FELCA

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About us

Meet FELCA.

The Federation of Education and Language Consulting Associations

FELCA’s members are National Associations of Education and Language Consultant. Members of the National Associations are professional accredited agencies around the world whose role is to provide advice and guidance to students wishing to go abroad to study a language, or attend a high school or a university.

FELCA is a forum for discussion to promote international student education and cultural exchange and collaborates with GAELA, the Global Alliance of Education and Language Association, which represent accredited schools in over 40 countries, to offer a high-quality service and the best study abroad experience.

Objectives & Philosophy

Seven commitments the federation works by.

These elements constitute the minimum standard for FELCA agencies. However, each National Association of agents should also publish on its website the additional quality assurances it offers.

01

To strengthen and make permanent the links between existing national language and education consultant associations by providing a forum for discussion.

02

To encourage and assist in the establishment of new national language and education consultant associations.

03

To promote the image and credibility of language and education consultants with government departments and education bodies worldwide via lobbying, meetings and correspondence.

04

To enhance cross-cultural understanding by promoting the importance of international travel for language and educational study.

05

To discourage unfair and illegal cross-border practices in the language and education travel industry.

06

To create an Accreditation Code to establish guidelines for language and education consultants and school associations worldwide and hence facilitate harmonious and successful business relations.

07

To assist the language and education consultant associations in ensuring that the interests of their student consumers are protected.

Accreditation Code

A single code, every member.

FELCA’s member National Associations ensure that this Accreditation Code of Practice requires member agencies to:

01

Comply with all applicable national laws and regulations.

02

Act in the best interest of students and clients and provide objective, ethical advice.

03

Ensure that brochures and websites published by all their member agencies are intended to promote their services to students by providing accurate and truthful information.

04

Provide ongoing assistance and support to students throughout their stay abroad.

05

Act in a financially responsible manner.

06

Undergo regular audits of their brochures and websites.

The Board of FELCA

Elected by the member associations.

Paolo Barilari

President

Paolo Barilari

IALCA, Italy

Maura de Araújo Leão

Vice-President, Latam

Maura de Araújo Leão

BELTA, Brazil

Tatsu Hoshino

Vice-President, Asia

Tatsu Hoshino

JAOS, Japan

Pascal Carré

Vice-President, Europe

Pascal Carré

ABELIO, Belgium

Juan Manuel Elizalde

Treasurer

Juan Manuel Elizalde

ASEPROCE, Spain

Gabriela Ardito

Board Member

Gabriela Ardito

ARSAA, Argentina

Julia Richter

Board Member

Julia Richter

FDSV, Germany

Board Member

Oscar Porras

ASEPROCE, Spain

Annop Kanthatham

Board Member

Annop Kanthatham

TIECA, Thailand

Masaru Yamada

Advisory Committee

Masaru Yamada

JAOS, Japan

Eren Goker

Advisory Committee

Eren Goker

UED, Turkey

Scott Wade

Coordinator

Scott Wade

Our History

Built by associations, one meeting at a time.

Our History

FELCA was established in 2000, growing out of discussions held in the mid-1990s among national associations from Brazil, France, Germany, Spain and Japan. By the late 1990s its member associations spanned Asia Pacific, Europe and Latin America, with founding members in Brazil, France, Italy, Japan, Korea, Spain, Taiwan and Thailand.

Since then the Federation has grown internationally, welcoming associations from countries such as Russia and continuing to bring national language and education consultant associations together as a forum for discussion, shared quality standards and cooperation across the study-abroad sector.

FELCA Past Presidents

A Felca president, first among eaquals.

Bio | On FELCA
Masaru Yamada

1999–2002 | 2003–2007 | 2008–2011

Masaru Yamada

JAOS, Japan

Juan Manuel Elizalde
Bio | On FELCA

2012–2015

Juan Manuel Elizalde

ASEPROCE, Spain

Maura de Araújo Leão
Bio | On FELCA

2016–2019

Maura de Araújo Leão

BELTA, Brazil

In charge

Paolo Barilari
Bio | On FELCA

2020–2023 | 2024–2027

Paolo Barilari

IALCA, Italy

Masaru Yamada

1999–2002 | 2003–2007 | 2008–2011

Masaru Yamada

JAOS, Japan

Mr. Masaru Yamada founded in 1970 ICS Inc., a Tokyo based Study-Abroad counseling and placement agency.

By 2000, ICS had become one of the leading agencies in Japan employing 140 full-time consultants and staff members, supporting some 11,000 client students per year and booking in excess of 200,000 student weeks per annum.

In 2004, Yamada-san retired from the management of the company.

He served as an executive committee of ACIIE, American Council of International Intercultural Education (1998-2007) and an advisory board member of AIRC, American International Recruitment Council (2009-2011).

He is a co-founder of JAOS Japan and FELCA and previously served as President and Chairman for both entities. He currently works as an advisor to both.

Study abroad support services, which emerged around the world in the early 1970s, were maturing by the 1990s. However, as global exchanges deepened, the need for a forum where educational agents could exchange views became increasingly evident.

