Charting Our Future is the annual conference for education leaders, advocates, and allies. This event serves as a dynamic platform for individuals across various sectors, all united in their commitment to shaping a young person’s journey from cradle to career. Over two transformative days, we aim to ignite collaboration, enrich learning experiences, and expand professional networks. At the heart of this conference is the desire to build a collective knowledge base, equipping participants with essential tools to positively influence the lives of youth and their families. By adopting a systemic approach and pooling our diverse expertise, we aim to transform policies, practices, resource allocation, and power dynamics.
This year’s theme is Local Focus, Statewide Impact. We are actively seeking proposals for sessions that highlight initiatives and approaches within local communities with the potential to be scaled statewide.
Leveraging your position to advocate for local, regional, and state policy
that address racial disparities and promote student success.
Empowering families and youth to make informed decisions on issues that impact their lives.
Using data to challenge systems of oppression and achieve objectives of ongoing learning and fairness.
Exploring the interconnectedness of today’s education challenges and the ongoing impact of historical racism.
Examining strategies and techniques that. have proven effective in addressing the underlying structural causes of racial inequality.
We are seeking proposals that prioritize interactive discussion and audience engagement. To ensure a dynamic exchange of ideas, your proposed session should allocate at least 30 minutes to group conversations. We encourage proposals that incorporate multiple viewpoints and particularly the inclusion of student perspectives. Charting Our Future aims to empower diverse stakeholders to advance equity for students. Therefore, preference will be given to proposals that demonstrate a collaborative, cross-organizational approach rather than promoting a singular product, program, organization, or service. Please focus proposals on lessons learned, issues encountered, and solution strategies. The goal is not to merely demonstrate something, but rather to actively engage attendees in productive conversation. Discussion questions should aim to elicit perspectives from service providers, educators, leaders, community members, and other attendees so that all can chart an equitable way forward for our students.
Proposals should be submitted through our online platform. If you encounter technical difficulties, please contact us at conference@graduatetacoma.org for assistance. To ensure a complete submission, all fields on the online proposal form must be filled out. If you are unable to submit, it may be due to missing information. You will receive an electronic confirmation upon successful submission. If you do not receive confirmation, please resubmit the proposal. We recommend that you save a copy of your proposal before submitting it.
Proposals will be evaluated by our Conference Planning Committee using the following criteria:
The proposal should focus on challenges, trends, and lessons learned, with ample time for discussion and a call
to action. Proposals of equal merit cannot, in all instances, be selected if the result would be an imbalance in
the conference’s overall coverage of topics, audiences, and regions.
You will be notified about the status of your submission by April 8, 2024.
Proposals are reviewed by a conference selection committee of representatives from Graduate Tacoma community partners and service providers.
Unfortunately, specific dates or times for sessions cannot be requested due to the complexities of conference. Please ensure that you and your presenters are available during the conference time frame. Selected session leads will be notified of their session’s date and time in early April.
There is a registration fee for the conference. However, conference presenters’ fees will be waived. Selected presenters will receive a unique link or discount code to register for the conference.
Presenters have the option to only attend their session, but all presenters are required to register for the conference in order to effectively track event attendance and capacity.
The Greater Tacoma Convention Center is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, and presentation rooms will have basic audio/video capabilities and necessary equipment. However, to ensure smooth coordination of your session, please include all A/V needs in your proposal. Our event team will contact you to arrange your specific needs.
For any questions, please reach out to us at conference@graduatetacoma.org and a member of our conference
planning team will respond to you promptly.
Charting Our Future is presented and hosted by the Foundation for Tacoma Students. Our mission is to build and strengthen a community-wide movement to help every child achieve success from cradle to college and career.
2024 © All Rights Reserved. Foundation for Tacoma Students.
