ICBI40 - InBIA's 40th International Conference on Business Innovation

Call for Session Proposals

InBIA's 40th International Conference on Business Innovation
Chicago, Illinois
April 12-15, 2025

Call for Session Proposals - Due December 5, 2025

InBIA’s annual conference - the International Conference on Business Incubation (ICBI) - gathers entrepreneur support and ecosystem building practitioners from across the globe to learn from, share with, and connect to peers doing similar work. Tracks of concurrent sessions cover a breadth of topics related to running an entrepreneur support organization (ESO), building an ecosystem, and helping entrepreneurs succeed.

To ensure the content reflects topics of relevance and the most current trends in the field, InBIA builds the bulk of the program based on practitioner submissions of ideas for session topics and speakers. All sessions are selected and built to include diverse perspectives on a topic, so regardless of how you submit your proposal, you may be asked to work with others. 

If you have any questions about this process or ICBI in general, please contact Lindsay Schuenke at lschuenke@inbia.org. All proposals must be submitted by 5 p.m. EST on Friday, December 5, 2025.

Submit a Proposal

Submission Form Instructions

The following information will help you know what selections to make when submitting your proposal. Please read on to determine who you are submitting with, which track the content fits, what format you will use, and how you will tag your session to help attendees find it. You’ll also find information about the audience profile, selection criteria, proposal tips, and speaker eligibility and guidelines. 

How are you submitting this proposal? 

This question gives you the opportunity to communicate how fully formed your session group is at this stage. Note: even fully formed session groups may be asked to work with others, depending on proposals received. Here are the options in the form: 

• Group submission: This fully formed session proposal includes a moderator and two to three other speakers representing different organizations and ideas to address the topic from diverse perspectives. One of you will be the primary submitter and then you can list the co-presenters in the submission form. 

• Individual idea submission: If you have a topic idea as well as information and strategies you would like to share related to it, submit the idea and the InBIA staff and content committee will work to connect you with other people who have appropriate expertise. 

• Individual areas of expertise submission: If you have expertise, tools, or strategies to share related to a topic, let us know and we can look to pair you up with someone who submitted a more specific idea. 

• Other: We are always open to more “outside the box” ideas also - if you have a format you would like to suggest, please describe it and who you would like to involve.

Session track: 

There are three broad tracks into which we group sessions. Please select the one into which the content you are submitting best fits. If you think multiple categories would be appropriate, select unsure.  

• Effective Operations and Programs - This track will cover the nuts and bolts of running an entrepreneur support organization (ESO), from structuring and running effective programs to working with stakeholders to managing a facility to measuring impact and more. Sessions in this track should be appropriate for people in any staff position at an ESO looking for new ideas and ways to improve. Potential topics include (but are not limited to):

  • Tracking and reporting metrics
  • Marketing
  • Effective technology solutions
  • Policies and procedures
  • Board relations
  • Scaling an ESO
  • Pipeline development/client recruitment
  • Understanding government policy and how to advocate for innovation
  • Creating a sense of community among entrepreneurs
  • Encouraging a diverse and inclusive culture
  • Serving traditionally under-resourced communities
  • Creating mentor networks
  • Effective programs and services for entrepreneurs
  • Establishing and leveraging corporate partnerships
  • Creating an internal culture to foster innovation and connection
  • Serving second-stage companies
  • Virtual Programming
  • Helping companies pivot/be resilient
  • Assisting with soft landings into foreign markets
  • Staff development
• Funding for ESOs and Startups - Securing funding is a pain point many InBIA members report, both related to achieving financial sustainability for their programs and to helping startups have the resources they need to succeed. This track will cover all the topics related to funding, from identifying grants to diversifying revenue streams, to helping client companies navigate the process of securing investments, to understanding government funding opportunities and more. Potential topics include (but are not limited to):
  • Non-dilutive funding
  • Structuring grants for ESO sustainability
  • Leveraging philanthropy
  • Engaging with corporations
  • Structuring equity agreements
  • Creative revenue streams
  • Pricing space and services/effective business models
  • Alternative/creative capital sources for startups, particularly for historically underserved
    communities
  • Pitch coaching
  • Helping entrepreneurs angel funding
  • Market analysis and preparing companies to make sales
  • Establishing an affiliate fund
  • Government funding opportunities for ESOs and their startups
  • Effective strategies in leveraging the State Small Business Credit Initiative
    (SSBCI)
  • Public/private partnerships
• Building Healthy Ecosystems - Establishing and growing a thriving entrepreneurship ecosystem is widely recognized as an important aspect of creating regional prosperity through new job growth. These sessions will explore the elements and strategies for building successful entrepreneurship ecosystems in any community. Potential topics include (but are not limited to):
  • Creating partnerships between organizations
  • Establishing regional networks
  • Entrepreneurship ecosystem mapping
  • Strategies for engaging community stakeholders
  • Fostering a local culture that encourages entrepreneurship and innovation,
    starting with youth
  • The role of events in ecosystems
  • Innovation districts
  • Communicating program value to local governments to engage support
  • Organizing for collective action
  • Cultivating a culture of trust and collaboration
  • Creating connected networks between ecosystem builders
  • Encouraging diversity and inclusion within the ecosystem
  • Building an entrepreneurship ecosystem from scratch
  • Community building/placemaking in a world of remote work
  • Industry Spotlight on a specific sector, to include an ESO rep, an investor,
    corporate representative and an entrepreneur