As with the early stages of any industry, it was necessary to begin by establishing codes of conduct and codes of ethics.
To this end, like-minded agents from around the world met informally in the mid-1990s to form an organization. This marked the founding of FELCA.

Although it was an underdeveloped association at first, it overcame the initial challenges of its inception, progressing through stages of growth and maturity to evolve into an organization suited to each phase of its development.

Now, as we face a new era of transformation, the participation and cooperation of agents worldwide are once again essential to foster the organization for this next chapter.

Juan Manuel Elizalde

2012–2015

Juan M. Elizalde Sánches

ASEPROCE, Spain

Juan M. Elizalde Sánchez is Chief Executive Officer of Kells College, one of Spain’s longest-established educational travel organisations, founded in 1972. With more than 35 years of experience in international education, he has dedicated his career to promoting educational mobility, developing long-term partnerships and strengthening professional standards across the sector.

He holds a degree in Business Studies and completed part of his academic education at the State University of New York at Binghamton, USA.
Juan has held senior leadership positions in national and international industry associations. He served as President of ASEPROCE, the Spanish Association of Educational Consultants and Programme Organisers, for sixteen years, as President of FELCA, the Federation of Education and Language Consultant Associations, for four years, and as a member of the Board of ALTO, the Association of Language Travel Organisations.

He also chaired the Spanish Working Group for four years during the development of a European quality standard for the study abroad sector, coordinated by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN).
Following the completion of his term as FELCA President, the Federation established a Permanent Advisory Board to support future Presidents and provide continuity in its strategic development. Juan currently serves as a member of the Permanent Advisory Board and as FELCA’s Treasurer.

Throughout his career, he has been a strong advocate for quality standards, ethical business practices and international cooperation, promoting the value of educational exchange as a means of personal and professional development.

“International education is a truly global industry, and many of the challenges we face are shared across countries and continents. FELCA provides a unique meeting point where national associations exchange experiences, learn from one another and work together to strengthen our sector. Through dialogue with schools associations, partner organisations and public authorities, it promotes quality, professionalism and ethical standards. For me, quality is not only about the programmes we offer, but also about how we support students before, during and after their international experience.

On a personal level, FELCA has allowed me to meet outstanding professionals from around the world, learn from their knowledge and experience, and build lasting friendships.

That spirit of collaboration, mutual respect and continuous learning is the true strength of FELCA and the reason why it has been, and continues to be, such an important part of my professional journey.

Maura de Araújo Leão

2016–2019

Maura de Araújo Leão

BELTA, Brazil

Maura de Araujo Leão, mother of 2 boys, Financial Director since 2024 and former President of BELTA’s (Brazilian Education & Language Travel Association) from 2009 to 2012, 2015 to 2018 and 2018 to 2021. She has been President for FELCA from 2018 to 2021 and is since 2021 Vice-President of FELCA. Since 2002 she is founder and CEO for the international education holding company Yet Education & Travel for the brands Yázigi Travel and Youniverse Intercâmbios, designed to deliver international education programs to Yázigi language school network, which has been in the market for since 1950 with language schools spread throughout Brazil.

With wide experience since her participation as a scholarship holder for the American Field Service in the 70’s. She has deep knowledge about the Brazilian market and has lived in the USA and Germany as an exchange student and travelled to all continents.

FELCA has associations in different countries with more than 700 accreditated agencies being particularly important to the international education and study-abroad market. FELCA is important for several reasons: It gives education agents an international voice; it creates standards and credibility; It protects students; It connects agents and schools internationally.

FELCA gives the international education agency sector a global voice, common professional standards and a framework of trust connecting students, agents, schools, associations and governments.

And if we look into the future, there is an interesting point: as AI and direct online recruitment become more important, FELCA may actually become more relevant- not less. The federation can help define what distinguishes a trusted professional education consultant from an unverified online intermediary, while establishing standards around transparency, student protection and responsible recruitment.

Paolo Barilari

2020–2023 | 2024–2027

Paolo Barilari

IALCA, Italy

Born in 1958 in Rome, Paolo Barilari began his career in the field of study abroad programs in 1989. His agency – Lingue nel Mondo – specializes in language courses abroad and academic year programs for individual students and small groups.

In 1997 he was one of the founders of Ialca, the Italian Association of Language Consultats and Agents, serving as its president for six years and as a board member from its founding until 2025.

He assumed the position of president of Felca in 2019. His goal, with the help of all the presidents of the world federation, is to strengthen Felca’s role as an authoritative international voice for agencies.

The importance of associations in all sectors – and especially in a dynamic international sector like ours – it is a fact. Within Felca, there is a clear understanding that the work of agencies is similar worldwide and that the challenges are largely the same.

Felca is a place where information, experiences, and projects are shared. The National Associations that are part of Felca form an agency accreditation system that is the only effective one. That is why Felca and Gaela – the alliance of national school associations – share a commitment to improving quality, fairness, and ethics in the field of language and educational courses abroad.