GLOBAL NEXT-PRACTICE SUMMIT • Panama City • September 14–16, 2026
GLOBAL NEXT-PRACTICE LEADERSHIP AND INNOVATION SUMMIT
Lead the school the AI era demands.
Three days in Panama City for school owners, boards, heads, and executive leaders who refuse to let their schools be shaped by change — and are ready to shape it.
DATES September 14–16, 2026
VENUE InterContinental Miramar Panama · Panama City
RATES From $495 · Registration opens May 1, 2026
Seats are capped and 1-on-1 consultations fill on a first-registered basis.
Why now?
AI is already redefining what learning looks like. Workforce realities are shifting. Student expectations are outpacing systems built decades ago. The pressure on leaders has never been higher — and neither has the opportunity.
Next practice, not best practice.
Best practice tells you what worked yesterday. Next practice equips you for what's about to arrive. The GLOBAL Next-Practice Summit is a focused, high-level gathering for leaders who are ready to think differently about what schools can become in the near future — where AI is the catalyst, not the ceiling. This isn't another general-education conference. It is a working summit for the people responsible for the future of a school: owners, boards, heads, and the executive leaders who sit at the intersection of vision, operations, and student outcomes.
"A leadership and learning summit where AI is the catalyst, not the ceiling — and where schools are built for children to learn deeply, teachers to thrive, and leaders to guide with wisdom."
WHAT YOU'LL WALK AWAY WITH
Clarity, frameworks, and a plan you can act on Monday.
Every session, panel, and workshop is designed to translate directly into stronger leadership, healthier cultures, and better learning environments back at your school.
A clearer future for your school in the AI era
Models and frameworks that cut through AI hype and give you a grounded read on where your school stands — and the next achievable steps to move forward.
A redefined picture of high-quality learning
What deeper learning actually looks like now — critical thinking, oral assessment, authentic literacy, student ownership, project-based learning — and how AI personalizes for students who don't fit the standard mold.
A stronger graduate profile
Re-envision the learner your graduates need to be: entrepreneurial thinkers, digitally literate, techworkforce-ready, and future-proofed for the world they're actually entering.
Trusted leadership and healthier culture
Leave with practical tools (including the TrustED® framework) to build the conditions where teachers thrive, students flourish, and leaders make bold calls with clarity.
AI-enabled operations that buy leaders back time
Leave with practical tools (including the TrustED® framework) to build the conditions where teachers thrive, students flourish, and leaders make bold calls with clarity.
Growth, governance, and financial strength
Sharper enrollment strategy, stronger board–head partnership, safer safeguarding, and the strategic financial planning that lets you plan boldly and invest wisely
WHO THE SUMMIT SERVES
Built for the people who decide a school's future.
The GLOBAL Summit is designed for leaders of international and bilingual schools — faith-based and non-sectarian — who set direction, steward resources, and carry responsibility for student outcomes.
This is for you if you are a…
• School Owner
• Board Member or Chair
• Head of School / Director General
• Executive Leader or C-Suite
• Academic or Instructional Leader
• Admissions or Operations Director
...and you are asking:
“What kinds of learners do we need to form now?”
“How must leadership evolve to guide a school through this?”
“How do we move from AI compliance to real transformation?”
“How do we build schools where children genuinely flourish?”
INSIDE THREE DAYS
A working summit, not a spectator sport.
Panels, plenaries, parallel breakouts across five strands, facilitated action-planning workshops, and protected time for one-on-one consultations with the speakers themselves
Five Conference Strands
• AI, Innovation, and Future-Ready Learning
• TrustED Leadership, Culture, and Change
• Governance, Strategy, and Safeguarding
• Enrollment, Marketing, and School Growth
• Financial Sustainability, Fundraising, and Strategic Partnerships
MONDAY • SEPTEMBER 14
Frame the future.
• Opening interactive engagement on next-practice leadership and innovation
• Panel: AI and the Future of Schools — from compliance to transformation
• Parallel breakouts across all five strands (two blocks)
• Panel: Future-Ready Education — building schools that shape tomorrow's global citizens
TUESDAY • SEPTEMBER 15
Go deeper. Get personal.
• Plenary: TrustED Leadership in an Age of Accelerated Change (Dr. Toby Travis)
• Parallel breakouts — AI readiness accelerator, culture, strategic planning, enrollment evidence, fundraising
• One-on-one consultations with presenters (pre-registration required — first registered, first booked)
• Networking, sponsor conversations, and informal collaboration time
WEDNESDAY • SEPTEMBER 16
Turn insight into action.
• From Strategy to Implementation — introduction to transformation workshops
• Facilitated action-planning at strand-aligned tables (AI roadmap, culture, governance, enrollment, finance)
• Closing plenary: The Courage to Transform — Building Schools That Shape Tomorrow (Dr. David A. Wells)
• Optional small-group site visits to participating local schools (Wednesday PM – Thursday AM
SPEAKERS & FACILITATORS
Seven voices working at the leading edge.
Every speaker works directly with schools. Every session is grounded in what's actually moving the needle for leaders right now — not theory, not hype.
Dr. David A. Wells
Co-founder & Principal, GLOBAL School Consulting Group
A widely respected voice on helping school owners and leaders achieve clarity of purpose and build organizations that adapt, innovate, and thrive. Closing plenary presenter: The Courage to Transform.
Dr. Toby A. Travis
Co-founder & Executive Consultant • Creator of TrustED®
International leadership consultant recognized for research on how trusted leadership drives measurable school improvement. Leads the Tuesday plenary on TrustED Leadership in an Age of Accelerated Change
Wayne Lynch, ACFRE
Co-founder & Executive Consultant
Helps schools build the financial strength and strategic clarity needed to innovate and thrive. Holder of the ACFRE credential — one of the most advanced recognitions in fundraising worldwide, earned by only a small number of experts.
Ernie R. Delgado
CEO/Founder, Beyond K12 • AI Readiness Partner
A leading EdTech strategist and AI-readiness partner guiding administrators through the foundational concepts shaping AI's impact on teaching and learning. Runs the 90-Day AI Readiness Accelerator for Schools.
Dr. John Zuman
Senior Consultant • Governance & Safeguarding Specialist
International school leader with degrees from MIT and Harvard. Helps Boards and Heads build the strategic capacity to guide schools through rapid change — strengthening the Board–Head partnership and safeguarding oversight.
Dr. Tassos Anastasiades
Senior Consultant • Values-Driven AI in Education
Widely followed advocate for values-driven school leadership and the ethical, purposeful integration of AI in education. Currently serves as Executive Director of a new national education organization in Cyprus
Claude Anderson
Enrollment Strategy & School Marketing
A leading innovator in school enrollment strategy. Known for helping schools craft headlines that “interrupt the brain — like a stop sign,” and for applying research-driven insights into why families actually choose a school.
WHERE YOU'LL BE
Panama City. A crossroads built for a global conversation.
Every speaker works directly with schools. Every session is grounded in what's actually moving the needle for leaders right now — not theory, not hype.
The Summit is hosted at the InterContinental Miramar Panama — waterfront, five-star, and built for the kind of focused conversation this gathering requires. GLOBAL has contracted preferred rates at the Miramar plus three additional properties, with complimentary round-trip transportation between partner hotels and the venue. Preferred hotel rates extend to three days before and three days after the Summit — an easy runway for a few extra days in Panama. Rates are honored for reservations made on or before August 15, 2026.
Host hotel: InterContinental Miramar Panama • Panama City
Partner properties at summit rates:
• InterContinental Miramar Panama (Host)
• Crowne Plaza Airport Hotel (Tocumen)
• Crowne Plaza Hotel (Panama City)
• Holiday Inn Panama Canal
Book by August 15, 2026 to secure the Summit rate.
SAVE YOUR SEAT
Registration opens May 1, 2026.
Summit seats are capped to protect the depth of conversation and the quality of one-on-one consultations. Secure the Preferred rate early — and lock in the hotel rate before August 15, 2026.
| PREFERRED (CLIENT SCHOOLS) | EARLY | GENERAL | LATE & ONSITE |
|---|---|---|---|
| $495 | $545 | $595 | $645 |
| Rate expires July 31, 2026 | Rate expires June 30, 2026 | Rate expires August 15, 2026 | Closed when capacity is reached |
HEADS UP — Registration closes when capacity is reached, not on the date on the page.
Seats are capped and 1-on-1 consultations fill on a first-registered basis.
GLOBAL Client Schools save $100 automatically at the Preferred rate. Bring a team of 3+ from the same school and we'll arrange a team consultation slot.
FREQUENTLY ASKED
Quick answers.
Is this another AI conference?
No. AI is a catalyst, not the ceiling. This is a leadership summit for the people responsible for a school's future — AI, governance, enrollment, culture, and finance are treated as one integrated leadership problem.
Can I send a team?
Yes — and we recommend it. Owners, board members, and heads working the Summit together tend to leave with a shared language and a real action plan. Contact us about team consultation slots.
What's included in the fee?
All sessions across the three days, materials, coffee breaks, luncheons on Days 1 and 2, panels, breakouts, facilitated transformation workshops, and access to one-on-one consultation sign-ups (first registered, first booked).
Are site visits included?
Optional small-group visits to participating local schools are tentatively scheduled for Wednesday afternoon through Thursday morning. Availability is limited.
What about travel and lodging?
The Summit rate is honored at the InterContinental Miramar Panama and three partner hotels. Book by August 15, 2026. Complimentary round-trip transportation is provided between partner properties and the Miramar venue.
"The schools that will thrive tomorrow are being led differently today.
Meet the leaders who are building them. In Panama.
Lead the school the AI era demands.
Three days in Panama City for school owners, boards, heads, and executive leaders who refuse to let their schools be shaped by change — and are ready to shape it.
DATES September 14–16, 2026
VENUE InterContinental Miramar Panama · Panama City
RATES From $495 · Registration opens May 1, 2026
