Given unprecedented demographic shifts, immigration and migration throughout the world, this special issue of the International Journal of Educational Management is timely. That said, while there is a great deal of scholarly literature related to the topic throughout the social sciences, and a substantial corpus of such research in education as a field, there has been relatively little attention that investigates how leadership influences (and is influenced by) immigration and migration. Considered as a whole, this special issue seeks to explore this gap in the literature. As such, the issue focuses on the way that immigration and migration influence leadership preparation, practice and policy in some of the world's most dynamic cities, including Shanghai, Chicago, New York, Toronto, and a few authors take broader looks at Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, and the United States.