Program

Today's Refugees, Tomorrow's Students and Changemakers

NAFSA 2025 Logo

Tuesday, May 27, 2025
1:00 - 3:00 p.m. PDT 
San Diego, California

NAFSA welcomes you to join us at the 2025 Symposium on Leadership on May 27 in San Diego, a special signature program included with registration for the NAFSA 2025 Annual Conference & Expo. No additional registration or fee required to attend!

Today’s refugees are tomorrow’s students and changemakers, but how does international education help us confront the complex challenges of migration globally? This topic is intricately woven into international education, but what is our place? What are the opportunities, and what are our obligations? 

Through the symposium’s keynote speaker, panelists’ Q&A, and robust breakout discussions, attendees will examine how international education is part of the solution for those who have been displaced, what resources exist, what the entry point is for assistance, how institutions can engage in their communities and collaborate with local partners, and how international educators can demonstrate leadership for the benefit of all.

The Symposium on Leadership is a NAFSA Signature Program offered by the International Education Leadership Knowledge Community.

Speakers

Diya Abdo, PhD

Photo of Diya Abdo
Guilford College; Every Campus a Refuge
Keynote at 2025 Symposium on Leadership
Dr. Diya Abdo is the Lincoln Financial Professor of English at Guilford College and the founding Director of Every Campus A Refuge. A second-generation Palestinian refugee born and raised in Jordan, Dr. Abdo’s teaching, research, and scholarship focus on Arab women writers and Arab and Islamic...
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Orlina Boteva

Photo of Orlina Boteva
University of Maine
Panelist at 2025 Symposium on Leadership
Orlina Boteva is Director of International Programs at the University of Maine. Boteva oversees campus internationalization, education abroad, international student and scholar services and the Intensive English Institute. Boteva served as the NAFSA Maine State Rep for 2014 - 2016 and the Leadership...
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Randy Kluver

Randy Kluver
Oklahoma State University
Panelist at 2025 Symposium on Leadershipc
Randy Kluver is the Associate Provost and Dean of Oklahoma State University Global, Professor in the School of Media and Strategic Communication, and the Don and Cathey Humphreys Endowed Chair in Global Studies in the School of Global Studies. As the senior international officer at OSU, Dr. Kluver...
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Johannes Müller

Johannes Muller
Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt
Panelist at 2025 Symposium on Leadership
A historian by training, Johannes was a postdoctoral fellow at the Leibniz Institute for European History in Mainz before joining the University of Cologne in 2007 as Head of the Welcome Centre. In 2014, he took over as head of the International Science Department. In addition to maintaining...
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Jill Blondin, PhD

Jill Blondin
Virginia Commonwealth University
Co-Leader, Programs & Events, IEL KC
Jill Blondin, associate vice provost for global initiatives at VCU, received her B.A. from Indiana University, and her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign). Previously, Blondin served as the director of VCU Globe, which received the NAFSA Senator Paul Simon Spotlight...
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Samira Pardanani

A headshot of Samira Pardanani
Shoreline Community College
Chair, International Education Leadership Knowledge Community
Samira Pardanani leads a comprehensive international education department at Shoreline Community College, located just north of Seattle, Washington. In this role, she oversees international recruitment, admissions, academic and university transfer advising, study and teach abroad, international...
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Symposium on Leadership International Education Leadership Knowledge Community