X-Culture Global Symposium in Poland
Making Connections Around the World
By: Katie Zivley, Co-Editor-in-Chief
When you have the opportunity to share your professional interests and strong spots with others, you should take it before it’s offered to someone else!
The Global Business Week Conference in Lublin, Poland, took place at the University Marie Curie Sklodowska (UMCS) campus between July 12 and July 19, 2023. This conference was limited to 150 participants, with 18 student ambassadors and 25 professors from around the world. The top 20% are rewarded to attend and these students get divided into four different company teams.
“X-Culture is an organization that actually works with over 800 universities all over the world,” said Dr. Leilani Baumanis, Conference Chair of X-Culture and professor within the College of Business and Management. “We also have professional businesses all over the world that pose business challenges to X-Culture.”
Since starting with X-Culture in 2010, Baumanis’s involvement has grown as she eventually became a part of the board of directors, and today, she is number two in the organization. Baumanis helps manage the overall organization in some capacity as a board member but she’s also the program director for the college-bound version.
“We make it very affordable because we want even our students from Sub-Saharan Africa to be able to afford to study abroad with us,” said Baumanis. “It’s $1,500 for a whole week, including food, laundry, excursions and teaching.”
The symposium assigned international teams that had the opportunity to work with companies such as Accrea, Laboratoria Natury, Mastermedia, and Medisept. Lynn University alumna Emily Haynes, Angela Zidziunas and Riley Anderson were able to attend this symposium thanks to Dr. Baumanis’s help.
“The idea is to get students to work collaboratively together and get to know each other within 42 countries,” said Baumanis.
At the end of the symposium, Emily Haynes and her team, Team 19, successfully won the entire competition. Next summer, the X-Culture Global Business Week Symposium will be held in Thailand and those who are X-Culture alumni can be invited each year.
