Forum for Youth Investment Annual Ready by 21 Meeting

From March 31 - April 2, the Forum for Youth Investment will be hosting its fourth annual Ready by 21 National Meeting. Ready by 21 is a set of strategies developed by the Forum to help communities improve the odds that all children and youth will be ready for success in college, career, and life. This convening will bring together in New Orleans up to 400 leaders from the local, state, and national levels who are committed to developing partnerships, policies, and practices to improve the lives of children and youth.

Sessions will cover a wide range of topics, including:

• Advancing a Racial & Gender Equity Lens in Collective Impact Efforts
• Statewide Afterschool Networks: Forging Partnerships and Policies for Afterschool & Summer Learning
• Tackling Indicator Overload: How a Community Aligned its Dashboard, Mapping & School Systems to Aim for Better Outcomes
• United We Stand: Building Effective Rural Community Partnerships that Endure
• Supporting Opportunity Youth in Education Attainment & Workforce Development

For complete details about the agenda and information on how to register, please check out the Forum for Youth Investment's site here.

Othering & Belonging Conference: A National Conference to Promote an Inclusive Society

To make the community-lead changes to improve a community can require altering the structures, processes and narratives to create an environment that represents the diverse voices of community members. This involves navigating the social, political and economic shifts that occur in the neighborhood as well as larger society that often result in the marginalization, or "othering", of different social groups.

The Othering & Belonging Conference, organized by the Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society at UC Berkeley, seeks to bring together scholars, researchers, advocates, and organizers to examine the issue of Othering, a set of processes that engender marginality across any of the full range of human differences, such as race, socioeconomic status, gender, religion, statehood, ethnicity, ability/disability, sexual orientation, and more.The conference will feature a multi-disciplinary, intersectional examination of the forms of othering in order to craft transformative solutions that promote belonging. The goal of the conference is to discern possibilities and develop practices for generating more inclusive structures, narratives, and identities that prohibit Othering and promote belonging.

"Belonging or being fully human means more than having access. It means having a meaningful voice, and being afforded the opportunity to participate in the design of social and cultural structures. Belonging entails being respected at a basic level that includes the right to both contribute and make demands upon society and political institutions."

Conference speakers include

• Luis Garden Acosta
• Guillermo Gómez-Peña 
• bell hooks
• Naomi Klein
• Joanna Macy
• Lynn Manning
• Manuel Pastor
• Ai-jen Poo
• john a. powell
• Andrew Solomon

The conference will take place in Oakland, CA from April 24-April 26. To learn more, volunteer and register, visit the website.

National Anti-Hunger Policy Conference 2015

The Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) and Feeding America will hold its annual conference, the 2015 National Anti-Hunger Policy Conference in Washington, DC. The conference will convene anti-hunger and anti-poverty advocates; federal, state and local government officials; child advocates; representatives of food banks and food rescue organizations; and nutrition and anti-obesity groups, for three days of training, networking, and Capitol Hill advocacy. The Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) is the leading national nonprofit organization working to improve public policies and public-private partnerships to eradicate hunger and under nutrition in the United States. Feed America’s mission is to feed America’s hungry through a nationwide network of member food banks and engage our country in the fight to end hunger.

The conference will give participants an opportunity to share information and learn how to strengthen the quality and reach of federal nutrition programs, learn best practices in outreach and programming from other states and localities, identify the gaps in food service for millions of low-income children and strategize creative ideas for new and innovative approaches to ending hunger. Members of Congress, Hill staff and key Administration officials will be in attendance, provide comments as part of plenary sessions and panels, and join participants at receptions and special events.

The agenda includes workshops on advocacy, communications, child nutrition, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP), access, nutrition, research and the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). To see a complete list of workshops, check the agenda. The conference will take place March 1-3, 2015. Visit the website for more information or to register.

National Family and Community Engagement Conference 2015 Focuses on "Shaping Our Future by Leading Together: Families, Schools and Communities"

The Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL) hosts the National Family and Community Engagement Conference in Chicago, the theme for this year being “Shaping Our Future by Leading Together: Families, Schools, and Communities.” IEL works across boundaries to connect policymakers, administrators, and practitioners at all levels to better prepare children and youth for college, careers and citizenship.

Offering over 70 workshops, the event will feature evidence-based practices and leadership at all levels to showcase how schools and communities across the country realize mutual goals through productive partnerships. The structure of the conference encourages networking at the local, state and regional levels, team planning, and in-depth discussions.

The 2015 National Family and Community Engagement Conference will include:

4 Plenaries:

• Setting the Stage 
• The Chicago Story 
• Family Engagement & Equity 
• Taking it to Scale 

70 Workshops:

• Sessions will highlight high quality family and community engagement on the following topics: 
• Early Learning & Literacy (Birth to Age 8) 
• Student Achievement and Schooling 
• Community Partnerships 
• Teacher Leadership & Professional Development 
• Systemic Practice and Policy 
• Inclusive Education 
• Parent Leadership & Advocacy 
• High School, College & Career Transition

The conference will take place June 22-24, 2015 in Chicago. Policymakers, administrators, and practitioners are encouraged to attend. Visit the website to learn more or register.

National Network of Sector Partners Offers Free Virtual Conference to Address Barriers to Employment

The Insight Center for Community Economic Development hosts the National Network of Sector Partners (NNSP), a free virtual conference on sector initiatives and other workforce models for individuals with barriers to employment. The Insight Center for Community Economic Development is a national research, consulting and legal organization dedicated to building economic health and opportunity in vulnerable communities. The conference features workshops, interactive discussions and networking opportunities with leading practitioners, policy-makers and researchers about important policy and practice lessons from the sector field.

The conference will feature four tracks addressing the most relevant topics for sector initiatives today:

• Sector Initiatives and Career Pathways: Sector initiatives customize solutions for multiple employers and increase access to good jobs for low-income individuals. Career pathways connect progressive levels of basic skills and postsecondary education, training and supportive services to optimize the progress and success of individuals. 

• Sector Initiatives and Registered Apprenticeships: Sector initiatives, with their strong connections to employers in target industries are well-positioned to incorporate registered apprenticeships into their services. Registered apprenticeship is an important and effective component of the potential education and training services the workforce system can use to address the needs of businesses, job-seekers, and incumbent workers.
• Improving Employment Outcomes for People with Criminal Records: Sector initiatives have the opportunity to influence employer practices by increasing awareness of the challenges that people with criminal records face in the labor market, as well as helping to connect this population with jobs for which they are qualified.
• Sector Initiatives and Youth: This topic gives the opportunity to learn from youth-serving sector initiatives about the innovations and effective strategies they use to help young people gain employment and develop in their careers.

Participants encouraged to participate in this conference include:

• Community college, public workforce, and community-based workforce development leaders seeking examples of the most effective program models
• Government representatives, policy-makers, researchers, and advocates seeking examples of supportive policy
• Business and labor leaders invested in building a skilled workforce

The conference will run December 2 to December 12. To register and learn more, visit the website.