Archives: Events

Curious about a partnership with World Savvy? Hear all about it at the 45th Annual Summer CASE Convention on July 26-28 and learn more about Denver Public Schools experience collaborating with us for the 2023 school year. Discover the transformative power of a World Savvy partnership firsthand. 

Please join us on Wednesday, July 26th at 10:45am-12pm in BR Base Nine Lounge. Our session is titled “Using Global Competence to Achieve Global Competence: A Collaboration between Denver Public Schools and World Savvy,” and features the following esteemed panelists: 

• Dr. Alex Marrero, Superintendent, Denver Public Schools
• Dr. Christian Sawyer, Director of Schools: IB & Dual Language Collaboratives, Denver Public Schools
• KK Neimann, National Director of District & Strategic Initiatives, World Savvy
• Adam Koehler, Professional Learning Facilitator, World Savvy 

This discussion will highlight the process and action steps taken to jumpstart the work of global competence within Denver Public Schools. We will also explore the skills and dispositions that supported us to collaborate successfully and think creatively about how to expand this work and ensure that all students are adequately prepared to thrive in a diverse, complex, and ever-changing world.  In this discussion, we will explore the following questions and more: How did this journey begin? What did this process look like? What skills and dispositions did you lean into to make this collaboration successful? What were the outcomes of this partnership?

Be part of the conversation and learn about the exciting action steps taken to foster global competence within Denver Public Schools. See you there!

World Savvy is excited to be at the IB Global Conference this July. Come by and learn about our work with schools and districts in the exhibit hall at table 35.

A Somali girl raised in Yemen by her grandmother finds refuge and opportunity with her mother in America. Told in English and Arabic, the story is beautifully illustrated as black ink drawings.

Zaynab Abdi is a storyteller and emerging global leader. From her contribution to Green Card Voices, Minneapolis to a chapter in Malala’s We are Displaced, her story of perseverance and the pursuit of opportunities for others has inspired all who have encountered her words. Zaynab has shared her experiences and insights about girls education as a Malala Fund delegate addressing the United Nations General Assembly. She continues to work with the United Nations Development Program as a Strategy and Futures Fellow, with Reviving Sisterhood, a Muslim story telling, leadership development and civic engagement organization, and with Green Card Voices as an Immigrant and Refugee Youth Ambassador.

Dana Mortenson is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of World Savvy, a national education nonprofit working to educate and engage youth as responsible global citizens. World Savvy supports change agents in K-12 education to create more inclusive, adaptive schools that ensure all young people can develop the skills and dispositions needed to thrive in a more diverse, interconnected world. World Savvy programs provide support at three critical levels to deeply integrate global competence into teaching, learning and culture: student engagement, teacher capacity, and school and district leadership support. Since 2002 she has led the organization through significant national expansion, reaching more 800,000 students and nearly 7,000 teachers across 45 US states and 32 countries, from offices based in Minneapolis, San Francisco, and New York.

Dana is an Ashoka Fellow and was named one of The New Leaders Council’s 40 under 40 Progressive American Leaders, and Women We Admire’s Top 50 Women Leaders of Minnesota for 2022. She was also a winner of the Tides Foundation’s Jane Bagley Lehman award for excellence in public advocacy in 2014. She is a frequent speaker on global education and social entrepreneurship at high-profile convenings nationally and internationally, and World Savvy’s work has been featured on PBS, The New York Times, Edutopia, and a range of local and national media outlets covering education and innovation.

This event is FREE but registration is required. Please register using the link below.

Ulster BOCES, Vassar College, and World Savvy will host the “Designing Sustainable Futures: Climate Summit” on April 25, from 8:00 am to 3:30 pm at Vassar College.

This conference will bring together Mid-Hudson Valley public and private school high school students and their teachers, Vassar professors and school leaders to think about ways to take meaningful action on climate change and understand their role as global citizens.

Dana Mortenson, World Savvy CEO and Co-Founder, will moderate a panel of Vassar College Professors to discuss the current climate landscape.

Students will wrestle with what informed action looks like, explore current solutions to the climate crisis and design solutions of their own that will be presented at the end of the day.

Vassar College Panelists

• Mary Ann Cunningham, Earth Science and Geography Director, Environmental Studies Program
• Kirsten Menking, Professor of Earth Science on the Althea Ward Clark Chair
• Laura Haynes, Assistant Professor of Earth Science
• Deon Hanley Knights, Assistant Professor of Earth Science and Environmental Studies

Join World Savvy’s own KK Neimann as she kicks off the Magnet Schools of America (MSA) National Conference on Magnet Schools with a Pre-Conference Session, Teaching for Global Competence: What we need TODAY to prepare students for TOMORROW, on April 18th at 2:45 pm. During this engaging session, KK will explain what global competence is, why it matters, and how you can embed it into your school or district. 

