The Keynotes

Presentations which opened each day of the conference, reflecting the conference theme.

Plenary Panels

Expert Panels are an effective way to consolidate knowledge and lead a conversation across sectors and areas of experience/expertise.

Samakee, All Together - Denise Granai, Randy Wallis and Justin West

The Early Bird Forums

Targeting specific audiences within the FIGT Community Early Bird Forums are a unique session type that encourages the building of professional networks. The longer 90-minute format allows for multiple presenters and plenty of discussion.

Maximize the Positive Power of Social Media BEFORE, DURING, and AFTER Your Move: How to use technology to keep connected and avoid the negative aspects throughout your global journey - Laura Anderson, Nicole Blyth, Amber Folkman and Sundae Schneider Bean

Meeting of the FIGT Counseling and Coaching Affiliate - Daniela Tomer and Shellee Burroughs

Research Forum: Dialog Between Researchers and Research Consumers - Sarah Gonzales

The Glocal Challenge: Using Your Global Skills in Your Local Community to Find Career Fulfillment - Laura Sheehan and Jody Conibear Tangredi

Counseling and Coaching Early Bird Forum on Emotional Support - Pascale Paradis, Sonia Jaeger and Vivian Chiona

Current Research on Expat Adjustment Abroad and Repatriating (FIGT Research Network) - Anastasia Lijadi, Lauren Power and Neta Barel

David C Pollock Scholars - Florence Chabert D'Hieres, Matilda Criel-Ewoldt, Mishell Hernandez, Saeko Mizuta, Jessica Sanfilippo-Schulz and Karen Tan

Hope and Heartache in Cross Cultural Schooling: An Interactive Session for Parents and Educators - Tanya Crossman and Debbie Kramlich

How to Help You and Your Business Thrive Financially Through Good Times and Bad - Lucy Greenwood, David Hodson, Jennifer Patterson, Edward Cole and David Sandison

The Concurrent Sessions

Concurrent Sessions are hour-long sessions focused on a single topic with one or several presenters, who will speak and then engage the audience in an active discussion of the topic.

Current Research on Asian TCKs and CCKs (FIGT Research Network) - Aiko Minematsu, Kyoung Mi Choi and Sookyoung Lee

Empathy Can Be a Double-Edged Sword: Focusing the Globally Mobile Community to Use Empathy to Heal Rather Than Divide - Christopher O'Shaughnessy

Growth of CCK Transition Programs at Universities - Megan Norton

How To Prevent Your Relationship From Being Put to the Test When Your Life Is in Transition - Sundae Schneider Bean

Lead the Way into Transitions by Working Together as a Family - Diana Rongen and Gerda van Loon

Prevention is Always Better Than Cure: How This Applies to International Family Law Issues - Lucy Greenwood and David Hodson

Create an Island: A Hands-On Workshop Using This Art-Based Tool for Working with Globally Mobile Children, Adults and Professionals - Shellee Burroughs

Early-life Transitions’ Influence on Social Connectedness, Spiritual Well-being, Emotional Stability, and Perfectionism of Cross-Cultural People - Esther Tan

Heart Connections: Mining TCKs' Potential as Global Leaders - Isabelle Min

HELP, I’m Living With an Addict in a Foreign Country! Where Do I Find Support? - Mark Burdick and Ian Young

How To Grow a Portable Business That Will Create the Impact You Want To Make! - Amel Derragui

Making Your ‘MOLA’ on the Move: The One Tool You Need to Navigate Your Globally Mobile Life - Mariam Ottimofiore

Surveying the Landscape: Common Practices, Challenges, and Opportunities in International School Transition Support - Ellen Mahoney

The Assumption of Privilege? Experiences of Growing Up in the Norwegian Foreign Service - Ragnhild Bjørnsen

Cultivating Stillness in a Fast Moving World - Jodi Harris

Decision Making and Global Relocation: It’s Not Simple but Is It Complicated or Complex – and How Does That Change What We Do? - Trisha Carter

Energy Leadership: How to Change the Way You Influence and Lead Those Around You - Alison Goldstein

EY & NetExpat Global Relocating Partner Survey Results - Jackie Tisapramotkul

Finding Their Wings: Coaching Facilitates TCK Metamorphosis - Peter Ransom

Research Forum: FIGT Research Network Annual Meeting - Ann Baker Cottrell, FIGT Research co-chair

The Benefits of Diversity on Staffing and Recruiting in International Schools: Implications for TCKs and Stakeholders - Jonathan Condo

The Mobile Life and the Child with Special Needs - Erin Long

A Critical Review of TCK Terminology in the Context of 'Thirdness' - Tabassim Ali and Anna Dillon

Insights into Navigating Global Mobility: What You Can Do - Darlene Fisher and Sue Richards

Measuring Change: Multiple Moves and How They Influence Cultural Adaptability - Laurie Shapiro

Self-Leadership in the Times of Change - Oxana Holtmann

The Universal Language of Music and its Role in Fostering Identity, Understanding and Connection - Melissa Indot

The Lightning Sessions

Lightning Sessions are engaging, informative, and based on a powerful question or idea. With 20 image-based slides, advancing automatically every 18 seconds to accompany, these short presentations, presented in rapid succession, are both fun and inspiring.

