Gaining Buy-In from Leadership for Your Digital Well-Being Initiative
Many educators and counselors already recognize the importance of digital well-being for students—whether in terms of mental health, social-emotional development, or digital literacy. However, they often face resistance from leadership, colleagues, or departments that may not share the same urgency.
How can these educators act as “intrapreneurs” to build a strong case for prioritizing digital well-being? How can they bridge generational gaps between digital-native and non-digital-native staff to advance these initiatives while avoiding unnecessary conflict?
In this crash course, we’ll guide educators—including counselors, classroom teachers, and school leaders—through key questions to help them define problem statements relevant to their school contexts. We’ll also share tools to estimate hidden costs (such as staff time and behavior management challenges) using insights from our work with schools in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Thailand—supported by research from graduate students at Hong Kong University and in partnership with the Youth, Media and Wellbeing Research Lab at Wellesley College.
Facilitated By
Mila Devenport
Founder and Chief Education Officer, Kigumi Group Ltd.
Mila is the Founder and Chief Education Officer of Kigumi Group, a social enterprise in Hong Kong teaching digital well-being and AI ethics for digital natives. She is a certified AI ethics assessor by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and a character educator who focuses on integrating ethical reasoning and social emotional learning (SEL) into all aspects of life in the digital age.
Prior to founding Kigumi Group, Mila had a 10 year career in the non-profit and philanthropic sectors in South East Asia,
including being part of the founding teams of United Overseas Bank’s inclusive employment programme for people with disabilities; and of the Asian Women’s Leadership University College in Penang. Mila received her B.A. in Philosophy from Mount Holyoke College and her M.A. in Character Education from the University of Birmingham.