Session Format
Most session blocks are 75 minutes long. Within that time, we encourage facilitators and moderators to make the content as interactive and engaging as possible. At a minimum, facilitators and moderators should save at least 15 minutes for discussion and engaging the audience through polls, questions, etc.

Different topics often lend themselves to different styles, so we have some options from which potential speakers/facilitators can choose. Be sure to select the format that best fits your content and personal style. In this proposal form, you will select one of the following options:

• Panel (moderator and two or three panelists) - Panel-style sessions should have a strong moderator and no more than three panelists, preferably from three different programs/perspectives. The moderator should be prepared to shape the content through specific questions to the panelists, and there should be plenty of opportunity for interaction from the audience.
• Presentation Series (two, sometimes three presenters) - As in panel sessions, presentation-style sessions should also feature multiple perspectives, but shared one after the other instead of as a conversation. Presenters will have tools, strategies, or resources to share within the same topic area. Each presentation should limit the background information to only what is necessary and include relevant takeaways, useful resources, and proven tools.
• Discussion (one or two facilitators) - Discussion-style sessions will focus on engaging the audience around a specific topic. One or two facilitators will set the stage for the conversation, then encourage sharing of thoughts, experiences, resources and ideas.
• Other - We’re always looking for new and innovative ways to deliver content - if you have ideas or experience with a different approach you think would work well, please propose it!

Resources to Share
In planning content for an audience of practitioners, InBIA is looking to make it as easy as possible for people to adapt and apply the strategies and ideas they are gathering. As a result, we give priority to the proposals that include tangible tools and resources for people to take away with them. We provide these resources as attachments in the app and they can include research studies, report examples, templates, worksheets, user guides, useful platforms or website, and anything else to make the content easier to apply immediately.

Experience Level
The form will ask you for what experience level will the content be most appropriate. The options are as follows: 

• Beginner - content aimed at people who are in the development phase with an ESO and/or are new to the field. Sessions in this track will offer more explanations of acronyms and common approaches to entrepreneur support.
• Intermediate - content in this category will be appropriate for most people who are in the field of entrepreneur support. They will assume basic understanding of common acronyms and familiarity with methods for and approaches to supporting entrepreneurs and building healthy ecosystems.
• Advanced - content in this category will be designed for people who have been in the field for at least five years and who hold leadership positions within their ESOs and/or their ecosystems. The topics will explore deeper challenges, next-level strategy for ESOs, field-level future thinking, and more.

Appropriateness for an International Audience
Each year, around 15% of the ICBI attendees come from countries outside the United States, so we strive to have content that can be internationally applicable. Please assess if the strategies and ideas you plan to share would be relevant to people who do not live in the United States. Sessions on specific government funding or cultural approaches likely would not fit as internationally appropriate.

Speaker Guidelines
You do not have to be an InBIA member to submit a proposal. However, be sure to read the selection criteria and track information to ensure your proposed session will be a good fit for this audience. If you have questions about appropriateness, please reach out to Lindsay Schuenke at lschuenke@inbia.org. 

