Luma Mufleh – Keynote Speaker on Belonging, Equity, and Refugee Education

16 Jun Luma Mufleh – Keynote Speaker on Belonging, Equity, and Refugee Education

Luma Mufleh took a wrong turn in Clarkston, Georgia. She stumbled onto a pickup soccer game. The players were refugee kids – eleven and twelve years old, from Liberia, Afghanistan, Sudan. Most of them could barely read a word. That wrong turn became Fugees Family – the first accredited school network in the United States dedicated entirely to refugee and immigrant students. Twenty years of building something from nothing, for kids that most systems had already written off. At Collaborative Agency Group, we book Luma Mufleh for education association conferences, district back-to-school events, and equity-focused programs where the audience needs more than inspiration – they need recognition.

What Luma Mufleh Speaks On

Luma Mufleh’s keynotes center on belonging – what it actually takes to build environments where every person, regardless of background or circumstance, can succeed. She speaks from two decades of direct experience building a school network for students that most institutions had given up on, and her content is specific in ways that purely inspirational content cannot be.

Her core topics include what genuine belonging looks like as a structural and cultural practice – not a value statement, but a set of deliberate decisions about how a school or organization treats every person who walks through the door. She addresses the specific work of equity: the discipline, the accountability, and the long-term commitment required to actually close gaps rather than acknowledge them. And she speaks to the meaning and sustainability of doing work that matters – what keeps educators, leaders, and change-makers going when the obstacles are real and the progress is slow.

For education audiences specifically, she addresses the difference between saying every student belongs and actually building the conditions that make it true – in hiring decisions, in discipline policies, in the small daily interactions that accumulate into a school’s culture over time.

Who Books Luma Mufleh

Luma Mufleh is a strong fit for back-to-school staff events and district convocations, education association annual conferences, equity and belonging-focused professional development programs, and leadership events where the audience includes administrators, teachers, and staff members across a district or organization. Her story and message have particular resonance for audiences working with underserved student populations, immigrant and refugee communities, or schools navigating significant demographic shifts.

She also performs well for general corporate and nonprofit audiences focused on belonging, DEI, and the practical work of building inclusive cultures. The education context is her home, but her message translates across sectors.

What Audiences Take Away

Luma Mufleh does not leave audiences with a feeling that fades by Wednesday. She leaves them with a story they return to when the work gets hard – a reference point for why belonging is not a program or a policy but a daily practice. Planners who have booked Luma consistently report that her keynotes generate the kind of post-event conversation that sustains the conference energy into the weeks and months that follow.

For education audiences specifically, her direct experience building schools for students others had written off gives her a moral authority and practical specificity that is rare on the keynote stage. She is not describing what belonging should look like. She has spent twenty years building it.

The Bottom Line

Luma Mufleh is one of the most powerful keynote speakers available for education audiences where equity, belonging, and the deeper mission of schooling are the themes. Collaborative Agency Group can check her availability for your event and help you determine whether she is the right fit for your specific audience and program. Contact us to learn more about current fees and availability for 2026 events.