Uniting Teams, Shaping Our Future Together

In August, something special happened in Phoenix. We marked a pivotal milestone in our journey: for the first time, the teams from CEA CAPA, CIS Abroad, and Barcelona SAE came together under one roof. We called it the Summer Summit, but really, it felt like the beginning of our next chapter as a unified team!  It was an energizing and inspiring week that brought together team members from across all three brands to connect, collaborate, and align as One Team, Many Strengths - which also served as the very fitting theme of the event.

Hosted across four days, team members across all brands swapped stories, built new friendships, and rolled up our sleeves to tackle what being “us” will look like going forward. This event offered not just a space to build relationships, but a clear roadmap to a more unified, future-ready organization. In addition to our strategy sessions, the week was filled with sticky notes, laughter, shared meals, late-night brainstorming, and karaoke performances to remember!

Big Conversations, Bigger Connections

The Summit kicked off with an inspiring welcome from CEO Beth Stiller and Dr. Martha Johnson that set the tone: we’re stronger when we move forward together. From there, we enjoyed an annual crowd-favorite session “History of the Education Abroad Landscape and State of the Field” led this year by Martha, Kris Holloway, Dr. Lou Berends, and Rich Kurtzman, reminding us why our work matters and how far we’ve come as an organization and a field. Additional highlights included:

• Unified Team Strategy for 2026: Getting clear on where we’re headed, together.
• Access, Opportunity, and Inclusion (AOI): Recommitting to the values at the heart of everything we do.
• Enrollment Deep Dives: Learning how each brand supports students, and ensuring consistency and reliability in upholding our shared care and commitment to them.
• Workshops and Subject Matter Expert Sessions: Rolling up our sleeves to learn and cross-train on our approaches to academics, career readiness initiatives, custom programs, business consultancy, Atlantis pre-health and Lex pre-law experiential opportunities, and more.

It’s About the People

More than anything, this Summit reminded us that our people are our biggest strength. Folks from Institutional Relations, Academics, Student Engagement, Enrollment, Marketing, Custom Programs, Health and Safety, Global Operations and more were on hand to ensure that every voice and perspective helps shape the vision of where we as an organization are headed next. Together, we reflected on our past, evaluated our present, and looked forward to a future grounded in our collective strength.

Work Hard and Have FUN!

Of course, no organizational gathering would be complete without some fun. Team-building activities like “The Snowball Effect” and “Squad Goals,” helped us build trust, gave us many laughs, and even showed off our (often surprising!) competitive sides. Evenings were full of shared meals, local adventures around Phoenix, and plenty of time to connect outside the meeting rooms. The week wrapped with a celebration at The Duce, a local favorite, where we chatted, laughed, and enjoyed a karaoke experience for the history books (with some performances by folks bound for Broadway, and others…that are not). It was a perfect way to end the week and a well-earned toast to the energy, ideas, and alignment built over the course of the Summit.

What This Means for the Fall

As we move forward, we do so with confidence - not just in our shared goals, but in each other. For our partners, some good news:

• Our Institutional Relations (IR) team is now integrated and ready to support you with cross-brand knowledge.
• Our teams are cross-trained on programs and offerings, making it easier to get answers, support, and collaboration ideas from us.
• Our student enrollment processes remain consistent for fall, to minimize any chance of disruptions.
• Behind the scenes, we’re uniting systems and operations thoughtfully and intentionally, so the support you rely on will only continue to get stronger.

The full scope of our unification won’t happen overnight, but we have already made huge strides in coming together, and are committed to moving forward intentionally, thoughtfully, and deeply focused on maintaining our steadfast partner support and student service.

At the end of the week, one thing was very clear - the future is brighter, bolder, and stronger because of our people, as well as the partners, students, and international education community who all make this work possible. This Summit proved what we already knew: while our organizations may have begun separately, our future is undeniably together!