Sydney Harbour Turning Global Opportunities into Classroom Impact
BESydney’s Social Impact Strategy was developed to ensure that the benefits of hosting global meetings are felt across the community long after the event has ended. In education, this means leveraging business events to support innovation, inclusion, and long-term learning outcomes, especially in public schools and underrepresented communities.
Dr Scott Sleap, STEM Enrichment Coordinator at the NSW Department of Education, has witnessed the strategy’s effect firsthand. “These programmes are more than a one-time experience,” he explains. “They are integrated, long-term engagements that embed global expertise into our local classrooms.”
One such programme is the Orbispace Initiative, founded by Silicon Valley software entrepreneur Anna-Grace Millward. Through this programme, students from underrepresented public schools in NSW have had direct access to high-profile female role models from Australia and abroad.
Dr Sleap says: “At Rutherford Technology High School, for example, teacher Jade Bassett has taken the model and applied it locally with remarkable results. One student, previously attending just 10 per cent of the time, is now in Year 11 with full attendance, studying chemistry, physics, and mathematics. She’s also leading efforts to bring other girls into the programme.”
The school now has more girls enrolled in chemistry than boys. “That’s not just unusual, it’s a reversal of the national trend,” he adds. “These shifts only happen when global industry is connected meaningfully to local education.”
Moments That Change Lives
The impact of these initiatives is not confined to STEM disciplines. From animation and creative technology to space science and entrepreneurship, international conferences in Sydney are sparking career ambitions across fields.
At SIGGRAPH Asia 2023, for instance, a Junior Animation Competition drew participation from 1,700 students and 100 teachers. Finalist entries were screened at the International Convention Centre Sydney (ICC Sydney), where two students from Western Sydney presented their work alongside global industry professionals. “When students see their work celebrated at the same venue as world-leading innovators, it’s transformational,” Dr Sleap explains. “They begin to see those industries as accessible and their skills as valued.”
One of the most powerful moments for Dr Sleap personally occurred during a space education programme that emerged from an international meeting in Sydney. Students from rural NSW travelled to the city to take part in immersive activities and meet Australian astronaut Dr Andy Thomas.
“You could see it in their faces,” he recalls. “Meeting someone who had been to space, who grew up in Australia, made the idea of a space career real for them. That sense of possibility is something no textbook can deliver.”
Ensuring access to these experiences for students in rural, regional, and remote areas is central to the Social Impact Strategy. BESydney supports participation through funded travel, virtual learning options and tailored workshop delivery. In 2023, 17% of all STEM Enrichment engagements reached Aboriginal students, guided by Aboriginal Education Advisors to ensure cultural sensitivity and community leadership.
“Our collaboration with BESydney allows us to be deliberate about inclusion,” says Dr Sleap. “We design these programmes with equity in mind from the very beginning so no student is excluded because of where they live or their cultural background.”
From Inspiration to Long-Term Change
While moments of inspiration are critical, the focus is equally on building sustained change. For BESydney, the goal is to embed the legacy of international meetings into NSW’s education system so that the benefits live on in classrooms long after delegates have flown home.
International events also open doors to collaborations with long-term impact. A meeting with Dr Andy Aldrin of the Aldrin Family Foundation at a Sydney conference led Dr Sleap to secure a Winston Churchill Fellowship and embark on an eight-week tour of leading institutions in the United States, including NASA and the White House.
“The knowledge and networks from that trip informed new approaches that have since engaged over 220,000 students,”he says. “These are young people whose futures may now include careers in fields they’d never imagined.”
By showcasing these education initiatives to global delegates, NSW is positioning itself as an innovator in the field. “It demonstrates that we take future-focused learning seriously,” he adds. “We’re not just hosting events, we’re leveraging them to shape the future workforce.”
A Strategic Partnership With Purpose
This model of collaboration between BESydney and the NSW Department of Education encapsulates what meaningful legacy can look like in the business events sector. By aligning international conferences with educational priorities, the Social Impact Strategy is delivering far-reaching social benefits and influencing broader educational reform.
“If our partnership can help even one student reimagine what their future could look like, then we’ve already succeeded,”says Dr Sleap. “But when that one student turns out to be a leader who brings others along, that’s how transformation really happens. In five years, I want to meet someone at a conference who tells me they’re here because they attended one of our school programmes. That would be the true measure of impact.”
For BESydney, this is not an isolated case but a replicable framework. It’s a compelling example of how the global meetings industry can embed social value at the core of its mission, leaving a legacy not just in policy papers or GDP figures, but in the ambitions and achievements of the next generation.
To learn more about incorporating social impact into your next Sydney event contact BESydney.