Additional information and guidelines: 

• Selling Products or Services - If you have a product or service to sell, please do not advertise during your session presentation. Conference sessions are meant to provide useful information for attendees, who will be dissatisfied if they sense a presenter is providing promotional material for his or her own benefit. There are many other opportunities at the conference for advertising products and services - if you would like to learn more, contact Lindsay Schuenke at lschuenke@inbia.org.
• Materials Requirements and Deadlines - If your proposal is accepted, InBIA will require you to provide an electronic copy of your PowerPoint presentation (if you choose to use one) and other handouts in advance of the conference so we can have them loaded in the online platform when the session begins. We will also make these materials available to attendees through our registrants-only app. The first set of speaker deliverables (biographies, session descriptions, speaker photos, etc.) will be due shortly after proposal acceptance. Files for all resources, handout materials and presentation slides are due by March 27, 2026. You will receive more details and instructions if your proposal is selected.
• Speaker Availability & Registration - These concurrent sessions will take place April 13 and 14, so speakers will need to be at the conference in Chicago at the times their sessions are scheduled. As soon as the program is confirmed, we will let you know what the time of your session is. Please Note: To ensure diverse, interactive concurrent sessions we include more than 75 practitioners in sharing their successful tools and strategies. Because of the costs associated with each participant, we are not able to offer free registrations to session speakers, but we do offer a discounted rate.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who Should Submit? 
Any entrepreneur support or ecosystem building professional who has tools, resources, strategies, and/or insights to share about effectively supporting entrepreneurship, innovation, and healthy ecosystems should submit a proposal. Speaking in a peer-led session is a great way to give back to the field, engage in thoughtful exchanges with colleagues, establish your thought leadership, and build your CV.

You do not have to be an InBIA member to submit a proposal, but in a situation with two otherwise equally qualified submissions, preference will always be given to the member.

What is the Session Structure?
All concurrent sessions are 75 minutes long and they happen simultaneously to at least two other sessions. Most are structured as panels with a moderator and two to four panelists, but we also encourage creativity in session format, especially when it facilitates increased interaction. At a minimum, we ask speakers to reserve at least 15-20 minutes at the end of the session for Q&A. 

Who Will Be In the Audience?

This year’s ICBI will bring in between 300 and 400 entrepreneur support and ecosystem building practitioners from all over the globe. Attendees are actively engaged in their local entrepreneurship ecosystems, and many run successful entrepreneur support organizations (ESOs) to help entrepreneurs build great businesses. Others are consultants, economic development practitioners, government representatives, people involved in entrepreneurship-centered philanthropy, university faculty, etc. - anyone who is doing work to support entrepreneurs.

Each year, several attendees come from outside the U.S., representing up to a dozen different countries. Attendees also come from every type of community - from urban centers to rural regions and developing nations. This attendee diversity enables a unique, collaborative learning environment for exploring new approaches and global trends in entrepreneurial ecosystems.

What are Tips for a Successful Proposal?
Attendees are looking for practical tools and techniques they can apply to their programs or regions, so we strongly encourage presenters and panelists to ensure the information they share can be replicated and easily applied to other programs. The content selection committee will judge proposals with this idea in mind. They will also be considering the following criteria:

• Tangible Tools, Strategies and Resources - To make conference content as useful as possible, priority will be given to sessions that will include concrete takeaway documents and resources.
• Relevance to Audience Need - We look for sessions that address topics of interest to a large group of attendees. We also consider the diversity of the companies with which our attendees work and strive to offer a variety of sessions to meet those needs.
• Quality of the Proposal Content - Because most of our audience members are industry practitioners (rather than academics), we select sessions that will provide actionable ideas and strategies. Successful proposals will provide industry-specific examples and include - but not focus solely on - case studies of multiple programs with proven track records.
• Contribution to the Overall Conference Content - The success of a proposal will depend on how the topic, format and specific content of a proposed session will fit into the proposed track and the overall scheme of the conference.
• Presenter Qualifications - We seek presenters who communicate effectively through lively, organized and well-prepared presentations or panels. In reviewing a proposal, we consider the presenter's previous training/speaking experience and experience within the field of entrepreneur support.
• Diverse and International Perspectives - Because of the international nature of the conference, the committee gives special consideration to proposals that include internationally relevant content. We will also build a diverse program in which each session includes presenters from different perspectives.