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Honored to Return to Georgetown International Academy
I am honored to return to Georgetown International Academy in Guyana to continue our work in deepening belonging and fostering a culture of dignity and respect.
During this fourth visit, I facilitated focus groups with students, staff, and parents to follow up on key themes from our October sessions, ensuring that insights translate into meaningful action.
We also continued professional development with academic and operations staff, exploring unconscious bias and concrete interpersonal strategies to strengthen belonging among employees—while grounding ourselves in honoring and respecting Guyanese culture within an international school setting. Many thanks to the Belonging Committee for their feedback and insights to inform the session design and case study that we processed.
Parents are an integral component of fostering belonging, so we were delighted that over 40 parents attended our session to learn more about intercultural competency in the context of an international school, and specific parent strategies to foster empathy and respect with their children.
I am grateful for the ongoing collaboration and looking forward to our continued work together. A special thanks to Shauna Hobbs-Beckley, EdS for her leadership and partnership.
Looking forward to EduLead 2025
I can’t wait to return to Taipei American School later this spring!
Video: Dr. Gay and Rosalind Wiseman at International School of Panama
I am honored to have partnered with International School of Panama for over two years, deepening belonging and fostering a culture grounded in dignity and respect.
I am also grateful for the visionary leadership of head of school, Audrey C. Menard, Ed.D. and excited to collaborate with Rosalind Wiseman in this important work.
Thrilled to Announce an Upcoming AISH Summer Workshop!
I am excited to co-facilitate a dynamic workshop with the insightful Homa Sabet Tavangar, sponsored by AISH - Academy for International School Heads, designed to empower international school leaders to navigate complexity, lead with courage, and foster truly inclusive communities.
A heartfelt thanks to Sheena Nabholz and Jeff Paulson for their leadership and partnership in advancing this critical work and building capacity for leaders to create school cultures grounded in dignity and respect.
DEIB Executive Leadership Cohort # 3: Asia
Today marked our third session of the DEIB Executive Leadership Cohort #3, building on the momentum of an incredibly productive onsite in Bangkok a few weeks ago.
In this session, participants shared their IDI observations from their respective schools; explored practical applications of the Global Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion text; engaged with a case study designed to deepen strategies for supporting students with autism and other forms of neurodivergence; and evaluated practices and policies that foster belonging, including the use of inclusive people-first language.
A particularly instructive component of the session was learning from Dr. Ryan Persaud and Sapphira Beaudin, who modeled how they operationalized cohort learnings to facilitate an all-staff session at VERSO International School. Their work exemplified inclusive leadership-- the integration of belonging, intercultural competency, and the contextualized definition of diversity within their school community.
Grateful for the thoughtful contributions and energy of this group. I look forward to our continued efforts in January!
Blue Skies Leadership Podcast
International educators, I am excited to share my conversation with Daniel Mendes and Dan Kerr on the Blue Skies Leadership Podcast!
Recorded after my two-day consultation at Saigon South International School, this podcast dives into critical distinctions between diversity, inclusion, and belonging, reframing these concepts to embrace shared humanity while addressing dignity infractions such that all are able to thrive and flourish.
The episode also highlights the role of families in nurturing intercultural competency and offers practical strategies for fostering truly inclusive school environments.
Join us as we explore strategies to foster inclusive schools where everyone feels safe, valued, and respected.
You may access the podcast below, on Spotify, or on Apple Podcasts.
DEIB Executive Leadership Cohort #2: Latin America
We had another instructive session today with our LATAM educational leaders from international schools building capacity to foster more inclusive schools, grounded in dignity and respect.
Many international efforts to foster inclusive organizations fail because they use language, framings, and models from the United States, in ways that don't resonate locally and ultimately further exacerbate tensions in international communities.
Today, we began our discussion and application of Rohini Anand PhD's instructive text, "Leading Global Diversity Equity and Inclusion," to apply the Transversal Approach as an analytical framework to ensure that international school belonging efforts are local, meaningful, relevant, and proximate.
Afterwards, we reviewed a case study, informed by participant problems of practices, to collectively brainstorm effective approaches, linguistic framings, and strategies-- to mitigate and navigate the inevitable design and implementation challenges.
Many thanks to all participants for their thoughtful contributions. I look forward to our onsite in Panama in just a few weeks!
DEIB Executive Leadership Cohort #3 Onsite at VERSO International School, Bangkok
I am deeply appreciative of the 31 international education leaders who participated last week in an intensive 2.5 days of capacity-building aimed at deepening belonging across 14 international schools throughout Asia.
Our cohort engaged in reflective, research-based exploration, with the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) as our theoretical anchor. This framework supported a deeper analysis of identity introspection and inclusive leadership, positioning belonging as essential, ongoing processes within strategic change management, rather than as isolated initiatives.
Participants also applied my Belonging Action Protocol, a structured approach I have developed to address complex challenges in cultivating belonging within school communities. This approach provided leaders with actionable skills to navigate the nuances of creating inclusive learning environments, grounded in dignity and respect.
It was an honor to facilitate this sustained learning opportunity, drawing from the shared wisdom, insights, and strategic perspectives of participants- representing teachers, counselors, division heads, heads of schools, and human resources leaders.
I look forward to our continued collaboration and remaining virtual sessions throughout the 2024-25 academic year, as we work to advance belonging and intercultural competency across educational institutions.
And a very special thanks to our host, Dr. Ryan Persaud, head of VERSO International School. The school is stunning, well-appointed, and facilitated our learning.
Belonging Consultation with Saigon South International School
Last week, I had the privilege of spending two inspiring days at Saigon South International School, working alongside students, staff, and parents to advance our shared commitment to Belonging.
I began by facilitating focus groups, listening to different perspectives across the community to understand how each group experiences belonging. These insights informed targeted strategy sessions with the Belonging Group and Senior Administration, where we assessed current structures, practices, and policies to guide efforts to cultivate a more inclusive environment grounded in dignity and respect.
I also facilitated workshops for parents and middle and upper school students where I provided research around the benefits of belonging, the negative impact of belonging uncertainty and harm, the critical role of belonging and intercultural competency for academic excellence, and specific challenges that international schools are currently navigating, particularly regarding identity-informed jokes based on a person's background.
The belonging framework goes beyond sugar-coating the challenges of these efforts. It actively engages the ENTIRE community in identifying and taking ownership of dignity infractions, not placing the onus on those who are most marginalized in our schools. Belonging provides multiple pathways for personal and institutional accountability while explicitly naming personal and collective benefits of creating an inclusive environment where everyone’s dignity is respected.
The experience culminated in an all-staff professional development session, which included:
Introducing foundational terms—belonging, intercultural competency, dignity, and respect.
Deepening empathy through reflective exercises on instances when we personally felt belonging or exclusion.
Sharing research from international schools in Asia, highlighting identity-related harm and challenges and the irony that many students in international schools lack the intercultural skills crucial for their academic and social success and struggle during the first years of university.
Presenting a framework that honors the host country’s unique history, culture, and values while fostering an environment where every individual feels valued, respected, and safe—especially those who are most harmed.
The highlights were many: engaging directly with students, hearing powerful storytelling in our staff session, celebrating the ongoing efforts of the Belonging Committee, and experiencing the eagerness of 120+ parents who attended and were committed to learning and supporting these efforts.
The personal warmth I experienced—from the community’s hospitality to a memorable home-cooked Indian meal shared by a Belonging Committee member—made this visit truly special.
Looking forward to continuing this partnership! Thank you, Dr. Catriona Moran, for your leadership and dedication.