In addition to leading this important conversation, World Savvy will be exhibiting at the conference, attending sessions, and meeting with key partners. We would love to connect with you, learn more about your school or district, and hear how your school year is going.

About MSA: MSA is a national nonprofit professional education association whose members are schools and school districts.  The association represents and is a resource to magnet schools, parents, teachers, school boards, administrators, business leaders, community organizations and institutions of higher education. 

Magnet Schools are founded on five key pillars: diversity, innovative curriculum and professional development, academic excellence, leadership and family and community partnerships.

The educational themes that some magnet schools focus on include;

• Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)
• Fine and Performing Arts
• International Baccalaureate, International Studies
• Career and Technical Education (CTE) and
• World Languages (immersion and non-immersion)

Use the link below to learn more about the conference schedule and accommodations, and register to attend!

As a result of climate change, 2.5 billion people will be on the move in the latter half of this century.

What will this look like? As educators, how can we navigate this challenge in classrooms and learning environments? How can we create learning experiences that prepare young people to meet this challenge?

Climate and Migration: Lessons for the Classroom will unpack climate change’s effects on migration while providing topical classroom resources.  Learn how to implement an inquiry-based approach to teaching these subjects to 8th-12th grade students.

Join Adam Koehler, Professional Learning Facilitator of World Savvy, and Adam Strom, Executive Director of Reimaging Migration, in this free, virtual webinar on Tuesday, April 19th, from 6:00-7:00 pm CST.

Thomas Friedman, columnist and author, and Hamse Warfa, Senior Advisor, Biden Administration and Former Deputy Commissioner of Workforce for Minnesota, will join Dana Mortenson, CEO and Co-founder of World Savvy, as our guests for an engaging panel discussion about what we can expect in the future of work, and how K-12 education holds a unique opportunity to prepare our youth.

Megatrends are transforming the nature of work, including globalization and rapid technological progress. How jobs will be carried out and who carries them out are shifting, creating an increase in demand for competencies like critical thinking and problem-solving. What will be the future of work? What can K-12 education do to best prepare youth for this future?

About the panelists:

Thomas L. Friedman is an internationally renowned author, reporter, and columnist for the New York Times. Thomas is a three-time recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for his work on international reporting and commentary along with seven bestselling books including, The World is Flat. Friedman was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and grew up in St. Louis Park.

Hamse Warfa serves as a Presidential appointee, Senior Advisor at the U.S. State Department on civilian security, democracy, and human rights. Hamse formerly served as Minnesota DEED Deputy Commissioner for Workforce Development where he successfully advocated for the largest job bill in state history that helps supply workforce training to youth and adults. Hamse came to the U.S. as a refugee teenager and today serves as the most senior Somali American official in the Federal government.

Dana Mortenson is the CEO and Co-founder of World Savvy, a national education nonprofit. World Savvy supports change agents in K-12 education to create more inclusive, adaptive schools that ensure all young people can develop the skills and dispositions needed to thrive in a more diverse, interconnected world. Dana is an Ashoka Fellow and was named one of The New Leaders Council’s 40 under 40 Progressive American Leaders, and Women We Admire’s Top 50 Women Leaders of Minnesota for 2022.

About the moderator:

William Gaudelli is the Dean of the College of Education and Vice Provost for Innovation in Education at Lehigh University. With a career spanning 35 years as a classroom teacher, researcher, professor, and administrator, he is a prominent international scholar with research areas focusing on global citizenship education and teacher education. He has published over 85 scholarly pieces and four books, the most recent entitled, Pedagogy of the Global Event (Routledge, 2023).

World Savvy is hosting a reception to kick off the MASA Spring conference on Wednesday, March 8th from 5:30 – 7:00 pm. The event will be located at LookOut, 8672 Pineview Ln N, Maple Grove, MN 55369. Drinks and appetizers will be provided. Please RSVP here or with the link below if you plan to attend. We hope to see you there!

World Savvy will be exhibiting at this year’s annual Minnesota Association of School Administrators’ (MASA) spring conference on Thursday, March 9, 2023 thru Friday, March 10, 2023.

Stop by our booth to hear about our exciting new partnership with Superintendent Dr. Michael Thomas and the leadership team at Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools and our other great partnerships with Minnesota schools!