RDL SPEAKER SERIES
SCHEDULE 2026
June–November 2026
3 Live Sessions w/ discussion | 60 Minutes Each
A year-long extension of the Global Respectful Disruption movement
June Speaker Series
June 17, 2026
12:00–1:00 PM ET | Speaker Series Session
1:00–1:30 PM ET | Post Session Learning Cohort Discussion (Separate Registration Required)
SESSION
Beyond Safe and Unsafe: Queerness, Power, and Truth in Global Education
Conversations about queerness in global education often stop at risk. This session does not.
Instead, it examines what global education gains when queerness is treated as knowledge rather than something to manage. Using Respectful Disruption Leadership, presenters explore how queer realities surface hard truths about power, mobility, belonging, and decision-making across borders.
This session centers clarity over comfort and responsibility over silence. It invites leaders to reflect on how integrity shows up when systems are designed for complexity rather than avoidance.
Session Goals
Participants will:
- Stop treating queerness as a liability and recognize it as a powerful source of global and cultural knowledge that exposes how systems really work.
- Name the power dynamics we avoid, examining how identity, borders, and belonging decide who gets to move freely, who must explain themselves, and who is rendered invisible.
- Engage in respectful disruption with integrity, grappling with what leadership demands when global education refuses simple answers or safe neutrality.
Dr. Neal J. McKinney (he/him/his) is a multifaceted educator, scholar, and practitioner with over 10 years of higher education expertise across education abroad, career development, and college-level equity, diversity, and inclusion. Dr. McKinney has become a thought leader in the study abroad field using critical theories (e.g., critical race theory, intersectionality, critical whiteness studies) to disrupt systems of inequity in international education that disproportionately impact the success of U.S. domestic and international students of historically marginalized backgrounds.
Dr. Carolina Castro Huercano (they/them/theirs) is a scholar, educator and advocate whose work sits at the intersection of queer pedagogy, international education, and social justice. They are the founder of the Pride Network for Education Abroad, an initiative dedicated to advancing safety, visibility, and belonging for LGBTQIA+ students and professionals in global education — work recognized as a finalist at the InnovateEA 2026 competition at the annual conference of The Forum on Education Abroad.
Dr. Christina “Chris” Thompson (she/her/hers) is an award-winning international educator, leadership strategist, and justice-centered advocate. She is the Founder and Managing Director of COMPEAR Global Education Network, and the Principal Consultant of Christina Thompson Global Strategies (CTGS), where she partners with institutions and organizations worldwide to redesign global learning systems through intercultural strategy, leadership development, and human-first organizational change. With two decades of global educational experience in higher education and international education, Dr. Chris has led global programs, access initiatives, and intercultural learning efforts across public and private institutions. Her work centers on aligning institutional vision with community impact through strategic planning, curriculum design, and transformational leadership practices.
She studied abroad in Germany at the University of Mannheim, an experience that continues to shape her commitment to equitable access, intercultural learning, and globally grounded leadership. She has taught and facilitated intercultural preparation and reflective learning courses across the United States and internationally, including programs connected to the United Kingdom, Spain, China, Cyprus, The Gambia, and New Orleans.
Previously, she served as Director of Partnership Development and Inclusive Programming at Barcelona SAE, where she pioneered the nationally recognized access centered TODOS strategy. A sought-after speaker and thought leader, Dr. Chris has presented at more than 50 national and international conferences and has served on working groups for NAFSA, The Forum on Education Abroad, and CANIE. She has held leadership roles within NAFSA’s Education Abroad Knowledge Community, including Chair-Elect and past Vice Chair of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Subcommittee, and is a longtime mentor and contributor to the field.
Her publications include contributions to The Changing Landscape of Education Abroad (CEA CAPA), Convergence of Litigation, Policy, and Standards (Forum on Education Abroad), practitioner guides published by the Institute of International Education and the AIFS Foundation, and multiple thought-leadership pieces on global learning, access, and ethical leadership.
Dr. Chris holds a Master’s degree in Liberal Studies with a concentration in Global Studies from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and completed her EdD in Organizational Leadership and Innovation at Marymount University. Her doctoral research, To Disrupt or Not Disrupt? Redefining Equitable International Education through Respectful Disruptive Leadership, examines how respectful, human-centered disruption can transform exclusionary global systems.