Falling in Love, Breaking Up, and Everything in Between: Our Relationships with Place - Tanya Crossman

Family Connections: Impact on Values, Identities, Traditions and Career Decisions for Dads - Ian Moody

Growing Up in Transit: The Politics of Belonging at an International School - Danau Tanu

Health, Leadership and Organizational Performance: The Expatriate Manager and the Relationship between Relocation Stress, Wellbeing and Performance - Katarina Holm-DiDio

Helping Our Global Kids to Thrive in a Changing World by Identifying Strengths and Building Resilience - Anisha Abraham

Survive or Thrive? How to Use Your Differences to Create A Happy Cross-Cultural Relationship - Kyoung Mi Choi and Christel van der Boom

Unlikely Connections - Jerry Jones and Cath Brew

The Kitchen Table Discussions

Kitchen Table Conversations are informal 45-minute small group discussions around a table, reminiscent of the original discussions around Ruth Van Reken’s kitchen table that led to the founding of FIGT. These are lively, interactive conversations around a focused, practical topic.

Bangkok 101: A Mother’s View vs Her High School Child’s View - Julia Simens

Finding Home: Change, Connect and Lead for a Successful Transition “Home” - Lindy Chapman

How to Support a Family That Moves Globally with Internationally Adopted Kids: Challenges and Resources - Eunice Ra

Reinvention Testing Room: How Being Abroad and Jobless Can Become an Enriching Opportunity to Rethink Our Personal Life or Career - Sara Coggiola

Self-Leadership for Expat Partners: Making The Most of Your Time Abroad - Margot Stroeken

The Empty Nest Expat: One Year of Traveling, International Relocation and Learning how Different Cultures Experience Joy - Sandra Bissell

Being an International and Understood - Veronique Vranken

Connecting To the Local Culture Through Language - Trisha Smith-Pierce

International Moves Impacting Young People with Developmental Disability: Opportunity for Growth or a Full Stop in Life? - Rubina Anis

Strategies to Support Families in Global Transition with Gender Expansive and LGBTQ Youth - Laura Anderson

The Expat Mother Raising TCKs - Jacqui Brelsford and Janelle Grier

Unleash the Secrets of Influential Leaders: Empathy and Giving as the Power of Living - Dana Bachar

Volunteering: How Do We Make a Meaningful Impact, Identify Opportunities and Manage Challenges? - Ginny Philps

What Expat Partners Can Learn from Digital Nomads - Katharina von Knobloch

When in Rome Do As the Romans Do? What Expatriates Need to Successfully Adjust, Who’s responsible For That and How To Best Support Them - Laura Brescia

Building the Bridges for Chinese Speaking Communities - Ai Jun Liu

Connection, Leadership and Change in Mission - Stephanie Schwarz

Doing Well While Doing Good: How to Drive Business Growth While Changing the World - Sarah Black

Expat vs Immigrant: Similar Challenges, Different Perspectives - Adrian Jefferson Chofor

How Can FIGT Best Serve Its Members? - Deborah Valentine

Setting Yourself Up For Success in Managing Emotions in High Mobility Families - Mishell Hernandez

The Importance of Highlighting International Adoptees and Blended Families in Global Transition and in Repatriation - Florence Chabert D'Hieres

Transition for Success - Stephen Toole

What TCK Metaphors Reveal About Underlying Perceptions of Mobility, Identity, Relationships, and Agency - Amy Jung

The Poster Sessions

Posters are designed to display ideas worth spreading. They were displayed during all three days, with time set aside for the presenter to be in attendance for questions and discussion.

ATCKs and Their Reactions to Daily Events - Matilda Criel-Ewoldt

Change & Connect - Moving Childhoods and Shifting Studies: Expanding the World of CCKs to the Literary World - Jessica Sanfilippo-Schulz

Current research on Expat Spouse Adjustment Over Time: A Multiple Case Study - Anne Lessle

From Adoptee to Expat to Raising TCKs: How to Find Your Identity and the Keys to Happiness with a Burger - Florence Chabert D'Hieres

South American Families with Kids in Transit: Connections Through Life Histories - Griselda Späth

The Pollock Scholars

The David C Pollock Scholarship Fund pays tribute to international educator, minister, sociologist, and co-author of Third Culture Kids: Growing up Among Worlds, David C. Pollock, whose tireless support, vision and dedication to families in global transition impacted countless people in every corner of the globe. Building on Pollock’s legacy, this Scholarship provides highly motivated individuals working or studying in the intercultural and transnational mobility field the opportunity to attend the FIGT conference.

* Florence Chabert D'Hieres * Matilda Criel-Ewoldt * Mishell Hernandez *  Saeko Mizuta * Jessica Sanfilippo-Schulz * Karen Tan *

The Sponsors

Our speakers, presenters, panel members provide us the content; the FIGT Board and Committee members work tirelessly behind the scenes in the year preceding the conference to make it happen. But, without the support and contribution of our Sponsors, the conference itself would not be possible. In 2019 we welcomed, and thank the following for their support.

* BAMBI (Bangkok Mothers and Babies International) * Crossborder Living * International Family Law Group LLP * Worldwide Speech * American Psychologist.nl * Expatriate Archive Centre * Solebury School * Expat Journals * Expat Nest * International Therapists Directory * Multilingual Parenting * Resilient Global Transitions * RNG International Educational Consultants * Sarah Whyte Consulting * Stanford Online High School * Sundae Bean *