🏆 Exciting News! WorldKind Win! 🎉
We’re thrilled to share that WorldKind won The Forum on Education Abroad’s inaugural InnovateEA pitch competition.
1000+ education abroad professionals gathered in Toronto, Canada last week for our field’s annual conference, and Kathleen Burt, Ph.D. and I were incredibly honored and humbled to receive the vote of confidence of our colleagues who cast their ballots for the most innovative idea at the closing ceremony.
Taking home the literal big check with seed funding for our “Belonging and Wellbeing” module is a huge boost in making our next WorldKind dream a reality! And just in case you missed learning about our BIG IDEA, take 2 minutes and watch the original pitch video that we submitted to the Forum.
The Innovators
But let’s find a way to make all the innovative ideas shared there a reality because we have many innovative colleagues with great ideas including:
⭐ Liam Kelly (CulturaGo)'s "Holistic & Access-Driven Assessment: Study Abroad Career Development ROI"
⭐ Takeo Suzuki, Ed.D. (The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga)'s "Innovating Mental Health Support Abroad: Using Manga as a Coping Mechanism"
⭐ Dan Waite, Lauren Meregalli Ferrer, and Lynell James (Rutgers University) and their "Global Learning Labs: An Emerging Model Addressing Grand Global Challenges"
⭐ Asia King and D'Kiya Bynum (University of Maryland-College Park)'s "Seeing Me: Self-Definition through Study Abroad"
As Emily Merson, one of the inaugural innovation mentors, said when introducing the competition, “If we’re serious about change and innovation, we must be more proactive and make a greater commitment to innovators and entrepreneurs.” (Thanks to The PIE for capturing that great quote).
So, I’d like to say a HUGE thank you to AIFS and CEA CAPA Education Abroad for doing just that in partnering with the Forum and sponsoring this first competition and the seed funding. THANK YOU!
InnovateEA Mentors
One of the greatest parts of the inaugural competition were the great mentors. In addition to Emily Merson mentioned above, they were:
Kelly Holland, AIFS—Kelly was my very first mentor in this field! I continue to be incredibly grateful to whomever first paired us up back in 2018 as part of NAFSA Region VIII’s mentor program. Her friendship and wisdom over the years have been a bedrock and a touchstone for me, and I’m just one of the many “newbies” she's mentored in our field. Thank you!
Kyle Rausch, U. of Illinois-Chicago—Kyle helped make participation in this competition possible for small startups like WorldKind. I will always be grateful for his advocacy and support, not only for this program but for his volunteer leadership in so many ways across our field. You are a true champion!
Christina “Chris” Thompson, Compear—When you’re a startup, unanswered emails, “ghosting,” and “NOs” are the norm, so when an innovative CEO/Founder who is doing the work and pushing the boundaries in your field is willing to take your call . . . well, it’s a really big deal, and I know I’m not the only call Chris has answered. She's inspired and freely invested in so many, and I look forward to finding ways to support her and the great work that Compear is doing.
Martha Johnson, CEA CAPA—My wonderful InnovateEA mentor! I'm incredibly grateful for all her time and advice in reviewing our pitch presentation and for continually pushing me to make it better and clearer. I love that the Forum intentionally paired us with colleagues we didn’t previously know because I feel like one of the biggest “wins” of this competition is walking away with her friendship and support.
Thank you, Forum!
Finally, thank you to Melissa Torres, President of the Forum, and to Nicole R. Stokes, (PACIE Global proud!), for doing such a great job hosting, and a huge shout-out to Elizabeth Frolich for everything that she did behind the scenes in overseeing it from start to finish. The Forum really pulled off an amazing program, and I look forward to finding ways to partner with all of you as we move forward in better supporting our field together.
Thank you, WorldKind Advisors and Partners!
P.S. Thanks to Kelly M. Holland and Emily O'Callaghan 👾 (IEAA-SF) for capturing some of these great photos!
