Rewind SXSW EDU 2025

Powerful Programming

March’s event brought together top thought leaders and innovators in education, featuring community-curated sessions across 12 thematic tracks.

The daily Keynotes left us inspired, kicking off with Anne-Laure Le Cunff and Vanessa Van Edwards in conversation on how changing your mindset can make a lasting impact; Emily Calandrelli on the power of representation; Simran Jeet Singh and Jasmin Rubero on how children’s books can help kids engage with the world; and Shamil Idriss, closed out the event by showing how to turn conflict into cooperation.

Across 14 Featured Sessions, we heard from an inspiring lineup of thought leaders, including AI expert Sinead Bovell, Executive Producer of the CMA Awards Robert Deaton, #1 New York Times best-selling author Sharon McMahon, Gold Award Girl Scout Dylan George, librarian Mychal Threets, and many more.

Watch SXSW EDU Keynote & Featured Sessions

Exhilarating Competitions

SXSW EDU 2025 competitions highlighted exceptional talent, featuring seven Launch Startup Competition finalists and six Student Impact Challenge finalists. In March, these teams took the stage to pitch their ideas, competing before a panel of judges and a live audience.

Women swept both competitions. The Launch Startup Competition, presented by the Walton Family Foundation, named College Contact, a platform that provides high school students with career tools, as this year’s 2025 Launch Startup Competition winner; Making Space, a talent acquisition and learning experience platform for companies to train, access, and retain pre-qualified Disabled talent, as the Impact Award winner; and Bili, which brings culturally responsive learning to children, as the Community Choice Award winner.

The Student Impact Challenge, presented by The Allstate Foundation, named Spark this year’s winner. Spark embraces the unique needs of children on the spectrum, offering a safe and enriching environment for growth and development.

Fascinating Films

Nine films graced the SXSW EDU Film Program screen, tackling why a shift towards a skills-based hiring movement would benefit individuals, companies and the economy in “UNTAPPED: Closing America's Opportunity Gap”, how the biggest crisis of our time is math in “Counted Out”, how a school counselor is helping kids cope with grief and loss, while also teaching conflict resolution in “ULTIMATE CITIZENS”, and much more.

“I have to say I was incredibly blessed to have gotten to meet and do a photo op with the "Make A Circle" filmmaker, one of the ladies in the documentary, and also met the CDA Council representative. As a PD Specialist and Daycare Center Director this was an invaluable experience. I also connected with one of the centers from the film afterward to share common experiences and keep moving our industry forward.”

SXSW EDU 2025 Attendees

Exciting Performances

This year’s performances showed us that education can be educational as well. We explored how to instill a love for the arts in children who aren't afforded the opportunity, reimagined classroom pedagogy through hip-hop cypher-inspired approaches, leveraged the entertainment factor of magic to increase excitement and awareness in STEM, and enjoyed an educational puppet show with an exciting surprise on-stage guest appearance from Paul Rudd showing us that anyone can make a puppet!

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Dynamic Expo

This year’s Expo held more than 75 interactive exhibits from around the world showcasing the latest innovations in learning, with a guest appearance from the Cat in the Hat, student interviews in Roadtrip Nation’s big, green RV, a mobile well-being studio with OutLoud Dallas, among many others. Additionally, the Expo hosted curated networking opportunities including daily snack and coffee breaks, was home to our two competitions, and so much more.

Braindates

For the first time at SXSW EDU, attendees were able to connect in person through a new networking avenue: Braindate! Through curated topics created by peers, attendees were able to connect on what they are passionate about.

“I had a great time with Braindates. I spent one day only doing those! I connected with like-minded people and was able to network, as well as find inspiration. It was a great addition to the event!”

SXSW EDU 2025 Attendee

Building Connections

With 80 Mentor Sessions that inspired action, 12 thought-provoking Roundtable Discussions on topics including supporting multilingual learners and navigating funding declines, daily Walking Tours exploring Austin’s rich art and culture, Pop-Up Dinners that sparked lifelong friendships, a lively Opening Party to kick things off, and the Beats & BBQ Social to close it all out, this week was packed with meaningful moments and endless opportunities to grow our networks and communities.

“This was my first SXSW EDU and it was amazing! I really loved all of the opportunities to meet people. From meet-ups to parties, dinners to walking tours, there was so much intentionality in ensuring there was time and space to meet like minded people and have meaningful conversations. Whether it was a puppeteer, a Grammy award winner, an actor, an activist, an author, and most importantly all the educators, the people really made my SXSW EDU experience memorable.”

SXSW EDU 2025 Attendee

Participate At SXSW EDU 2026

Interested in speaking next year? Apply to speak at SXSW EDU 2026 through PanelPicker from June 24, 2025 through July 27, 2025. Stay tuned for more information on participation opportunities and more when you subscribe to our newsletters.