19-year-old Arlian Ecker, also known as the Plastic Free Boy, is a globally recognized Young Change Maker on a mission to empower, inspire, and engage millions of students in protecting our planet’s most vital ecosystems, from the Great Barrier Reef to glaciers and waterways. Born in Australia with an Austrian heritage, Arlian began his advocacy journey at 11 years old, determined to protect global ecosystems from the threats of climate change, plastic pollution, and environmental destruction. Arlian has been catalyzing change, presenting to over 360 schools worldwide and proving that young people have the power to lead. Alongside his mother, Documentary Filmmaker Karin Ecker, Arlian presents Global Initiatives while following the global journey of an authentic Change Agent using powerful storytelling, peer-to-peer education, and action-driven solutions. Arlian is on a life mission to equip students to find their WHY, take agency, and create meaningful impact for future generations.

Andrew Watson is an experienced school leader and CEO of Sustainability Education (SusEd) www.sused.org a leading global foundation nurturing the culture shift required for education to meet the most urgent challenges of our time. Andrew leads professional development for the International Baccalaureate and develops global education initiatives in sustainability, peace, and wellbeing in partnership with business, industry, and development sectors. He is a co-author of the IB Leadership Pathway and a regular contributor to literature on education and sustainability. He has worked in leadership positions and in partnership with organisations around the world in countries including Albania, Armenia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Israel, Mozambique, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Thailand, the Netherlands, and Venezuela.

Jennifer has been a social studies teacher for more than 25 years, specialising in economics. She is an expert in developing and executing educational strategies, projects, processes and curricula. She has written Economics, Business Management and Environmental Systems and Societies textbooks integrating new economic thinking and social enterprise themes into those works. Most recently, Jennifer has been developing learning materials for a two-year long course in Regenerative Economics for secondary schools using a syllabus she wrote with Oxford economist Kate Raworth (Doughnut Economics) and others. She is actively working to change economics curricula in national and international education institutions, including England, the Netherlands and the International Baccalaureate.

Alex Moo is a 9th grader at AISB who loves to experience and foster changemaking. He has experienced growing up in the foreign service, and uses his experiences to help push him to show people that even he can defy the odds and make a difference. A winner of this years CEESA Speech and Debate competition in both Original Oratory and Impromptu Speaking, he is an experienced speech giver excited to share his ideas with the attendees at Beyond the Future. After speaking at the MIS conference, he has given his talk more thought, and is excited to present his topic this year: how to find your value in your community. Make sure to stick around for his workshop, as well, where he teaches people skills and strategies to actually create more change in their own lives.

Thomas Graham is a British writer, public speaker, social entrepreneur, and creative educator passionate about using storytelling to drive social impact. With over a decade of experience, he has inspired individuals and communities globally through innovative projects that blend social enterprise, sustainability, and narrative-driven change. As the founder of Docathon, a global student documentary challenge, he empowers young filmmakers to tell stories that matter, sparking conversations on pressing social issues. Through his work, Thomas champions storytelling as a powerful tool for transformation, equipping individuals and organizations with the skills to create lasting impact.

Hi! My name is Kaia Lemmers. I am in 8th grade, and I am 14 years old. I go to school at MIS, Munich international school, in Munich, Germany. I love doing sports like track and field, or tag games. I love helping out other people and doing things for my school. I helped with the zero-waste winter market for two years at my school, and that is also what I will be speaking about. I think by doing these small actions it creates stairs to a better way of reducing waste. One of the ideas we had was a zero-waste winter market. It is important to me because this is a small action to create a big solution, it only takes a bit of thinking to make a winter market, waste free. Or as close to waste free as possible!

Anni is a passionate 9th grade student at AISB with a strong interest in science, mathematics, and engineering. She has conducted independent research in several fields such as biology, medicine, and environmental science, aiming to contribute to sustainability. Beyond academics, she tutors English, loves music and also plays many sports. Anni is always seeking new challenges to learn, innovate, and make an impact.

Shei Ascencio is a dynamic international education consultant with over 20 years of experience spanning Africa, Asia, and North America. Now based in Canada, she partners with youth, organizations, and schools to elevate action, service, sustainability, community engagement, and wellness in diverse spaces. Shei is a proud member of the Institute of Humane Education team and the Festival of Hope while actively engaging with the International Baccalaureate Education Network (IBEN). She is also the co-founder of Serve Cerebral and Sound Immersion Experiences, driving transformative and innovative practices worldwide. Shei lives in Winnipeg Canada with her free-spirited 11y/old, partner and rescued doggo

"I always wondered why somebody doesn’t do something about that. Then I realized I was somebody." – Lily Tomlin

After earning my business degree in France, I became deeply aware of the gap between business and social impact. Determined to bridge this divide, I embarked on a journey across the Caribbean, Latin America, Southeast Asia, Europe, and North Africa, exploring ways to create meaningful change. My passion for sustainable tourism, international education, and social entrepreneurship led me to co-found startups focused on immersive Amazon experiences and global citizenship storytelling. Now, I work in service learning, helping schools worldwide integrate Global Citizenship Education. My mission is to connect people through transformative learning experiences, fostering global awareness and sustainable action. I'm always open to collaborations that inspire engagement and drive positive change.

Prior to joining Inspire Citizens in 2020, Scott Jamieson spent 17 years as a teacher and school administrator in international schools in the Middle East, China, and SE Asia. He is passionate about designing learning experiences that extend beyond the classroom, develop empathy and lead to meaningful and reciprocal community partnerships. With Inspire Citizens, Scott partners with schools to design whole school programs for global citizenship education that focus on student leadership, service learning, and civic engagement. These programs are designed to create opportunities for students to live their school mission and take an active role in shaping a more sustainable, equitable, and joyful future. He is also the host and producer of the Empathy to Impact podcast.

