church Anglican, and Fourth Fellows - are here to help you navigate the city if you have questions. Feel free to ask them for directions, tips, and advice.
​
​
Sunday Worship​
​
If you are in town on Sunday after the conference (November 9th), the three TFI Fellows programs in the Washington DC area would love for you to join them for worship. There are multiple worship times available at each church. There is no specific dress code at any of these churches. "Smart casual" would definitely be OK at all of them. You will find people in jeans and others in suits and dresses.
​
​
The Falls Church Anglican (host of the Falls Church Fellows program)
6565 Arlington Blvd, Falls Church, VA 22042
Worship options: Traditional - 9:00a, Contemporary - 11:00a
​
Fourth Presbyterian Church (host of the Fourth Fellows program)
5500 River Road, Bethesda, MD 22180
Worship options: 8:00a, 11:00a
​
McLean Presbyterian Church (host of the Capital Fellows program)
1020 Balls Hill Road, McLean, Virginia 22101
Worship options: 9:00a, 10:45a
​
​
Other Information​
​
Dress Code
​
The dress code for the conference is smart casual. Jeans are fine, but please avoid sweat pants and athletic wear.
​
FRIDAY - Wear Your TFI Sweatshirt (Group Photo in the Morning)
SATURDAY - College Game Day! Rep Your School
​
​
Staying Present
​
You will want to have your smart phones for information shared during the conference, including song lyrics for the worship times. But, please limit your time on your phones otherwise. Stay present physically and mentally through all of the conference events.
​
​
Communications
​
Schedule changes and other news will be announced during the main sessions. Other communications will happen through your program leaders.
​
​
Accommodations
​
TFI has arranged for a block of rooms at the Hilton Garden Inn Hotel in Tysons Corner, but not all programs will be staying there. For details on your program's accommodation plan, please talk with your program leaders.
​​
​
​
​