At her core, Dr. Chris is a builder of bold ideas and inclusive action-oriented communities, leading with empathy, disrupting with purpose, and centering shared humanity as the foundation of global learning.
Claudio Castaneda is Director of Programs & Content at DA Global Access Network and an Adjunct Professor of Art History and Humanities at Sacramento City College. His work focuses on access, global learning, and student success, with particular attention to how identity, context, power, and perception shape meaning, belonging, and participation in educational spaces. He brings to this work both a strong professional background in higher and international education and a lived understanding of the complexities of visibility, perception, and inclusion. Claudio holds a BA in Art History and Italian Studies from Sacramento State and an MA in Visual Arts and Curatorial Studies from NABA in Milan, and is currently pursuing a PhD through the CHEI Pathways program at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore.
earl lee, PhD (they/them) is a Clinical Assistant Professor and Assistant Dean of Inclusive Excellence at Arizona State University, holding a dual appointment across the Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation and the Shufeldt School of Medicine and Medical Engineering. They lead inclusive excellence strategy, co-curricular belonging frameworks, and institutional transformation efforts that have shaped the experiences of thousands of students across ASU’s health professions ecosystem. dr. lee also directs global engagement for the nursing college, bringing more than a decade of experience building international programs, partnerships, and pathways that expand how health professions education understands its reach and responsibility.
dr. lee’s scholarship examines how Black communities resist and reimagine their relationships with science, technology, and medicine. Drawing on Black futurity, radical imagination, and abolitionist thought, they treat speculative fiction, storytelling, and creative expression as both theory and method for disrupting dominant narratives and cultivating liberatory, transformative possibilities in STEM and health professions education. Their work centers on a fundamental question: what does it mean to reimagine who belongs in the health sciences, and what futures are they invited to build?
This research identity does not exist separately from their administrative practice. dr. lee designs inclusive learning environments, guides organizational transformation, and weaves speculative thinking and the arts into institutional change. They operate from the conviction that liberation is not a distant horizon but already underway, shaped by the stories communities tell and the futures they dare to create.
Lizzy Monroe (she/her) is the Founder and CEO of Rainbow Routes, a new nonprofit study away provider. Rainbow Routes reimagines study abroad as a tool for empowerment, creating identity-affirming experiences that connect students across LGBTQ+ cultures and generations, with programs grounded in queer history, place, and community. This summer, the organization will launch its first program: a faculty-led field study with the University of Northern Colorado tracing LGBTQ+ history across California.
dr. lee’s scholarship examines how Black communities resist and reimagine their relationships with science, technology, and medicine. Drawing on Black futurity, radical imagination, and abolitionist thought, they treat speculative fiction, storytelling, and creative expression as both theory and method for disrupting dominant narratives and cultivating liberatory, transformative possibilities in STEM and health professions education. Their work centers on a fundamental question: what does it mean to reimagine who belongs in the health sciences, and what futures are they invited to build?
This research identity does not exist separately from their administrative practice. dr. lee designs inclusive learning environments, guides organizational transformation, and weaves speculative thinking and the arts into institutional change. They operate from the conviction that liberation is not a distant horizon but already underway, shaped by the stories communities tell and the futures they dare to create.
GRDL Summer Pop-Up
Tuesday, August 4, 2026 (2:00 – 3:00 PM ET )
SESSION
A Community-Based Real-Time Engagement Sub-Series: To Hell with Good Intentions: How international education perpetuates performativity and complicity
The Quarterly RDL Check-Ins are a series of four GRDL Pop-Up sessions held throughout the academic year to create space for timely, community-centered dialogue on emerging issues in global education.
These sessions are designed to:
- Respond to what is happening in real time
- Engage the community in honest, reflective conversation
- Extend the impact of the Summit and Speaker Series across the year
Each session is grounded in the principles of Respectful Disruption Leadership (RDL) and prioritizes dialogue over debate, creating a space where participants can engage thoughtfully, share perspectives, and make meaning together.
