Collegiate School Global Engagement

Collegiate embraces global competencies as necessary skills that encourage students to view the world as interconnected with an emphasis on the importance.

During this week-long conference hosted by Collegiate School in Richmond, Virginia, 40-plus high school students representing 11 schools from around the world, collaborate in small groups on projects that teach them the foundations of environmental entrepreneurship. The cross-cultural teams share their perspectives on an environmental challenge their nation is facing, then partner in diverse group

s to design innovative products that can help solve those problems. The conference is rounded out with an academic curriculum that includes visits to local universities, Richmond-based global companies and other partners, and ends with a weekend retreat in Washington, D.C. Community Partners include:
da Vinci Center for Innovation at Virginia Commonwealth University
Science Museum of Virginia
The Merhige Center for Environmental Law at the University of Richmond
Weinstein International Center at the University of Richmond
Dominion Resources
MeadWestvaco (where students will engage with professionals around designing sustainable packaging for emerging markets)

Collegiate will host its 3rd annual conference Oct. 5-12, 2013. Forty-four high school students and teachers from 11 countries - China, India, Israel, Italy, Argentina, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Spain, Lebanon and South Africa - will gather to hear from prominent scholars and business leaders, and share their ideas and perspectives pertaining to the theme of “The Global Economy and the Environment.”

The groups will include 18 Collegiate seniors selected to be Conference Ambassadors. Our guests will be hosted by Collegiate Upper School families for a six-night homestay experience. The International Emerging Leaders Conference is believed to be the first program of its kind hosted at an American school during the academic school year. The conference aims to not only foster global collaboration among students from around the world and teach them the product design process, it also seeks to acquaint these bright young minds with a lifelong skillset that is valued by social entrepreneurs worldwide. For more information, contact Clare Sisisky, Director of Global Education at [email protected].

Photos from Collegiate School Global Engagement's post

10/15/2025

BRAND NEW STORY | IELC 2025 was fortunate to have the support of to lead them through workshops to prepare to communicate their new ideas with strong visual and verbal storytelling. It’s amazing what we can accomplish in just a few short hours with strong mentorship and collaboration!

10/14/2025

A SHIFT IN PROCESS | IELC was grateful to shift our location and way of working for IDEATION and EXPERIMENTATION . Design thinking came to life, with a little help from .

10/14/2025

THE RIVER CITY | IELC took a short trip to the James to get a sense of place and history.

10/14/2025

YES, AND… Thank you ti for facilitating IELC 2025 for a workshop that got us our emerging leaders in the right frame of mind to ideas!

10/13/2025

DESIGNING FOR THRIVING | impact on people, profit, planet, purpose - In a special workshop led by Trina Clemans, students applied some of the concepts learned from Destana Herring to consider four companies they might invest in and why.

10/13/2025

I am an emerging leader. Earth is our home. Humanity is worth fighting for.

10/13/2025

SONJA KAPADIA (‘17) COMES FULL CIRCLE | Nine years ago, Sonja Kapadia (’17) sat in the same seats as this year’s IELC students—an eager ambassador whose top StrengthsFinder themes were Communication, Woo, Includer, Maximizer, and Positivity.

Now a fourth-year medical student at Brown University, Sonja has carried those same strengths across continents—through women’s health research in Rwanda, ultrasound studies in Kenya, and her work in overdose toxicology. She reminds us that “IELC celebrates communication, cross-cultural collaboration, design thinking, and above all else, friendship,” and that the best way to grow is to “be brave, ask lots of questions, say yes to adventures, and find good people who love their work.”

10/12/2025

IELC 2025 meets the Collegiate Upper School. Led by capstone students, one member of each visiting delegation was welcomed to the podium to introduce their fellow delegates and teachers and share a fun fact about their home country or school.

10/12/2025

DESTANA HERRING returns to IELC live from Copenhagen to provide advice on approaching the week, as well as insight on his work at .vc

Destana Herring is Principal at Regeneration.VC, a venture firm investing in companies that help humanity thrive within our planet’s boundaries. As a founding team member, Destana has led investments across Regeneration’s funds and helped design tools like the Circular Regenerative Impact and Sustainability Protocol (CRISP) to measure and scale positive environmental impact.

He spoke with us about how venture capital can drive systems change, the planetary boundaries guiding sustainable innovation, and the importance of intentional, measurable impact—from sourcing and screening to portfolio growth.

A Harvard Economics graduate and Earthshot Prize Nominator, Destana’s insights have been shared at GreenBiz Circularity, VivaTech, and the Nordic Circular Summit. Now based in Copenhagen, he leads Regeneration’s Nordic investment and ecosystem efforts, helping to fund the next generation of climate solutions.