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interbeing 2026

a cultural reset assembly

Dubai • January 17–18 2026 • Al Fanar by Zaya

Not a conference,

a reconnection.

This isn’t sit-and-listen. It’s step-out-and-feel.
A rare gathering for school leaders who know the way we lead has to change.

And that it starts with how we gather.

What you’ll experience

An extraordinary leadership experience built around aliveness:

Let’s Play

Amy Jessop Performance & Engagement Manager,
New Covent Garden Theatre Dubai

Explore improvisation, play and storytelling in a fun, creative and practical way using immersive storytelling techniques, interactive exercises and tricks used by theatre practitioners from The Globe, The Royal Shakespeare Company, Punchdrunk, Frantic Assembly and more.

Creative Workshop

Imagination as a Bridge Between The Child and The World

Shimaa Mohamed Ewias Assistant Lecturer
Cairo University

In this session, we’ll listen, observe, and rediscover the quiet magic that lives in a child’s way of seeing. Through drawing and colours , we’ll explore how imagination opens space for curiosity, connection, and new meaning in learning — and glimpse a field experience from Egypt where imagination came alive in children’s everyday play and discovery.

Local VoicesConversations That Change You

Unsettled Ground: Leading from the Inheritance of Dust

Matt Hall Director & Lead Coach
MSB

Because the pied-noirs were never quite at home in Algeria, nor in France. What happens when leaders lead from fractured inheritances? We’ll explore leadership as a practice of staying with unsettlement, ambiguity, and historical hauntings.

Conversations That Change You

Should We Be Leading or Letting Go? Leading Through Uncertainty: The Inner Work of Outer Change

Karishma Bhansali Mehta

Join Karishma Bhansali Mehta - a Dubai-based journalist, moderator, and community curator - as she hosts a panel with global voices to explore themes of wellbeing, purposeful leadership, and conscious changemaking. Expect thought-provoking conversation and diverse perspectives as we invite your voices to the discussion.

Local VoicesConversations That Change You

From Rescuer to Coach: The Leadership Shift That Changes Everything

Efty Katsareas Leadership Coach
MSB Associate

We’re trained to jump in and fix things, but real growth happens when we step back and let others think for themselves. In this session, Efty Katsareas invites educators to question old habits of control and experiment with a braver kind of leadership: one rooted in listening, trust, and genuine collaboration.

Conversations That Change You

Transform Your Meetings With a Coaching Mindset

Naomi Ward Head of Learning
MSB

What does a remarkable meeting look and feel like? What might be possible if we create environments where participants feel seen, heard and valued - where they know their contributions are essential to a successful meeting? Experience what happens when we consciously create an environment that fosters a sense of belonging, and catalyses fresh thinking.

Conversations That Change You

Finding Our Voice, Guided by Students

Jodie Quirke Director of Performing Arts
GEMS Wellington Cluster

Led by performing arts students from GEMS Wellington Academy, alongside their teacher, Jodie Quirke, who will teach us something they already know well. Tuning in to the importance of learning from student voice, we will flip our classroom and follow their process to eventually sing something together.

Creative Workshop

Conscious Leadership: From Drifting to Shifting

Julie Rees Leadership Coach
MSB

Recognise how your being state shapes the organisational culture and explore the tools to help you shift in heart, body and mind.

Coaching by the Fire

The Common Values We Share - A Sip of Togetherness

Mai Mahmoud Head of Islamic Studies
British International School of Abu Dhabi

What happens when we connect through the values that unite us - compassion, integrity, and respect? What becomes possible when we ground in shared purpose and genuine understanding? Experience, as we make a delicious local mint tea together, how aligning our actions around common values deepens trust, strengthens relationships, and transforms into a space where everyone can thrive and grow together.

Conversations That Change YouCreative Workshop

Building Teams That Trust

Matthew Burfield Executive Vice President
GEMS Education

In this session, Matthew explores psychological safety as the foundation for teams that trust. Through story and reflection, he invites leaders to create cultures where people feel seen, safe, and supported to speak honestly. It’s a reminder that kindness isn’t soft - it’s the starting point of every strong culture.

Conversations That Change You

Ten years from now — who are you?

Nalini Cook WomenEd UAE

In this vision-boarding workshop, Nalini Cook (WomenEd UAE) invites you to step into your future self, identify what’s in the way, and to overcome and release what no longer serves — into the (literal) fire. A creative, elemental journey from clarity to courage.

Creative WorkshopLocal Voices

Story circles in the open air

Creative workshops in sunlit spaces

Shared art walls, spontaneous music, and language

Coaching by the fire

Regional voices, delicious food, and traditions woven throughout

Conversations that change you and your leadership

New perspectives that shift how you see your work – and your place in it

A deeper sense of aliveness to bring back to your school, your way to lead, your life

A space that shapes you

Hosted at Al-Fanar School, a soulful, Steiner-inspired sanctuary in Dubai, Interbeing is more than an event.

It’s a living, breathing invitation to reimagine leadership from the inside out.

No podiums. No PowerPoints.
Just conversation and connection.
Fuelled by imagination. Music.
Language. Story.

Who this is for

Interbeing 2026 is for school leaders who:

  • Crave space to slow down and reconnect to what matters
  • Want to lead with presence, not pressure
  • Believe education can be joyful, relational, and regenerative
  • Are ready to be changed by place, people, and presence

Maybe you’re proud. Maybe you’re running on fumes. Maybe you’ve built something powerful, and now find yourself asking, “What next?”

This is space to answer that.

Who this is not for

Interbeing is not for those chasing tidy outcomes, inbox zero, or CPD points to add to a résumé.

It’s not about passive keynotes and polished slides.
It’s about showing up, letting go, and leaning into what’s real.

What you’ll take home

This weekend might change your career. It might change your life. You’ll return home with:

  • A clearer sense of self and purpose
  • Grounded practices for leading without burnout
  • Tools for trust-building, dialogue, and presence
  • A community that sees you and wants you to keep growing
  • Energy, clarity, and courage to lead in a way that feels fully yours

Why now?

Because the world is shifting – and the way we lead must shift too. Because we need spaces that restore. Because leadership can be joyful, rooted, and real. Because cultural work begins with how we gather. Because there is a conversation in this place that only we can have.

This isn’t just two days in Dubai. It’s the way those two days ripple into how you lead, and how you live.

Your invitation to…

One extraordinary setting. One unforgettable gathering. Applications are now open.

If this stirs something in you, don’t wait. Save the date. Apply for your place today.

Apply Now