Thursday, October 20, 2022
9 am – 1 pm MT
Live / Virtual Conference / Join for All or Part of the Conference
Attendance is Free – Pre-registration Required

Interested in a career in international business? International Business & U is an annual conference hosted each fall. It is the premier international business student conference in the Rocky Mountain Region, bringing together students from 15+ universities and organizations from multiple states and multiple countries too.

International Business & U student conference brings students together from across the region to showcase different types of careers that can be achieved through international business and inspire students to travel for work and their studies.  The conference is to host over 500 students, a variety of speakers and panelists including regional international business experts, students, young professionals, and start-ups, as well as an expo featuring universities, study abroad programs and organizations with specific international opportunities.

Download the flyer HERE to share with friends!

Meet Our Speakers

Karen Gerwitz brings 30 years’ experience in international business to the organization in the private, public and non-profit sectors.  Her enthusiastic vision for how Denver can become a more globally-conscious city is what is driving the organization to its new development in the Fox Park neighborhood near downtown.  With business development, strategic growth and marketing as her main functional expertise, Karen has served overseas in Ghana and Austria, and in Colorado in multiple sectors including:  IT, Aerospace, Lumber, Science, Mining, and Government.  Her protocol and international cultural expertise prepared her well to host the official visits of the Emperor and Empress of Japan, the G8 Summit, the Western Hemisphere Ministerial Summit, and hundreds of other delegations. She earned her Bachelor of Science Degree in International Business and her Masters of Public Administration from the University of Colorado.

Ian Hamilton works on a number of related issues including climate change, climate finance and sustainable consumption and production while seeking to promote principled dialogue in the sustainable development space – often in collaboration with other like-minded organizations. Prior to joining the Office, he worked at the World Bank and African Development Bank. Ian holds a B.B.S in Management and an M.Sc in Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility. 

Kevin Kachidza is the Founder and CEO of Sarafin AI, a Founder Institute Western Canada (Winter 2021) startup company. Sarafin is a B2B SaaS company that combines generative Artificial Intelligence and the Sarafin e-learning platform to deliver rich learning experiences in multiple languages.  Before founding Sarafin AI in February 2021, Kevin was a Financial Crime Investigator and Anti Money Laundering specialist with HSBC Bank Canada, where he was also a national Diversity & Inclusion spokesperson for the bank.  Kevin is a Startup mentor at both Founder Institute Western Canada and Founder Institute Zimbabwe, and he is a recent graduate of the City of Denver’s Global Landing Pad for the Americas 2022.

Laura Nolan is the Global Distribution Manager for Spectra Logic, and has over 20+ years experience in customs and logistics.  Laura serves on the Association Board for the Rocky Mountain Institute of the World Trade Center Denver and heads the Compliance Interest Group of the World Trade Center Denver.  

Jamie Van Leeuwen, founder of the Global Livingston Institute in 2009, encourages students and community leaders to think bigger and think differently about international development. He currently serves as the GLI’s Chief Executive Officer. Jamie has been traveling to East Africa for more than a decade and continues to develop innovative partnerships between GLI and members of the public, private and nonprofit sectors in Uganda. In addition to his role as GLI’s CEO, Jamie is also a Senior Advisor for Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper.