CALL FOR PROPOSALS

What are you learning that our community needs to learn with you?

Roots to Routes: A Call Forward invites proposals for workshops, interactive presentations,and facilitated dialogues that spark bold learning, deep reflection, and strategic solution-building. Sessions are for K-12 educators and administrators, and should engage participants in meaningful ways while offering strategies, tools, and perspectives that can help move institutions and individuals forward in this evolving landscape around DEIJB. Educators, administrators, community partners, consultants, and professors from across the country are encouraged to submit proposals that offer powerful programming and unique experiences. We especially encourage proposals that center marginalized voices and experiences, elevate student leadership, promote the development and sustainability of leaders in this work, and model practices of inclusion and care.
Workshop Tracks
We welcome a wide range of proposals that explore the themes of our conference. Our workshops will be organized under the following tracks. A workshop may fit more than one track. 

  • Practitioner Wellness and Professional Sustainability
  • Curriculum and Pedagogy 
  • Leadership, Strategy, and Institutional Change 
  • Affinity, Identity, and Community-Building
  • Historical and Current State of DEIJB Work 
  • Dreaming Out Loud: Liberatory Futures and Next Practices in DEIJB ​
Have something to share with the Roots community?
We are looking for sessions that move beyond theory to offer honest reflection, meaningful dialogue, practical strategies, and possibilities participants can carry back to their communities.
All proposals are due by October 2. Notification of the status of these proposals will be sent on or before October 15th.  
Please note that all workshop presenters, if accepted, must be registered attendees of Roots to Routes. 
Workshop Guidelines

Workshops can take the following forms:
  • Dialogue Circle - 75 minutes
    • Facilitator will guide a participant-centered discussion on a central topic or question
  • Workshop - 75 minutes
    • Presenter will lead an interactive experience that includes presentation of information and opportunities for engagement and discussion 
  • Panel - 75 minutes
    • 3–4 presenters offering multiple perspectives, followed by audience Q&A
  • Experiential Learning - 75 minutes
    • Story circles, performances, simulations, or other approaches that align with DEIJB work

Proposal Expectations

In alignment with Roots to Routes: A Call Forward, proposals will be evaluated on the following criteria:
  • Clarity: The session description, goals, and intended audience are well-defined.

  • Relevance: The topic connects directly to the conference themes of equity, justice, belonging, and institutional transformation in independent schools.

  • Alignment with DEIJB Principles: The proposal demonstrates a commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and belonging in both content and approach.

  • Transformative Potential: The session offers insights, strategies, or practices that can spark both individual growth and systemic change.

  • Facilitator Expertise and Approach: Presenters bring relevant lived or professional experience, and design the session to be engaging and interactive.

  • Centering Marginalized Voices: The session prioritizes the voices, wellness, and experiences of those most often marginalized in schools and society.


Reviewers will also consider how each proposal balances vision with practicality, offering ideas participants can take back with them after the conference.