Honored to Deliver NESA Keynote

I was honored to deliver my second NESA keynote last week at the 2023 Near East South Asia Council of Overseas Schools Leadership Conference.

During my talk, I leveraged recent international school data to make the case to reframe traditional US-centered framings of diversity, which do not resonate outside of the US, to an intercultural competency framing to drive belonging in international schools.

You can hear the primary thesis in my most recent podcast below.

Many thanks to Search Associates for supporting the keynote and for their ongoing support of fostering inclusive learning environments for all students.

I am also deeply appreciative of Maddy Hewitt's leadership and commitment to prioritizing and sustaining this work in the NESA region.

NESA Keynote: From Good Intentions to Informed Practice

I am thrilled to deliver a keynote and workshops at the NESA 2023 Fall Leadership Conference in Bangkok, Thailand. My keynote will provide research-based and pragmatic strategies to frame belonging conversations and efforts in NESA schools.

International school leaders have largely evolved beyond making the business case for diversity and inclusion to now grappling with design and implementation of inclusive practices, policies, and strategy to foster belonging for all school constituents – students, faculty and staff, and parents.

Notwithstanding, the context for DEIB efforts has shifted in meaningful ways over the past three years ranging from navigation of a global pandemic; acknowledgment of inclusion issues in international schools; increases in mental health issues among students; ongoing challenges for students navigating technology and social media ; and a politicization of belonging efforts around the world. Moreover, we have also changed, so inclusion efforts resonate in different ways relative to three years ago.

I look forward forward to synthesizing global and regional trends; providing a framework to explore the ways in which personal and collective identity informs engagement and design of intercultural competency efforts; and providing NESA-region best practices, pitfalls, and strategies to design and implement effective DEIB efforts.

Looking forward to reconnecting with friends and colleagues, and engaging in meaningful professional development.