Julie Meltzer, PhD, is the Director of K-12 and Teacher Education for the Institute for Humane Education, a nonprofit organization based in the US. Julie leads a team that works with teachers and administrators across the United States and around the world to teach their students how to become changemakers. She brings experience as a teacher, higher education faculty member, district administrator, consultant, researcher, program evaluator, and leadership coach to this role. Julie believes that education is the system that can change all other systems and that redesigning schools to educate a generation of solutionaries is the single best investment we can make for our collective future.

I am a Grade 12 student at the American International School of Budapest. I have been engaged in the dramatic arts since the age of 6, and I am trained in a variety of traditional, musical, and alternative theater alike. I helped establish the Thespian Honor Society for Theater here at AISB, leading it for the past three to four years. I have three directing credits to my name. In Prague, my hometown, I gained experience in improvisational and classical theater, as well as dubbing and film. I plan to study theater theory in university, and then work as a theater director and performance artist. I most admire the works of Polish director Tadeusz Kantor and the Avant Garde movement, the Viennese Actionists or Dadaists. I am also a very passionate public speaker and orator. In my free time, I test chilli peppers and listen to Björk or 90’s Madonna.

Daniela Kon Lieberberg is an award-winning media executive, educator, and impact producer whose career driving social change initiatives spans over two decades. Born in Frankfurt, Germany, she began her career in New York, working with Emmy-winning director Marc Levin at Blowback Productions. In 2005, she founded DEEDA, one of the first impact agencies dedicated to advancing global humanitarian and human rights initiatives. From community programs in post-conflict regions to the United Nations Ending Hunger Campaign, she worked with NGOs, IGOs, and aid organizations across Southeast Asia, West Africa, and the Middle East. Committed to harnessing the transformative power of storytelling for social change, Daniela founded SIMA in 2012. Under her leadership, SIMA has grown into the largest nexus of impact creatives and changemakers and a multi-award-winning education platform, mobilizing community-led impact and global citizenship education in over 100 countries. Based in Los Angeles, Daniela serves on the Film and Women’s Rights Committee of Human Rights Watch and teaches Global Storytelling at USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

My name is Anastasiia Shurma, I am a 14-year-old student in Munich International School in Germany. I was born and grew up in Ukraine and even spent last year in its capital, which helped me get real experience with living under the conditions of war. I returned to Germany for Grade 9, inspired to start a project in support of safe education in my home-city in Ukraine. In result, not only the Service as Action curriculum, but the whole of the IB school system encouraged me to become a more motivated and hard-working student, helping me develop a lot of new important skills. I am now overall deeply interested in all academic subjects, but am most passionate about Mathematics and Sciences, additionally, designing and technology. One of my biggest interests is art, together with sport – I am also a badminton player outside of school.

Hi Changemakers! I am a 12th grader at the American International School of Budapest.  Throughout my 8 years at AISB, I have been dedicated to making impactful changes around me, such as creating a biking ecosystem in our school with my bike shelter initiative.  Additionally, as an aspiring engineer, I constructed a 2-meter-long wind tunnel in my Physics classroom to inspire future students to pursue aerodynamic research and data collection.  Spanning over a year, this project taught me everything from 3D modeling to carpentry. Alongside school, I am passionate about creating Desmos animations, chess, sim racing, The Beatles, musicals, realism drawings, mountain biking, and the list goes on... These hobbies keep my life balanced between academics and relaxation. I plan to study Aerospace Engineering at Stanford University next year, a place that would present me with even more opportunities for initiative and growth.

I have had the privilege of trying several education systems: Hungarian public and private education, Spanish public, American private, and the Dutch public higher education system. My mother is a true believer of "unleashing human potential" which is why she applied the "Polgár" method in my education. Since my passion was mathematics, she provided me with the possibility (back when I was in elementary school) to study as much mathematics as I wanted to. Luckily, I ended up in a middle school (The American School of Las Palmas)

where they mentored me and supported my passion for math. Some of the memories that stuck with me the most from my schools:

● Social events like science fairs, Christmas shows, and Halloween parties

● Cultural events like the Food Fair, our school organized each year

● Most of all, the time I attended, at the age of 12, the AP Calculus class with

students 5 years older than me, and ended up making some of my best friends to this day.

Thanks to my experience with all these different education systems, I gained a wide knowledge of the values they focus on and where they have their strengths and weaknesses. I had the possibility of working on starting my own social responsibility project. I have learned that making change is frightening at first, difficult during the first steps, an incredibly rewarding once the results start coming.

Deli Szilágyi is a young entrepreneur, Olympic athlete, innovator, and community leader dedicated to making a global impact. As the founder of a global nonprofit connecting high school students with disadvantaged youth for volunteer tutoring, Deli is passionate about education and social entrepreneurship. Beyond this, he’s organized major startup events for young entrepreneurs in Budapest and Prague at the Microsoft headquarters, bringing together billion dollar leaders and aspiring business minds. His diverse background also includes a strong academic foundation in the IB program, leadership in STEM initiatives, and national recognition as a competitive athlete. With experience across law, real estate, and physics internships, Deli brings a unique, interdisciplinary perspective to problem-solving and business development. At this conference, Deli will share what he’s learned about failure, discussing his open heart surgery this summer and entrepreneurial failures.