This pop-up is inspired by Ivan Illich’s groundbreaking critique of international volunteering, this session examines a difficult but necessary question: What happens when our commitment to doing good becomes a shield against critical self-reflection?Across international education, philanthropy, nonprofit organizations, higher education, government agencies, social impact initiatives, and the private sector, individuals and institutions often define themselves by their positive intentions. Yet good intentions alone do not guarantee equitable outcomes. In some cases, they can obscure the ways power, privilege, profit, prestige, and institutional interests shape our decisions and sustain systems of exclusion.This conversation challenges participants to move beyond simplistic narratives of “good organizations” and “bad organizations.” Nonprofits can perpetuate inequities. Universities can reinforce privilege. Corporations can drive meaningful social change. Community organizations can unintentionally exclude. No sector holds a monopoly on justice, and no sector is immune from complicity. Together, we will examine the performative dimensions of concepts such as global citizenship, social impact, diversity and inclusion, community engagement, and ethical leadership. We will explore how institutions and individuals across sectors can become more accountable for the consequences of their actions rather than relying on the comfort of their intentions. Rather than asking whether we are good people or whether our organizations are doing good work, this session invites a deeper question: How do we remain accountable when our values, actions, and impacts do not always align? Participants will leave with practical tools for recognizing performativity, interrogating institutional narratives, and embracing a more honest approach to leadership, partnership, and global engagement.
Dr. Neal J. McKinney (he/him/his) is a multifaceted educator, scholar, and practitioner with over 10 years of higher education expertise across education abroad, career development, and college-level equity, diversity, and inclusion. Dr. McKinney has become a thought leader in the study abroad field using critical theories (e.g., critical race theory, intersectionality, critical whiteness studies) to disrupt systems of inequity in international education that disproportionately impact the success of U.S. domestic and international students of historically marginalized backgrounds.
GRDL Fall Pop-Up
Friday, September 18, 2026 (1:00 – 2:00 PM ET)
SESSION
A Community-Based Real-Time Engagement Sub-Series: How did we get here? Moving from little “a” advocacy to big “A” Activism within International Education
The Quarterly RDL Check-Ins are a series of four GRDL Pop-Up sessions held throughout the academic year to create space for timely, community-centered dialogue on emerging issues in global education.
These sessions are designed to:
- Respond to what is happening in real time
- Engage the community in honest, reflective conversation
- Extend the impact of the Summit and Speaker Series across the year
Each session is grounded in the principles of Respectful Disruption Leadership (RDL) and prioritizes dialogue over debate, creating a space where participants can engage thoughtfully, share perspectives, and make meaning together.
This pop-up will focus on the fact that most of us already advocate. We write the support letter, flag the policy problem, speak up in the staff meeting. That work matters, but it is often quiet, individual, and reactive. This session asks what changes when we move from advocacy to Activism: from isolated actions to organized, sustained, collective pressure for structural change.
This is a cross knowledge community session built for IE professionals including Education Abroad and International Student and Scholar Services. The challenges we face rarely stay in one lane. A visa policy shift hits ISSS first but reshapes EA program design soon after. Activism works the same way. It is strongest when it is shared.
It’s an open discussion about how we access scale, intention, risk, and follow-through. We will name the fears that keep people in the safer “advocacy” zone and talk honestly about institutional constraints. Then we will work through practical ways to organize: building coalitions across offices, moving from one-off responses to standing strategy, and using collective voice without putting individual jobs on the line.
You will leave with a clearer sense of where your own work sits on the advocacy-to-Activism spectrum and one concrete next step to move it forward.
Dr. Christina “Chris” Thompson (she/her/hers) is an award-winning international educator, leadership strategist, and justice-centered advocate. She is the Founder and Managing Director of COMPEAR Global Education Network, and the Principal Consultant of Christina Thompson Global Strategies (CTGS), where she partners with institutions and organizations worldwide to redesign global learning systems through intercultural strategy, leadership development, and human-first organizational change. With two decades of global educational experience in higher education and international education, Dr. Chris has led global programs, access initiatives, and intercultural learning efforts across public and private institutions. Her work centers on aligning institutional vision with community impact through strategic planning, curriculum design, and transformational leadership practices.
She studied abroad in Germany at the University of Mannheim, an experience that continues to shape her commitment to equitable access, intercultural learning, and globally grounded leadership. She has taught and facilitated intercultural preparation and reflective learning courses across the United States and internationally, including programs connected to the United Kingdom, Spain, China, Cyprus, The Gambia, and New Orleans.
