Life-changing transformation: how global events are shaping classrooms in NSW
When international conferences take place in Sydney, they open doors for students across NSW to futures they never imagined. Through BESydney’s Social Impact Strategy and its partnership with the NSW Department of Education, global events are being transformed into curriculum-linked experiences that reshape classrooms and inspire incredible career dreams.
Turning global opportunities into classroom impact
BESydney’s Social Impact Strategy is a framework that ensures global meetings deliver benefits well beyond the event itself. It is designed to translate international conferences into lasting outcomes for communities, with a focus on areas such as innovation, inclusivity and education.
In schools, this means creating experiences that connect directly to curriculum priorities and provide tangible benefits for teachers, students and the wider education system. It also means designing experiences that extend well beyond the event itself and benefit schools, teachers and students.
Dr Scott Sleap, STEM Enrichment Coordinator at the NSW Department of Education, shares some striking results.
“One of the most powerful examples I have seen comes from our partnership with the Orbispace Initiative, founded by the inspirational Anna-Grace Millward,” Dr Sleap says.
“Anna-Grace is a software entrepreneur based in Silicon Valley who has dedicated herself to empowering young women and inspiring the next generation of female entrepreneurs. We supported this program so that girls from underrepresented public schools in NSW had direct access to female leaders from Australia and around the world, including the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, giving them role models they may never have imagined meeting.
“At Rutherford Technology High School, teacher Jade Bassett has used her local version of the program to transform outcomes for her students. One remarkable student, who once had a school attendance rate of just 10 per cent, is now in Year 11 with a perfect 100 per cent attendance, studying subjects such as chemistry, physics and mathematics, and taking on a leadership role to bring other girls into the program. The school now proudly has more girls enrolled in chemistry than boys – an extraordinary reversal.
“This is the kind of long-term, life-changing transformation that can happen when global industry events and local school programs are connected in the right way.”
“The changes at Rutherford are real and measurable, with more girls taking advanced science subjects, higher attendance rates and a cultural shift towards seeing STEM as accessible and exciting for female students,” he says. “That kind of shift does not happen by accident. It is the result of bringing the right opportunities, people, and programs together, exactly the kind of impact that comes from connecting education with industry through global events.
This change is being replicated across NSW through other international events, from STEM to creative technology.
At SIGGRAPH Asia 2023, a Junior Animation Competition drew in 1,700 students and 100 teachers, with finalists’ work celebrated on the big screen at ICC Sydney. Two students from Western Sydney won awards, presenting alongside industry leaders and discovering career pathways that once felt out of reach.
Dr Sleap explains why programs like this matter:
“It’s the secret sauce,” he says. “When students see how industry really works, it makes their classroom learning meaningful. We are preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist, so it’s critical they learn to collaborate, adapt and innovate. That’s what BESydney helps us do – bring the future into the classroom.”
Moments that change lives
And it’s not only in STEM classrooms – moments of inspiration are happening wherever global expertise meets local students.
For Dr Sleap, the most powerful outcomes are those that shift how young people see their futures. At one flagship space education program, born from an international conference hosted in Sydney, students from rural NSW took part in hands-on activities before meeting Australian-born astronaut Dr Andy Thomas.
“Watching their expressions as they realised they were standing face-to-face with someone who had actually been to space was unforgettable,” he says. “For many, it was the first time they thought a career in space science was possible for an Australian, let alone for someone from a small rural town. That moment of connection, seeing possibility become reality, is why I do what I do.
“Working with BESydney allows us to ensure that regional, rural, and remote communities are not left behind when world-class events take place in Sydney. Their support helps us prioritise these students through funded travel, virtual participation and tailored workshops.”
These experiences align directly with BESydney’s Social Impact Strategy, which focuses on equity of access and ensuring diverse communities benefit when Sydney hosts global meetings.
In 2023, 17 per cent of all STEM Enrichment engagements were with Aboriginal students, supported by Aboriginal Education Advisors.
“Our collaboration with BESydney is also helping us ensure that culturally diverse and Indigenous students are fully included in these opportunities,” Dr Sleap says. “With Aboriginal Education Advisors in place, we can design programs that are culturally sensitive and community-led from the outset.
From inspiration to long-term change
BESydney’s Social Impact Strategy emphasises that international meetings should deliver value long after the closing session. In education, this means capturing insights, projects and connections from global events and embedding them into teaching resources and classroom practice across NSW.
International conferences also open doors to collaborations with a lasting impact. Through one such event, Dr Sleap met Dr Andy Aldrin from the Aldrin Family Foundation, which led to a Winston Churchill Fellowship and an eight-week tour of NASA, the White House and leading US institutions. The knowledge and networks from those experiences influenced programs that engaged more than 220,000 students last year.
“These aren’t just numbers,” Dr Sleap says. “They represent students whose futures may have been changed by opportunities that trace back to conversations and connections made at global events.
“Partnering with BESydney puts NSW in the global spotlight as an innovator in STEM education. When international delegates see how we embed conferences into wider education strategies, it shows that NSW is serious about preparing students for the jobs of tomorrow.”
Looking ahead, Dr Sleap sees NSW as a leader in this space. “In five years’ time, I want to meet a conference delegate who tells me they entered the industry because they attended one of our programs as a student. That would be the ultimate measure of success.”
Credit: Andy Roberts
A strategic partnership with purpose
This is exactly the long-term, life-changing transformation that BESydney’s Social Impact Strategy is designed to deliver. By connecting global industry events with local schools, BESydney and the NSW Department of Education are ensuring that international meetings create meaningful outcomes: inspiring young people, strengthening equity and inclusion and preparing students for the jobs of tomorrow.
“If our partnership with BESydney can help make these outcomes a reality, we will have created change that goes far beyond the events themselves — shaping the future STEM workforce of NSW and beyond,” Dr Sleap says.
For BESydney, these are not isolated stories, but a model of how global meetings can create lasting educational and social outcomes, inspiring the next generation and shaping the workforce of the future.
