About

about LFA virtual

The Lessons From Abroad - Virtual project is a nationwide collaboration among education abroad professionals and international educators across the US, many of whom have previously worked on local LFA conferences in their own regions prior to 2020. This project was born out of the needs that the international education field has faced during the COVID-19 global crisis:

  • The current era of social distancing demands that we pivot our work to virtual formats. We must find innovative ways to deliver programming from how we did things before.

  • We have a cohort of study abroad students around the country who have just completed a semester (Spring 2020) in which they were forced to depart their programs abruptly, finish their classes online, or perhaps never even made it to their destinations in the first place. Returnee resources are needed more than ever for these students who have experienced a re-entry process unlike any other.

  • For LFA regions who normally hold their conference in the fall each year, current restrictions on large gatherings present challenges to these happening.

It is our aim to produce a re-entry program that will serve the needs of study abroad returnees and adapt to the realities of our current situation.

The Lessons From Abroad Movement

In 2008, “Lessons From Abroad” was born as a team of dedicated and passionate volunteers launched the first west-coast collaborative returnee conference at UC Berkeley to address a common issue of better serving our returned study abroad students in a collaborative, financially viable and meaningful way. ​By 2010, Lessons From Abroad was a statewide force amongst education abroad professionals and the students for whom the conference served. Just a couple years later, it had spread beyond California to other regions of the country.

Ten years later, more than 80 Lessons From Abroad conferences have been held across the United States on a local basis across over 20 regions. More than 3,500 students have participated in Lessons From Abroad conferences and more than 500 professionals have volunteered their time in conjunction with the conference.

Committee Members

The LFA Virtual team is headed by three co-organizers who each chair a committee. All professionals involved with the project are volunteers.


Co-Organizers

  • Lauren (Lo) Chow - Babson College

  • Audrey Strong - Northeastern University

  • Stacy Weltzin


Content Committee

  • Kristy Blue - University of San Diego

  • Lisa Brancheau

  • Melissa Buerkett

  • Sarah Carrier

  • Jacklyn Fisher - Towson University

  • Katherine Grego

  • Jodi Hicks - Chapman University

  • Lisa Ho - Ohio Wesleyan University

  • Aaron Klein - The Ohio State University

  • Rachel Lamson - Western New England University

  • Rebecca McMunn - The Ohio State University

  • Heather Schieman - University of Dayton

  • Marlee Stein

  • Kelsey Toyoda

  • Aileen Vickory - California State University, Fullerton

  • Alyson Zimbler


Marketing Committee

  • Adriane Bolliger - Portland Community College

  • Jen Crystle

  • Kevin Fitzgerald - Miami University in Ohio

  • Damien Marshall - AIFS Study Abroad

  • LaSharon McLean Perez - University of California, Riverside

  • Hannah Olevson - API Abroad

  • Chelsea Weaver - University of San Diego

  • Brittany Williams - University of San Diego


Website Committee

  • Sasha Cokuslu

  • Samantha Rommel

  • Alma Sandoval