Previously, she served as Director of Partnership Development and Inclusive Programming at Barcelona SAE, where she pioneered the nationally recognized access centered TODOS strategy. A sought-after speaker and thought leader, Dr. Chris has presented at more than 50 national and international conferences and has served on working groups for NAFSA, The Forum on Education Abroad, and CANIE. She has held leadership roles within NAFSA’s Education Abroad Knowledge Community, including Chair-Elect and past Vice Chair of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Subcommittee, and is a longtime mentor and contributor to the field.
Her publications include contributions to The Changing Landscape of Education Abroad (CEA CAPA), Convergence of Litigation, Policy, and Standards (Forum on Education Abroad), practitioner guides published by the Institute of International Education and the AIFS Foundation, and multiple thought-leadership pieces on global learning, access, and ethical leadership.
Dr. Chris holds a Master’s degree in Liberal Studies with a concentration in Global Studies from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and completed her EdD in Organizational Leadership and Innovation at Marymount University. Her doctoral research, To Disrupt or Not Disrupt? Redefining Equitable International Education through Respectful Disruptive Leadership, examines how respectful, human-centered disruption can transform exclusionary global systems.
At her core, Dr. Chris is a builder of bold ideas and inclusive action-oriented communities, leading with empathy, disrupting with purpose, and centering shared humanity as the foundation of global learning.
October Speaker Series 2026
October 8, 2026
6:00PM – 7:00 PM ET | Speaker Series Session
7:00–7:30 PM ET | Post Session Learning Cohort Discussion (Separate Registration Required)
SESSION
Rangaranga ki te Ao: A Different Way of Knowing the World Through Indigenous Internationalisation
Rangaranga ki te Ao speaks to the act of weaving and paddling outward into the world, inviting participants to question longstanding assumptions about internationalisation and global engagement. This session explores how Indigenous principles can serve as powerful tools for reimagining global education systems, encouraging attendees to consider what relational, values-led internationalisation might truly look like. Together, we will reflect on how the strands we choose to weave—and the ways we weave them—shape the kind of world we collectively create. The session offers both inspiration and practical pathways for engaging more ethically, intentionally, and courageously within the global ecosystem.
Session Goals:
- Challenge dominant assumptions in internationalisation through Indigenous perspectives that open new pathways for global engagement.
- Center storytelling, identity, and belonging as catalysts for relational understanding and ethical practice in global education.
- Offer practical, actionable pathways to weave values-led, reciprocal approaches into the global ecosystem.
November 2026 - GRDI Scholars Symposium
November 13, 2026
12:00PM - 2:00 PM ET | Speaker Series Session
2:00–3:30 PM ET | Post Session Learning Cohort Discussion (Separate Registration Required)
SESSION
GRDI Scholars Symposium
This series closing gathering brings the community together to reflect, celebrate, and look ahead. The GRDI Scholars Symposium celebrates emerging leaders who embody respectful disruption, bringing bold ideas and fresh perspectives to transform global education. GRDI Scholars are selected through a competitive process and engage in leadership development, mentorship, and, for some, funding for international or intercultural programs. The Mini Summit provides a platform for scholars to showcase their innovative ideas and voices, demonstrating why disruption matters and how transformation begins when the next generation of leaders is empowered.
Purpose:
- Celebrate insights and shared learning from the Speaker Series.
- Highlight GRDI scholars and their impactful ideas.
- Share reflections and future commitments.
- Formally close the 2026 Speaker Series cycle with a fundraising Block Party, honoring the ideas and disruptions raised throughout the series while creating space for connection, recognition, and collective imagination.
Kory M. Saunders (she,her,hers)I am an award winning people centered, results-driven Kultural Strategist who helps organizations turn strategy into impact and sustainable change. She designs and delivers inclusive, high-impact learning opportunities for U.S. and global audiences that strengthen culture, elevate engagement, and improve how people work together.
Kory is a proud graduate of Hampton University, an HBCU (Historically Black College or University), where she earned a B.S. in Marketing and a B.A. in Spanish and also earned an M.B.A from the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, and an M.A in International Business with an International Marketing concentration from la Universitat de Valencia, Spain.
Known for leading through complexity and change, she builds and strengthens partnerships with stakeholders at every level to guide internal and external engagement, align people and processes, and deliver data-informed solutions tied to business and mission-driven goals.
