Innovating for the Future of Education Abroad at Annual Conference 2025 in Toronto

3/25/2025

This year, more than ever, The Forum on Education Abroad’s Annual Conference, with in-person programming in Toronto, Canada, from March 19-21, told a story of challenge, response, and innovation. More than 1,200 participants gathered in Toronto to participate in more than 75 sessions across three conference days. From the pre-conference events to the Closing Celebration Luncheon, Annual Conference attendees leaned into the difficult discussions shaping our field, not just to acknowledge them, but to actively engage and innovate beyond them.

Toronto: Conflict Transformation in Real Time

Our time in Toronto was more than a gathering for the education abroad community—it was an experience that immersed attendees in the realities of difficult conversations, the power of community and collaboration, and the innovation required to move forward.

The H.O.T. Moments Pre-Conference Workshop equipped attendees with strategies to navigate charged discussions with clarity and confidence. Participants left the experience knowing how H.O.T. (heated, offensive, and/or tense) moments can be opportunities to foster growth for everyone involved and build awareness of civic habits and skills needed to navigate intercultural and transnational contexts.

The Welcome and Networking Event set the tone for these complex connections, offering an interactive experience that mirrors The Forum’s Beyond Polarization Residency itself—challenging participants with a networking activity to tackle some big questions, like “What is your why? and “What is your sphere of influence?” about our roles as international educators at this moment in time.

“All of us in this room are here today because we are committed to the work, to growing and learning from each other. Part of that learning comes from disagreeing, from dialogue, and openness to differing perspectives,” said Marissa Lombardi, Vice President and Chief Learning Officer at The Forum on Education Abroad. “As international educators, you all know this. It is more critical than ever in this climate to be able to model productive and generative engagement for our students and our teams.”

Facing Polarization Head-On

The General Session, Tensions & Conflicts in Global Learning: Responding to Affective Polarization at Home and Abroad, did not shy away from the complexities we face. The panel included moderator Dawn Michele Whitehead (American Association of Colleges & Universities), Vanessa Nichol-Peters (Marist College - Italy), Uttiyo Raychaudhuri (University of Denver), and Timothy Shaffer (University of Delaware). Panelists asked: How do we move forward responsibly? How do we engage meaningfully in a world that is increasingly divided? They also shared frameworks and strategies to deal with polarization both on home campuses and abroad.

“We desperately need opportunities to know there’s another way, there are possibilities other than retreat or this anger; affective polarization that doesn’t allow us to get under anything that’s on the outside,” said Shaffer. “If we get through it, it could be transformative.”

Ending on Innovation, Without Forgetting the Work

The Closing Celebration Luncheon allowed participants to honor the exemplary work of those creating change in the field. Dr. David Wick, Associate Professor; Program Chair, International Education Management, Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, was announced as the recipient of the Peter A. Wollitzer Advocacy Award. “This award is about advocacy, and advocacy and action are what we must do now,” said Wick.

The Forum also announced a new award, The Loren Ringer Award for On-Site International Educators, which recognizes on-site educators who go above and beyond in serving students, their institutions and organizations, and the education abroad community at large in service of The Forum’s mission. Loren Ringer received the award posthumously during the Celebration Toast at the 2024 Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) Conference in Athens, Greece, to honor his legacy.

In addition to celebrating the accomplishments of this year’s Forum award winners, the Closing Celebration Luncheon celebrated creativity and drive with our InnovateEA: Igniting Change in Education Abroad pitch competition, when the conversation shifted from challenge to possibility. Attendees witnessed firsthand how we, as a field, are thinking beyond our differences—how we are responding to global shifts, the evolving higher education landscape, and the urgency to adapt.

After hearing the five InnovateEA finalists’ pitches, Annual Conference participants voted in real time for the first-ever award winner: “Belonging and Wellbeing” presented by Meg Ramey, Ph.D., of WorldKind!

Thanks to InnovateEA sponsors AIFS Abroad and CEA CAPA, Ramey won $5,000 to bring her interactive and scenario-based training program to life. By using gamified instructional design methods, which have proven effective with Gen Z students in previous trainings, the training programs aim to create an engaging and supportive learning program that also incorporates returning students through our Student Ambassador program, which has shown promising results in previous trials.

AIFS Abroad’s Emily Merson, a mentor to this year’s InnovateEA finalists and emcee for the InnovateEA pitch competition with Nicole R. Stokes (Penn State Abington), said, “If we’re serious about change and innovation, we must be more proactive and make a greater commitment to innovators and entrepreneurs.” The Forum couldn’t agree more.

And one last opportunity to celebrate arose when Annual Conference attendee Madison McShane of Florida Atlantic University won a spot at the Beyond Polarization Residency in July during the Closing Celebration Luncheon. This giveaway further reinforced The Forum’s commitment to action-driven learning.

A Responsive Organization, A Future-Facing Field

“This year’s Annual Conference was a declaration that The Forum and our field are not passive observers of the challenges facing education abroad—we are active participants in shaping its future,” said Melissa Torres, President and CEO of The Forum on Education Abroad. “Through the conference, through these conversations, and through the innovation we champion, we are positioning the community for the next chapter. And in that next chapter, we will not just keep up. We will lead.”

Annual Conference 2026 will happen in Nashville, Tennessee, from March 11-13, with virtual programming to take place in the preceding weeks.

Read more about the virtual portion of Annual Conference 2025, which took place from February 26-27.

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