38th Annual Conference

Dates: October 26-28, 2022
Location: Cleveland, Ohio

Partnership: Better Together

CSIET and over 110 participants the International Exchange Student Community finally came back together in person to gather, connect, learn and strengthen their programs. 

With the previous pandemic years challenging the international student community forcing us all to navigate through a changing landscape and to be flexible and patient while we waited for the pandemic to subside and nations to open up boarders, we are now starting to move forward, steadily recover, and continue to see more students excited to begin their program journey. We are grateful for our member programs, the ECA’s Deputy Assistant Secretary Nicole Elkon an other government representatives, as well as many International Recruitment Agencies and vendors that support our programs who travelled from near and far to reconnect with one another, discuss importance of International Student Exchange, and learn from valuable sessions. We particularly appreciate the sessions speakers who took the time to enrich our community with their knowledge and share their practices with those in attendance. 

Keynote Speakers:

CSIET put together a special keynote address session, where attendees not only learned from one great speaker, but TWO great speakers. Like the conference’s theme, CSIET thought to learn from these experts would be Better Together. The issues these two speakers discussed re related; Mental Health has been an issue many teenagers have been facing and only recently has the public been realizing its importance. Not completely unrelated, we also have the issues of diversity, inclusion and belonging that our international students confront head on when they come to study in the United States. We know that an exchange experience is life changing and a student’s mental health and feeling of belonging are of the utmost importance to have their experience abroad be a success, which is why CSIET brought these two experienced and eloquent speakers to our 38th Annual Conference.

Working Together: Addressing Mental Health Needs in Teens

Dr. Bill Pfohl
Dr. Bill Pfohl was the 2020 recipient of the prestigious APA Division 16: Jack Bardon Distinguished Services Award due to his hard work and dedication as an inspirational change agent in the field of school psychology. Over the years, his leadership has impacted the lives of many individuals and groups and has resulted in a long –lasting positive chain reaction of best practices flowing through local, state, national, and international levels of influence. Over a 49-year career thus far, Dr. Pfohl has been a consultant, advocate, practitioner, trainer, and university professor in supporting the mental health needs of students across Kentucky and in promoting a best practice crisis response model in his leadership role with the National Emergency Assistance Team (NEAT). Dr. Pfohl has also served as president of the Kentucky Association for Psychology in the Schools (KAPS), National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), and the International School Psychology Association (ISPA). Dr. Pfohl has worked with CSIET member organizations in leading workshops to support the mental health needs of our international exchange students, and CSIET was honored to welcome him to its 38th Annual Conference.

Our Shared Humanity

Dr. Pascal Losambe
Dr. Pascal Losambe is the Co-Founder, Chief Content Officer and primary consultant for Synergy Consulting Company. Dr. Losambe has a Bachelor’s in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from Middlebury College and a Master’s of Science in Biology with a focus on Neurobiology from Boston College where he received the Donald J. White award for teaching excellence, a distinguished honor given annually to graduate instructors. Dr. Losambe has earned his Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Purdue University with a focus on cultural competence. He is the keynote presenter and curriculum developer for the United Front Initiative, a city and regional program with the goal of bringing unity and reconciliation to the region. Additionally, Dr. Losambe consults and presents to companies and other organizations on various topics related to diversity, equity and inclusion, educational leadership, and organizational culture. He has led strategic vision initiatives for various institutions and has conducted multiple workshops on cultural competence at national and international conferences. Dr. Losambe’s achievements include the Mosaic Award in 2018 and being invited onto the Purdue University Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Advisory Board, the Purdue University Fort Wayne College of Arts and Sciences Advisory Board, the Young Scholars Academy Board, and the Heart of Character Leadership Committee. He previously served on the Independent School Association of the Central States Equity and Justice Committee Board.

Partnership: Better Together

Conference Presentations  will be available online in our Member Center. To access the presentations, login to your CSIET Account. Click ‘Member Center’, then ‘Member Resources’, then ‘Conference Archive’.

We truly appreciate those who attended and supported this year’s conference. Because we want to make our sessions worth every minute of your time, if you have not already done so and were an attendee this year, please share your feedback with us by contacting anna@csiet.org.

A Special Thanks to the Conference Planning Committee:

• Luiz Marzullo, ICES
• Kari Owens, ICES
• Gina McBean-Linton, Our Lady of Good Counsel High School
• Dian Joy, Venture International Academy
• Sam Scott, Youth For Understanding USA
• Theresa Nelson, STS Foundation
• Jill Woerner, AFS-USA

Checking Out These Fun Conference Pictures:

Conference Agenda