Crossing Borders Education: Facilitating Global Dialogue and Peer-Led Learning
Crossing Borders Education (CBE) is a nonprofit dedicated to sparking intercultural dialogue and authentic connection in global learning spaces. They offer innovative media toolkits, interactive learning designs and social technologies to support peer-led communities.
Arnd Wächter, CBE’s founder and director, first invited me into the work after witnessing my facilitation at Real Talk. He saw the quality of presence I brought to a room and asked if I would help them bring that same depth to their online programmes. Five years later, I remain one of their lead facilitators, content creators and learning designers.
The Approach
With CBE, I’ve had the gift of co-creating immersive and imaginative experiences with participants from all over the world, from Brazil to Morocco, Pakistan to the USA, South Korea to Germany. Across it all, I’ve helped shape the way CBE designs and delivers its programming, drawing from both relational wisdom and creative strategy.
Together, we’ve instigated 100+ intercultural dialogue sessions and built a global media library now ready to be licensed by universities and learning organisations worldwide. I also led the design and delivery of a train-the-trainer programme to empower peer facilitators, ensuring that the ripple effect of this work continues long after a session ends.
creating online spaces that feel safe and creative
““Lily has this unique combination of skills. She can deeply inspire people with her creative skills, she can shine on stage, yet she can also truly step back to facilitate and support others to let their light shine. Lily's incredible creativity and soulful presence when sharing stories. And her deep care and emotional intelligence when facilitating groups are true gifts of life.”
Arnd Wächter
Founder, Crossing Borders Global
The Work
One particularly meaningful collaboration was supporting CBE's work with York University for the Sustainable on the Go virtual conference in 2022. I served as the youth engagement programme lead, guiding a cohort of 30+ international students in responding to the Toronto Declaration on Sustainability in Higher Education.
We worked together to craft a collective video contribution, prepare students for panel participation, and co-create a youth manifesto presented during the plenary. This process gave students the confidence and clarity to speak into spaces that don’t always feel open to them. For many, it was a transformative moment of voice and agency.
Throughout my work with CBE, I’ve integrated participatory storytelling, deep listening, mindfulness and space for silence, helping participants feel held, safe and empowered to connect across differences.
The Outcome
Over hundreds of students and educators have taken part in our programmes, which have been recognised by higher education institutions as offering something rare:
Real dialogue.
Real connection X Real skill-building
These are not transactional experiences. They are spaces where courage, vulnerability and intercultural insight are invited in equal measure. Whether I’m designing curriculum, guiding group process, or supporting new facilitators to step into leadership, the work is always about more than just content, it’s about creating the conditions for people to come alive in community.