“Honoring Our Light” invites us to reflect on the brilliance we inherit, the resilience we embody, and the spaces we create to carry both forward. The Shim Shim Rooms serve as symbolic and ceremonial spaces of cultural affirmation—named after the traditional Eritrean act of gathering, warmth, and sharing. This opening moment will center the vision of the summit, acknowledge our shared histories, and celebrate the power of second-generation Eritrean leadership in shaping what comes next.

What does it mean to be Eritrean and something else at the same time? Whether you identify as Eritrean-German, Eritrean-Swedish, Eritrean-Australian, or any other combination, this session is for you. For second-generation Eritreans living across the diaspora, identity is complex, layered, and powerful. This conversation explores how embracing your hyphenated self is not just a personal journey, but a form of leadership. It is about leading with both the heritage you carry and the world you navigate. Panelists will share how they use their multifaceted identity as a source of strength, creativity, and clarity in their work and community. You will walk away with renewed confidence in the value of your full self and the impact it can have.

Leadership is not just about titles or visibility. It is about intention, clarity, and service. The Mebrahti mindset—meaning light, brilliance, and vision—is a way of leading that centers purpose over pressure and values over performance. This session invites Eritrean second-generation leaders across the diaspora to reflect on what it truly means to lead with inner clarity in a world full of noise and expectations. Panelists will share the tools, practices, and mindset shifts that have helped them stay focused and mission-driven while navigating the unique challenges of diaspora life. Whether you are building a career, an initiative, or simply exploring your next step, this conversation will remind you that your light is needed and your purpose is worth protecting.

What does it take to believe in something before anyone else does—and build it anyway? This panel features a pioneer Eritrean diaspora who is deeply connected to both her roots and her vision for change, took a bold risk: she founded a diaspora organization when there were few models and even less support. Ten years later, that vision has grown into a powerful platform serving communities across the globe. In this candid conversation, she shares the behind-the-scenes lessons of leading with love, navigating cultural and professional pressure, and staying committed to a purpose when the path isn’t always clear.

This session invites us to pause and step into the afternoon with greater clarity, intention, and self-awareness. As we reflect on the insights and emotions surfaced earlier in the day, we’ll take time to recenter and prepare our mindset for the next chapter of the summit focused on professional development. Through grounding prompts and collective reflection, we will align our energy, reaffirm our purpose, and create space to step into the next sessions with confidence, openness, and a renewed sense of possibility.

For many second-generation Eritreans, the language of elders is both familiar and foreign. This session invites an honest exploration of what it means to learn from those who came before while also evolving our understanding of culture. Through stories, questions, and reflections, we’ll examine how intergenerational learning can be a bridge instead of a barrier.

Being second-generation often means navigating a constant stream of opinions—family expectations, social pressure, and mainstream definitions of success. This panel brings together Eritrean innovators who have forged their own paths by tuning out the noise and focusing on what truly matters to them. You'll hear how they carved space in industries that weren’t built with them in mind, embraced their unique backgrounds, and turned vision into action. Whether you're building a brand, launching a nonprofit, or simply figuring out your next step, this conversation will equip you with tangible insights, mindset shifts, and hard-won lessons to help you lead with clarity and confidence.

Second-generation Eritreans often find themselves asking: which values do I keep, and which do I reshape? This session explores how we can reinterpret Eritrean cultural principles like service, humility, and perseverance to guide career, family, and community life in the West. Gain insight on how to lead with integrity while honoring the complexity of your lived experience.

Being second-generation means writing your own definition of success—sometimes against the grain of what was expected. This session highlights Eritrean changemakers who chose authenticity, creativity, and boldness over convention. You’ll hear what it took for them to break the mold and how their choices are creating space for others to do the same.

How do you lead when your choices challenge cultural expectations? This session features second-generation Eritreans who approached their leadership in the workplace through nontraditional ways - from community organizing to behind-the-scenes public policy work. Learn how challenging our sineserat expectations can pay off when you’re in the diaspora.

Second-generation Eritreans are often the first in their families to name, confront, and treat mental health challenges. This session holds space to talk about what healing looks like when you're breaking generational silence and trying to show up whole. Learn culturally conscious wellness practices and why taking care of yourself is not selfish, but necessary.

Raised to push through, work hard, and stay quiet, many second-gen Eritreans are just now learning to rest. This conversation reclaims boundaries, joy, and rest as radical tools for long-term survival and happiness. Hear from speakers who are unlearning burnout and choosing peace.

This session explores what it takes for second-generation Eritreans to build bridges between their generation and others, across the diaspora and back home. Whether you're organizing for justice or simply looking for connection, you’ll gain insight into the skills and emotional labor needed to bring people together.

As we close the first half of Day Two, we gather to honor the stories and truths shared around healing, rest, and collective care. This moment invites us to reflect on what it means to prioritize wellness in our personal lives and within our communities. Together, we’ll pause to acknowledge the emotional labor of holding space, the courage it takes to speak openly, and the power of care as a form of leadership. Before transitioning into the afternoon’s focus on collaboration and building, we reconnect with ourselves and each other—grounded, restored, and ready to keep going.

As we begin the second half of Day Two, we invite you to transition with intention from personal reflection to collective engagement. Building on the morning’s focus on mental health and wellness, this session will help us reconnect, refocus, and prepare to explore the power of community collaboration. Together, we will reflect on how individual well-being strengthens our ability to lead, partner, and build impactful change across the Eritrean diaspora. Let this moment ground us in purpose and energize us for the collaborative conversations ahead.

Second-gen Eritreans often feel pulled between duty and desire, between what they "should" do and what they truly want. This session will guide you toward listening to that quiet voice inside you and daring to dream with community in mind. Speakers will share how they reclaimed their purpose, and how you can too.

For many second-generation Eritreans, our stories were passed down in living rooms, at weddings, or over long-distance phone calls—but rarely captured in media, film, or books. This panel dives into how storytelling becomes a tool for cultural preservation, identity, and global impact. Featuring an Eritrean media entrepreneur building a company dedicated to amplifying untold African stories across industries, this conversation explores how second-generation creatives are reclaiming narrative

power.

This live-only, closed-door roundtable is exclusively for EDIS attendees. Led by Semhar Araia, the session creates a private space for Eritrean second-generation diasporas and supporters to share openly, ask questions, and reflect on the realities of diaspora leadership. The conversation is off the record and will not be shared publicly. A private replay will be made available only to those who attend live.

This session is for the second-generation diaspora organizers and nonprofit leaders trying to build something sustainable. From funding to burnout to cultural translation, we’ll discuss the realities of running diaspora-led institutions and how to strengthen them through collaboration, community support, and innovation.

The Shim Shim Rooms are your go-to networking hub at EDIS—an open space designed for connection, conversation, and community-building. Named after the Eritrean tradition of gathering in closeness and warmth, these rooms invite attendees to meet fellow changemakers, exchange ideas, and spark new collaborations. Whether you're looking to connect over shared experiences, find a future partner in impact, or simply take a break in good company, the Shim Shim Rooms offer a welcoming environment to root and recharge together

Step into the EDIS Digital Diasporas Stage, a digital sanctuary honoring the sound, memory, and imagination of second-generation Eritrean diasporas. Blending traditional melodies, home recordings, archival fragments, and surrealist visuals, this immersive experience reclaims cultural memory through music and movement. It's a lyrical archive and artistic offering that celebrates the layered identities of a generation shaped by both distance and deep connection. Part tribute, part time capsule, the Digital Diasporas Stage invites you to listen, feel, and remember—on your own terms.