News and Insights

SXSW EDU 2025: Innovation and Insight for Educators

March 20, 2025

At The Future of Education Day at the FINNxHumble House at SXSW EDU 2025, we took on just about every provocative issue in the education sector. The event was FINN EDU’s first-ever event at SXSW EDU, and thought leaders across the education landscape focused on the future of our work – from PK-12 and higher education to workforce development to cybersecurity and AI.

The engaging conversations with clients — both on and off the stage at SXSW EDU — remind us why we all love what we do.  The full scope of FINN EDU clients’ work was present in Austin. Plus, Liz Willen, Executive Editor at The Hechinger Report and Diana Marszalek, PRovoke Media’s Global Head of News, took the stage to celebrate the power and importance of savvy and authentic communications, and sparked conversation around how we thoughtfully connect with all the varied stakeholders in the education ecosystem.

Leveraging AI, Libraries, and High-Quality Teaching

We discussed all the ways education is evolving to meet the needs of America’s future workforce. Battelle for Kids talked about why cultivating hope and resilience in young people is fundamental to our shared future and success. The National Math and Science Initiative led a conversation about the need for high-quality teacher professional development in STEM and how to make it happen.

Technology is forever on our minds, and if you are an educator, AI looms large. Engineers from Carnegie Mellon University’s College of Engineering gave us all reason to believe AI can be a resource, not a threat. The Center for Internet Security shared effective strategies to keep schools, students and data safe from cyber attacks. We celebrated the power of America’s libraries with OverDrive, and got into the exciting promise of design-based learning and the future of teaching with visionary educators Doreen Gehry-Nelson and Randi Weingarten of the American Federation of Teachers.

Other featured speakers included visionaries in next-generation higher education, like Nuno Fernandes of the American Public University System (APUS), and in early childhood education, like Leah Austin, PhD, president and CEO of the National Black Child Development Institute. An added delight was our smart and highly engaged audience, who brought insightful comments and questions to every session.

Powering the Future of Education

The day was defined by discussion about all the important ways we can meet this moment of disruption in our nation’s education systems, and the vast opportunities that exist to truly reinvent teaching and learning in today’s changing world. What it means to be educated today looks very different from what most adults might recognize, and this reality necessitates a different language and more robust strategies to break through the noisy media landscapes we now inhabit. 

Perhaps no other sector is poised to truly be transformed the way education will be in the next decade. The rich, thought-provoking discussions at SXSW EDU 2025 make it clear that we must prepare those serving the education sector with novel marketing and communications strategies, create meaningful calls to action and speak authentically to our clients’ audiences and partners. We believe education powers the world, and we are fortunate to work with the leaders and brands that think so, too.

Access Videos from The Future of Education at SXSW EDU 2025