At this year’s convening, network members and their local partners will celebrate successes, collaborate on challenges and learn how to accelerate progress to better support children and families. Read on to find out what’s new at this year’s event.

Welcome reception at the National Museum of Women in the Arts

Our convening will kick off with a welcome reception featuring a surprise student performance and a formal welcome from Rosie Allen-Herring, a Raise DC Leadership Council member and CEO of the United Way of the National Capital Area. You’ll have the opportunity to reconnect with peers and form new relationships, in a setting of unique exhibits featuring art from women around the world.

Unstoppable keynote speakers

This year’s keynote sessions will share stories of unstoppable communities and practical experience that you can apply to close gaps and improve outcomes.

• On Thursday morning, Richard Reeves with the Brookings Institution and David Williams with Opportunity Insights will discuss how to create better futures for youth and families by transforming systems designed to fail them.
• At lunch on Thursday, Cecilia Munoz, vice president for public interest technology and local initiatives at New America and a former senior staff member in the Obama administration, will share how changing systems and policies is key to addressing racial inequities and disparities for kids and families today.
• On Friday morning, activist, author and civil rights leader Stacey Abrams will share how community authority and mobilization are crucial to the advocacy and policy work that will improve the lives of children of color and children living in poverty.
• To close the event on Friday afternoon, David Brooks, op-ed columnist for The New York Times, and education, policy and philanthropy leader Jim Shelton will be joined by Cradle to Career Network members — South Bronx Rising Together, Bold Goals Coalition and United Way of Salt Lake — to share how the power of the Network is what makes us unstoppable.

Livestreaming

Due to unprecedented interest, this year’s convening is sold out. For Network members unable to attend, we are livestreaming plenaries for the first time. Stay tuned for more details!

Racial affinity groups

New this year, StriveTogether will be hosting two racial affinity groups Thursday evening.

• StriveTogether’s The Collective reception is for network members of color to build connection, lend support to each other and share resources.
• StriveTogether’s White Caucus for Racial Equity evening workshop is for white network members to engage in internal and interpersonal work around white privilege and white fragility. The workshop is aimed at building allyship and advancing racial equity and inclusion.

New session formats and levels

When we share our experiences, ideas and insights, we become unstoppable. This year, in response to participant feedback, we’ve expanded session formats to include:

• Collaborative sessions: 30-minute, critical problem-solving sessions.
• Meet-up sessions: One-hour, speaker-facilitated networking events that encourage communities to connect around similar topics, passions or roles.
• Talk sessions: 15-minute, high-energy speaker presentations followed by 15-minute audience question-and-answer sessions.
• Workshops: 45-minute sessions exploring priority topics, highlighting a tactic, tool or strategy helping to improve cradle-to-career outcomes. 

Network member input has led us to add session levels reflecting the target audience. Levels are based on the intended participant’s experience with the session’s topic area.

• Discover is for attendees who are just beginning work in this topic or outcome.
• Build is for attendees who have some experience with the topic or outcome and want to dig deeper to gain more tools or knowledge in that area.
• Accelerate is for attendees who have a lot of experience with the topic or outcome.

This year, workshops also align to the seven capacities identified in our strategic plan:

• Equity
• Leadership and talent
• Data and information
• Practice improvement and acceleration
• Communications and engagement
• Policy, advocacy and mobilization
• Sustainable resources

Keep an eye out for the release of our CrowdCompass event app to learn more about sessions and plan your convening experience!

The post Ready to become #UnstoppableC2C in Washington, D.C. appeared first on StriveTogether.

Welcome reception at the Seattle Art Museum

Our reception at the Seattle Art Museum will kick off with a drumline of students from Abraham Lincoln High School in Seattle and a formal welcome from Washington’s lieutenant governor, Cyrus Habib, and Tacoma’s mayor, Victoria Woodards. Network with peers, learn more about the local context of Seattle and visit the exhibits, including the museum’s remarkable Native American galleries and exceptional collection of Australian Aboriginal ​art.​

Impactful plenaries featuring leaders in community empowerment

This year’s plenary sessions will explore the importance of community voice in collective impact — working together instead of apart toward equitable outcomes for every child — reflecting our convening theme that in order to go far, we must go together. Here are this year’s plenaries, featuring leaders creating change through community action:

• Cradle to Career Network members and community leaders will share their stories of how who has a seat at the table impacts the success of every child, cradle to career.
• Award-winning national leader in social justice Brittany Packnett will share lessons of movement-building, effective social impact, educational equity and empowerment for marginalized communities.
• Cradle to Career Network member Summit Education Initiative will lead an interactive simulation, challenging the audience to use collective action to allocate resources and promote equity and opportunity for all.
• Our convening will close with powerful words from lifelong educator and community activist Dr. Jill Biden.

50 workshops and seven customized session tracks

Workshop offerings are differentiated this year through seven thematically aligned tracks to maximize your learning and collaboration with your peers.

• Equity
• Leadership and talent
• Data and information
• Practice improvement and acceleration
• Communications and engagement
• Policy, advocacy and mobilization
• Sustainable resources

From a TEDx-style presentation showcasing different partnerships’  work in a variety of outcome areas to a case study on how to develop local community leaders through grassroots outreach, workshop offerings are robust, with three blocks of engaging and applicable information. Keep an eye out for the release of our CrowdCompass event app to learn more about workshops and plan your convening experience.

Want to get started on learning early? Connect and learn at one of our pre-sessions. Pre-sessions will take place Wednesday, October 10, from 2:30 to 4 p.m. PT, before the convening kickoff that evening. Check out the offerings and sign up here.   

Role alikes and regional cohort sessions

The convening offers opportunities for you to engage with staff and partners across the Network who share similar roles and contexts. Join your peers to brainstorm solutions and share ideas.

Role alikes: Build relationships with peers who share the same role as you. Use these connections to identify priority topics and make connections across the Network.

• Advanced partnerships directors
• Chief operating officers
• Communications managers
• Data managers
• Emerging directors
• Facilitators
• Leadership table members
• Partners
• School district staff

Regional cohort: Meet partners from your region who are addressing similar challenges and opportunities in your geographic context.

• California
• Midwest
• Minnesota and Wisconsin
• New York
• Northeast
• Ohio
• Pacific Northwest
• Southeast
• Texas
• West

Join us — register today!

We have so many exciting opportunities for you at this year’s Cradle to Career Network Convening.  If you plan to join us next month but haven’t signed up, please register as soon as possible. Our space is limited, and we are projected to reach capacity before the registration close date of Friday, September 28. See you in Seattle!  

The post 2018 Cradle to Career Network Convening: See you in Seattle! appeared first on StriveTogether.