Students interested in developing leadership skills have an opportunity to attend Binghamton University XCEL Center’s annual leadership conference Sunday.

This year’s conference, titled “Leadership & Change,” will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the Old University Union, and will not only be open to Binghamton University students, but also students from many other universities in the Central New York and northern Pennsylvania regions. Due to the growing demand for leadership services, college representatives from Scranton, Ithaca, Oneonta, Cortland, Rochester and many other cities in the region have been invited to attend.

The conference will be separated into three sections: Change Yourself, Change your Organization and Change the World. Subjects will focus on personal development, improving student organizations and creating social change, respectively.

“Leadership education is about educating people for life,” said Grace Fama, the coordinator for leadership development. “Leadership can happen anywhere in an organization, and anyone can make a change.”

She said this year’s conference will mark a change over past conferences.

“Previous training taught more how to run a meeting … and the nuts and bolts of things,” Fama said.

She explained that though past conferences focused on how college students can lead campus organizations, this conference will focus more on education, philosophies of leadership and leadership techniques in a broader sense.

Case studies will be an important element of the seminar. Students will form groups to solve hypothetical problems on a variety of subjects, including business and economics, arts and humanities or government and health care. Groups will then present their solutions in front of a panel of judges, with a chance to win prizes.

Joshua Fredenburg, a motivational speaker and author, will be the featured keynote speaker. Fredenburg is also a commentator for Gen Y Media and president of Vision XY.

According to his company’s Web site, Fredenburg emphasizes how anyone can have a clear vision and path to create a positive impact on the world. In the eight years since being chosen as an undergraduate commencement speaker in 2002, Fredenburg has shared his experiences and messages with over 1.7 million people.

Conference chair Erica Romero, a junior majoring in leadership and consulting, is the overseer of this year’s event. Since becoming involved with XCEL as a freshman, she has seen this annual conference become continuously more successful. Romero hopes to see over 300 students attend.

“This one-day conference is not only an opportunity to learn how to be a better leader, but how to inspire others to do the same,” Romero said.

A $10 registration fee is required and can be paid online at xcel.binghamton.edu. This fee will cover a continental breakfast and lunch, workshop sessions, leadership interest groups, a rigorous case study, a keynote address and an official certificate of leadership for completing the conference.

Students from all backgrounds and majors are invited to participate in the conference. Registration will be accepted at the door, but Romero encourages those interested to sign up early.