Ethical Leadership Forum for Educators

Join us for an immersive professional development experience designed for educators who aspire to lead with compassion, moral courage, and integrity in a globally connected, ethically complex world.

This one-of-a-kind event brings together inspiring leaders from education and nonprofit sectors to share real-world examples, practical tools, and transformative approaches to ethical leadership. Through interactive sessions, panel discussions, and hands-on workshops, participants will explore what it means to mentor with purpose, manage risk with integrity, and create educational experiences that empower students to become changemakers.

Event Sessions Include:

Moral Examples from the Field

Real-world ethical leadership in action

Hear directly from NGO partners whose work reflects compassion, moral imagination, and community-driven leadership in the face of injustice and local challenges.Presented by:

• Fernando Maldonado, Carite 3.0 (Puerto Rico)
• Katy Baric, Hands On Peru

Models of Mentorship: Mentoring as Leadership

Developing the Next Generation Through Purposeful Guidance

Explore how school-based and nonprofit mentoring programs cultivate inclusive leadership and empower young people to shape a more just world.

Presented by:

• Dennis Pooler, Comp Sci High
• Duron Jones, Summer Search

Principles of Risk Management

A Comprehensive Approach for School Programming

Learn how to design ethically responsible educational programs with a systems approach to risk, safety, and integrity.

Presented by:

• Bill Cotter, Shoulder-to-Shoulder

Children Inspiring Hope

Using Art to Inspire Global Citizenship

Discover how creative expression can build compassion and cross-cultural connection in young learners.

Presented by:

• Amy Gaylor, Children Inspiring Hope

Full Division Immersion Programs

Planning, Challenges, and Benefits Across K–12

Explore how schools are transforming culture through off-campus experiential learning rooted in ethical principles and public purpose.

Presented by:

• Academy of the Sacred Heart
• Miami Valley School

From Polarization to Progress

Tools to Navigate Difference and Lead in Divided Times

Dr. Katy Anthes shares leadership tools for fostering collaboration and unity in polarized environments, drawing on her work with PEBC’s Forward initiative.

Produced in partnership with Vail Valley Works

When generations collaborate instead of collide, innovation rises, culture thrives, and the bottom line grows.

Session led by:

Barbara Brooks – Age Positive Speaker, Consultant & Founder of SecondActWome

Concluding with a Fireside Chat featuring:

Katy Anthes, PhD – Public Education & Business Coalition (PEBC)

Age diversity isn’t just a buzzword, it’s a business superpower. In today’s workplace, Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z each bring distinct perspectives and strengths to their teams. By 2030, five generations will share the workplace - the opportunity to innovate, collaborate, and succeed has never been greater. But ageism still lingers, holding organizations back - ignoring it isn’t an option.

Age diversity isn’t just a buzzword — it’s a business superpower. Today’s workplace spans four generations, and by 2030, five will share the workplace. Each brings unique strengths, but ageism still lingers, holding organizations back. Ignoring it isn’t an option.

This energizing keynote-meets-workshop shows leaders how to:

• Harness generational differences to build stronger teams
• Improve collaboration across age groups
• Create workplaces that attract and retain top talentThrough real stories, data, the Return on Experience Method, and a dose of cheeky real talk, Barbara Brooks reveals how to flip the script on generational divides and turn age diversity into a business advantage.

NGO Partner Panel: Seeing Through Our Partners’ Eyes

A Unique Perspective on the SStS Field Study Experience

Engage in a candid conversation with longtime NGO partners about ethical collaboration, mutual respect, and transformative student experiences.

Presented by:

• Fernando Maldonado, Carite 3.0 (Puerto Rico)
• Katy Baric, Hands On Peru
• Karambu Ringera, International Peace Initiatives

Announcing the 2025 Keynote Speaker: Mayor Mike Johnston

We are honored to welcome Mike Johnston, Mayor of Denver, as this year’s Keynote Speaker. A former educator, state senator, and now Mayor of Denver, Mike Johnston has earned national recognition for his ethical leadership and innovative responses to complex societal challenges — from homelessness and housing to human migration. With roots in Vail, Colorado, Johnston returns to the valley not just as a leader on the national stage, but as someone shaped by the very community hosting this year’s forum.

This year’s theme — Leading Ethically in an Age of Division — dares us to confront the paradoxes at the heart of democracy.

When values collide, when truth itself is contested, and when political divides deepen, ethical leadership demands more than quiet consensus-building. It calls for the moral courage to face conflict without flinching, the compassion to truly hear those we oppose, and the integrity to hold fast to what is right — even when the cost is high.

At the heart of this year’s message are two simple truths: the highest form of leadership is bringing people together, and unity is not the absence of disagreement but the triumph of shared purpose over division.

In an age where democracy’s greatest strengths can also be its greatest vulnerabilities, we will explore how leaders can transform ethical challenges into the very fuel that propels us beyond polarization — toward a future where differences sharpen our vision rather than shatter our bonds.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Vail, United States