Over three decades, I have witnessed this gap firsthand where international schools valiantly attempt to implement domestic strategies or translate North American frameworks for communities that face not only the domestic challenges but also the complexity of multiple countries, cultures, norms, and communication styles, including, at times, students and families from opposing or actively conflicting nations learning alongside one another.

For fifteen of those years, I have worked directly with international schools to address this through individual consultation, including two successful Inclusive Leadership Executive Cohorts in Latin America, one Cohort in Asia, and more recently five Intercultural Competency and Belonging Institutes in Hong Kong, Korea, Panama, Spain, and Austria. Over time, schools began asking for something more sustained. A dedicated learning space they could return to.

International schools in North America had nothing comparable. The ICBL is my response to that ask.