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Workshop proposal deadline:
June 27, 2025

2025 Bridge Conference

When: October 27-28, 2025
Where: Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue, Washington

Thank you for your interest in presenting at School’s Out Washington’s 2024 Bridge Conference! Our goal is to bring together presenters and participants of different identities, perspectives, and backgrounds from the expanded learning opportunities field. We welcome and encourage people who speak multiple languages to participate. 

We plan to provide a balanced, diverse program including a majority of presenters identifying as Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Color (BIPOC) and workshops from across Washington state, and an array of topics for attendees with different roles and levels of experience and expertise to choose from. As an organization we are exploring ways to break down barriers around language and are open to multilingual opportunities. English grammar is not part of our selection criteria. We are seeking proposals that offer a high quality and compelling workshop (e.g. clarity of title, description, style and delivery), conference alignment and relevance (with theme and event learning objectives), and racial equity alignment. 

This year’s theme is Together We Rise. We are looking for workshop proposals that help leaders and youth within programs and systems to: 

  • Understand stages of child and adolescent development (including what we know now that we didn’t know 5-10 years ago), and how to apply this knowledge to programs and systems. 
  • Align employee, program, and organizational practices with values. 
  • Cultivate community care for youth and youth workers. 
  • Incorporate practices that support our humanity, from how to heal and manage grief to how to celebrate and play together. 
  • Lead an individual, organization, or system through transformational change. 
  • Create or grow new programs in collaboration with others, within an environment of support. 
  • Communicate about the strengths of the expanded learning opportunities field and the critical role we play in supporting youth and families to policy makers, government agencies, and the public. 
  • Reflect on our biases while learning and unlearning how to create more holistic and supportive environments for young people. 

We look forward to reviewing your proposal and thank you for your commitment to the field!