Jun 20 / Cindy Bonfini-Hotlosz, CEO

World Refugee Day Challenge

At Centreity, our commitment to refugee education is part of our origin story.

From our earliest days, we were driven by a simple belief: learning should be borderless, human-centered, and rooted in justice.
Often, we speak of “students at the margins”. Refugees are not marginal. They are central to the future of global education.
We saw this powerfully when we partnered with UNHCR and the Connected Learning in Crisis Consortium (CLCC) to co-develop and launch a global course on Connected Learning in Higher Education. The response was overwhelming: 861 participants from 116 countries registered for the program.
Among the participants were representatives from NGOs, universities, philanthropic foundations, and refugee learners themselves. Programs from across the CLCC shared their lived experience.
What struck me was the depth of engagement in the discussion forums and in the weekly synchronous sessions. Ideas flowed - some bubbled up outside of class zooming with new friends to share what we have learned. And the entire time, I was thinking - just look what education can be when it’s designed for inclusion, resilience, and mobility.

When universities educate displaced learners, they aren't just providing opportunity—they are taking the first steps needed to transform their entire learning ecosystem. It becomes better for everyone. Refugee students bring new questions, new frameworks, new perspectives. They challenge institutions to reflect, revise, and reconnect with their own mission and vision. Staff rethink what ALL students need. Technology departments examine solutions and think of how it can be better for ALL of the students. Curriculum becomes global.

Our Challenge

On this World Refugee Day, we celebrate those who refuse to let borders define their future. At Centreity, we are learning with the global refugee community. We believe education should not only prepare people for the world as it is. It must help us create the world as it could be - where everyone thrives.

Here’s what I want my peers across higher ed, philanthropy, and policy to hear loud and clear:

When you build capacity to reach the margins, you elevate learning for every student you serve.
Your curriculum gets sharper.
Your classrooms grow richer.
Your institutional purpose expands.
And done right, your business model becomes more sustainable.
Refugee education isn’t about giving back. It’s about moving forward.
So, in typical Cindy style I am issuing a challenge.

For World Refugee Day, I want you to consider:
  • What would it take for your institution to serve beyond borders—intentionally, with quality that you should be doing anyway.
  • If you weren’t given any additional funds, what benefits would this bring?
  • What does it look like when we make space for displaced learners—not as a project or an initiative, but as an integral part of the academic community?
  • And finally, why aren’t you doing this already?