On May 28 and May 30, international educators from across the world gather for two unforgettable plenaries that celebrate resilience, renewal, and community. For more than 75 years, NAFSA has convened the most notable and relevant voices at its annual conferences, and this year is no exception. Attend this year's plenaries, where speakers share new insights and perspectives, connect diverse topics to the mission of international education, and inspire a renewed vision for the years ahead.

May 28 Plenary: Luis von Ahn

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Luis von Ahn is an entrepreneur and former professor at Carnegie Mellon University. Considered one of the pioneers of crowdsourcing, he is known for coinventing CAPTCHAs, being a MacArthur fellow, and selling two companies to Google in his 20s. Von Ahn is currently the cofounder and CEO of Duolingo, a popular language-learning platform dedicated to making education universally available.

Von Ahn has been named one of the “10 Most Brilliant Scientists” by Popular Science Magazine, one of the “50 Best Brains in Science” by Discover, and one of the “100 Most Innovative People in Business” by Fast Company Magazine. In 2018, von Ahn won the Lemelson-MIT Prize and in 2023, he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

Von Ahn’s commitment to expanding access to knowledge and using technology to work through challenges, solve problems, and provide new opportunities dovetails with the theme of the NAFSA 2024 Annual Conference & Expo: “Resilience. Renewal. Community.” This premier event in the field of international education will convene international education professionals from across the globe to share experiences, resources, and tools for connecting with and empowering students and scholars across cultures, languages, religions, and regions. 

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>  NAFSA thanks Louisiana State University for their generous sponsorship of the Opening Plenary on May 28.

May 30 Plenary: Phoebe Ferguson and Keith Plessy

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Phoebe Ferguson and Keith Plessy are direct descendants of the opposing parties in the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson U.S. Supreme Court case. In 2009, they cofounded the Plessy & Ferguson Initiative to advance civil rights, history, memorialization, and transitional justice.

Ferguson’s and Plessy’s ancestors were opposing principals from Louisiana in a court decision that upheld the constitutionality of Jim Crow laws mandating segregation under the “separate but equal” doctrine. Today, Ferguson and Plessy are working together to spark important conversations about finding unity and fostering mutual understanding.

Cofounder and President Keith Plessy is a native New Orleanian from the Seventh Ward and a first cousin three times removed of Homer Plessy. Plessy has worked in the hospitality industry at the New Orleans Marriott for more than 40 years, since his graduation from the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) in 1976. Three years after graduating from NOCCA, he designed and painted the images of more than 100 famous African Americans at his former elementary school—the historic Black institution Valena C. Jones Elementary School—as a thank you to his early childhood teachers. In 1997, Plessy met one of his heroes and a leader of the modern civil rights movement, Rosa Parks, while she was staying at the New Orleans Marriott. His commitment to follow in Homer Plessy’s footsteps as a civic activist was cemented by what Parks said to him that day: “Your name is Plessy—you got work to do.”

Cofounder and Executive Director Phoebe Ferguson is a native New Orleanian and the great-great-granddaughter of Judge John Howard Ferguson. In addition to her work with the initiative, she is founder, producer, and director of Bayou and Me Productions. The New Orleans-based studio collaborates with community members and local organizations to make films on pressing social issues, including the need for equitable, community-based public schools. Ferguson studied at ArtCenter College of Design, New York University, and Tulane University.