This week we kick off Global Impact 2025 in Minneapolis. It’s been almost exactly one year since the DA Global community met in person in the U.S. In October 2024 nearly 600 professionals gathered in Washington D.C., for our 12th annual conference, which had been known as the Global Inclusion Conference. A year later, it’s not hyperbole to say there are tectonic shifts that have taken place in the U.S. and globally that are leading to monumental impacts in education and beyond. As I gear up for the 13th edition of Global Impact, which will take place this week in Minneapolis, there are three words I would use to describe the state of DA Global and our field as a whole: change, challenge, and opportunity.
What’s Changed?
After operating as Diversity Abroad for almost nineteen years, in February 2025 we rebranded to DA Global Access Network or simply DA Global. We didn’t make this decision lightly; after all, changing a brand after nearly two decades has its risks. Still, the time was right. We had grown from our roots as an organization solely focused on increasing access to the benefits of education abroad for historically underserved students, to a strategic partner for higher education institutions and organizations around the globe focused on aligning access to global education to the priorities and outcomes that matter: student success, career readiness, and institutional impact. Diversity Abroad is our foundation; DA Global is our evolution and our future. We codified our work into four areas of practice: Strategy & Alignment, Access & Opportunity, Technology & Digital Innovation, and People Development & Success. Our former name simply no longer fit who we had become. Our rebrand is a recognition of who we are today and the impact we aim to have on the higher education sector in collaboration with our partners around the world.
We’re not alone in that evolution. Across the sector, change is constant. There’s been a growing wave of mergers and acquisitions—particularly among education abroad providers and EdTech companies. Offices are rebranding to reflect broader, more strategic scopes. Geopolitical realities are shifting old alliances and opening doors to new ones. And, as in every era, the students have changed.
Today’s students grew up with technology and social media first. They’re socially conscious and questioning the value of traditional higher education. At the same time, they’re part of the COVID generation, and both they and we are still navigating how years of isolation have shaped how they show up in higher education and beyond.
“The only thing that is constant is change.” We’re experiencing this firsthand. And of course, with change comes new challenges.
The Challenges
While we’re excited about the brand and direction, this past year hasn’t been without its challenges for DA Global and the field as a whole. First, and not surprisingly, we’ve experienced disruption as institutions navigate numerous changes to U.S. state and federal policies. While DA Global is a different organization, our legacy as Diversity Abroad has made some partners cautious about working with us. Call it an abundance of caution—or over-compliance driven by uncertainty in the law. In conversations with colleagues what has become abundantly clear is that fear is a dominant factor in these decisions. We get it. And it’s messy trying to operate in a new and ambiguous policy landscape with seemingly endless changes. We’re trying to adapt in real time and navigate this new terrain with thoughtfulness and flexibility, because that’s what this moment requires of us.
It’s not just us. And as we don’t receive direct government funding, we have more agency on how we articulate our work and our programming. The same can’t be said for partners at institutions or organizations that manage government grants. We’ve seen the erasure of units and divisions that focused on inclusive practices and strategies. Once-reliable grant funding has been cut off and, in many markets across the globe, higher education is experiencing significant budget cuts. Technology is rapidly advancing with the potential to disrupt how students learn, are supported, and the staffing calculus to support it. All of this against the backdrop of unprecedented scrutiny and changes to visa regulations that have thrown international students’ dreams—along with the recruitment process and reliable funding they bring—into flux.
I could easily write more about the challenges we all face in this landscape, but what keeps me hopeful are the opportunities before us.
We all have the opportunity to shape the future of global education into something more inclusive, strategic, and impactful.”
What Opportunities Lie Ahead
I describe myself as a pragmatic optimist. And yes, there have been days this year where it feels like a struggle to have glass-half-full optimism, but here are three opportunities that I see this current landscape presenting for DA Global and our field that give me hope.
First, there’s an increased focus on connecting global education to student success and career readiness. We’re not advocating that the value of global education be articulated solely in career development terms. We do, however, subscribe to the thought that, if global education is to be a meaningful part of the higher education ecosystem, then it must closely align with higher education priorities. The goals of global education cannot be disconnected from retention, persistence to graduation, and career readiness—for all students. As our field continues to collect actionable data, conduct meaningful research, share new frameworks, and build strategic relationships with career services, first-generation, and student success offices, we position ourselves as a vital link to higher education’s future success. I’m excited for how DA Global is and will continue to collaborate with its partners to see this vision become reality.
Second, with challenges, there are almost always opportunities. Yes, the challenges we face are concerning, fast-changing, and broad, but the proverb “necessity is the mother of innovation” is particularly applicable in moments like these. It can be hard to think about the future and innovation while it feels like we’re playing whack-a-mole, putting out one fire after the next, but we must persist. This moment calls for innovation, creativity, and tenacity, which we are already seeing. From increased interest in transnational education (TNE) and first-year abroad programs to virtual international internships and digital advising tools that expand access, our field is finding ways to innovate to ensure all students have access to the benefits of global education. And perhaps, in an ironic way, this current environment has unmasked what the good times hid: for too many students, families, and institutions, global education — particularly place based — didn’t work for them. We have an opportunity to recommit to ensuring global education is inclusive of all students and institutions. And in today’s environment, that’s not just the morally right thing to do, it’s essential to our future.
Finally, the emergence of new educational hubs, from Hong Kong to the UAE, is creating novel opportunities for engagement. Why does this matter? For too long global education has been dominated by the West, primarily English-speaking countries, sometimes dubbed the Big Four. Changing political, educational, and economic dynamics are shifting the landscape and opening opportunities for new educational hubs. This draws scholars, students, entrepreneurs, innovators and leaders to new destinations, which opens the door to nuanced educational experiences, deeper cultural understanding, and innovation.
What’s Next
I’m bringing these thoughts with me to Global Impact 2025. Changes and challenges are inevitable. Seeing the opportunities during trying times is a choice. It’s never easy, but often necessary. As I walk the conference floor, talk with attendees, and listen in on thought-provoking sessions, I’ll be holding both truths: the weight of this moment and the very real opportunities in front of us. Top of mind is that we’re in this together—whether you’re an institution in the U.S. or Saudi Arabia, an education-abroad provider or a recruitment agency, a nonprofit association or a consulting firm, a donor-backed NGO or a VC-backed edtech company. We all have the opportunity to shape the future of global education into something more inclusive, strategic, and impactful. I’m looking forward to the role DA Global will play—alongside you—in that future.
I’ll come back to this theme before Global Impact 2026 Abu Dhabi (March 25–27) and Atlanta (November 3–6). My sense is that we’ll still be navigating change and challenges, but as a sector we’ll be that much more positive about the future and the impact we’ll have on students, institutions, and communities.
Andrew Gordon is an award-winning social impact entrepreneur and leading voice in global education, edtech, inclusive student success and workforce development. As founder of DA Global Access Network, an educational consortium and strategic partner advancing access to global opportunities, he has spent nearly two decades helping higher education institutions strengthen academic achievement, career readiness and institutional impact through access to global education.