Kory has worked in both corporate and university settings. Kory is a sought after skilled presenter and workshop facilitator. She has presented at both in person and virtual conferences. Kory is the inaugural recipient of the Go Abroad Global Respectful Disruption Leadership Award sponsored Compear Global Education Network. Kory is the creator of Kultural Kurators, a platform to amplify and uplift BIPOC folxs who have had global experiences. She is currently working at AIFS Abroad.
Dr. Christina “Chris” Thompson (she/her/hers) is an award-winning international educator, leadership strategist, and justice-centered advocate. She is the Founder and Managing Director of COMPEAR Global Education Network, and the Principal Consultant of Christina Thompson Global Strategies (CTGS), where she partners with institutions and organizations worldwide to redesign global learning systems through intercultural strategy, leadership development, and human-first organizational change. With two decades of global educational experience in higher education and international education, Dr. Chris has led global programs, access initiatives, and intercultural learning efforts across public and private institutions. Her work centers on aligning institutional vision with community impact through strategic planning, curriculum design, and transformational leadership practices.
She studied abroad in Germany at the University of Mannheim, an experience that continues to shape her commitment to equitable access, intercultural learning, and globally grounded leadership. She has taught and facilitated intercultural preparation and reflective learning courses across the United States and internationally, including programs connected to the United Kingdom, Spain, China, Cyprus, The Gambia, and New Orleans.
Previously, she served as Director of Partnership Development and Inclusive Programming at Barcelona SAE, where she pioneered the nationally recognized access centered TODOS strategy. A sought-after speaker and thought leader, Dr. Chris has presented at more than 50 national and international conferences and has served on working groups for NAFSA, The Forum on Education Abroad, and CANIE. She has held leadership roles within NAFSA’s Education Abroad Knowledge Community, including Chair-Elect and past Vice Chair of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Subcommittee, and is a longtime mentor and contributor to the field.
Her publications include contributions to The Changing Landscape of Education Abroad (CEA CAPA), Convergence of Litigation, Policy, and Standards (Forum on Education Abroad), practitioner guides published by the Institute of International Education and the AIFS Foundation, and multiple thought-leadership pieces on global learning, access, and ethical leadership.
Dr. Chris holds a Master’s degree in Liberal Studies with a concentration in Global Studies from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and completed her EdD in Organizational Leadership and Innovation at Marymount University. Her doctoral research, To Disrupt or Not Disrupt? Redefining Equitable International Education through Respectful Disruptive Leadership, examines how respectful, human-centered disruption can transform exclusionary global systems.
At her core, Dr. Chris is a builder of bold ideas and inclusive action-oriented communities, leading with empathy, disrupting with purpose, and centering shared humanity as the foundation of global learning.
Registration Costs
ONLY 2026 GRDS SUMMIT ATTENDEES
ComplimentaryFULL ACCESS
Early Bird
Speaker Series + RDL Learning Cohort
Early Bird Plus
INDIVIDUAL ACCESS
GeneralREGISTRATION INFO
Complimentary
$95 Value
- Available exclusively to Global Respectful Disruption Summit attendees who register during the Summit period.
- This Founders Rate recognizes early supporters of the Respectful Disruption Leadership (RDL) Speaker Series and rewards early commitment to the growing RDL community.
- We will your promo code to you when registration opens for the RDL Speakers Series
Early Bird
$75
- Available to participants who register before the series begins on Jun 17, 2026 The rate is per session thereafter.
- After the series begins, sessions may be purchased individually.
General Registration
$95
- Registration remains open for the duration of the series and closes November 13, 2026 at 12:00 PM ET.
- Participants who register after the series begins will receive access to available recordings of earlier sessions (if available) and may join live RDL Learning Cohort discussions moving forward.
Speaker Series + Global RDL Leadership Learning Cohort
Early Registration: $125 and is open through Jun 17, 2026
Access Grants
A limited number of GRDI Access Grants are available to cover the cost of registration for the Global RDL Speaker Series.
Please note that these grants apply to the Speaker Series registration only and do not cover participation in the Global RDL Leadership Learning Cohort add-on.
This option includes:
- Full participation in the Global RDL Speaker Series
• 30-minute facilitated post-session discussions
• Deeper engagement with the global RDL learning community