Tag: Bridge Conference

2021 Bridge Conference Hoodies!

By School's Out Washington

Look cozy at our virtual Bridge Conference and carry the theme of “From Seedlings to Stardust” with you throughout the year! We were so inspired by Stacy Nguyen‘s beautiful depiction of our Bridge theme that we wanted to offer it to all of our attendees. Purchase your sweatshirt on Bonfire from now until November 5. Order before September 30 to receive your sweatshirt in time for the Conference! Questions? Feel free to email our Marketing Manager, Tran at ttonnu@schoolsoutwashington.org.

Liz Dozier will kick off our Bridge Conference!

By School's Out Washington

For our Opening Keynote Speaker for our 2021 Bridge Conference, we wanted a strong storyteller who would anchor us in our theme as we begin our learning journey together. From Seedlings to Stardust asks us to disrupt inequitable systems and persist through change to transform how we support young people and Liz Dozier, Founder & CEO of Chicago Beyond, has just that experience. We are honored to announce that Liz Dozier will kick off this year’s Bridge Conference as our Opening Keynote Speaker!  From education to activism, Liz Dozier has spent her career working tirelessly to disrupt the culture of inequity that is often pervasive in urban neighborhoods. In 2016, Dozier launched Chicago … [ ]

Hollis Wong-Wear will close out our Bridge Conference!

By School's Out Washington

As we embraced our 2021 Bridge Conference theme, From Seedlings to Stardust, our Bridge Planning Team determined we were looking for a speaker with Washington state ties, roots in youth development, and an innovator who moves from imagination to transformational action. Hollis Wong-Wear embodies all aspects of this vision. We are thrilled to announce that she will be our Closing Keynote Speaker!   Hollis Wong-Wear (she/her) is a Grammy-nominated recording artist, songwriter, content producer and strategic facilitator who works at the intersection of creativity, community organizing and public policy. With her roots in spoken word and slam poetry through the nationally recognized Youth Speaks program, Hollis is … [ ]

2021 Bridge Conference

For our second virtual conference, we will come together to celebrate, influence, and learn in community with the expanded learning field on October 26-29, 2021. Join us for a Systems Leaders Pre-Conference, inspiring keynote speakers, up to 28 workshops to choose from, and unique opportunities to connect with your peers from across Washington State and beyond. About our 2021 theme Across time and cultures, humans have found comfort, guidance, and knowledge amongst the stars. Before we had the technology to tell us what was out there, we were grounded and deeply connected to this unknown we reached for it. The … [ ]

Reflections on Bridge

By Janell Jordan

We did it! 394 individuals virtually gathered over four days to grow, strategize, nourish, and ultimately work to create sustainable impact for our field.   Planning this year was tough, not knowing what folks would need or want in the middle of a pandemic, while also navigating the fight for Black lives and the buildup of fear around the upcoming election. There were so many unknowns we were juggling, and our team worked really hard to ground ourselves and the spaces we curated in our Bridge values: equity, belonging, leadership, nourishing, change, innovation, and community. Some aspects of the conference manifested so beautifully and perfectly timed, and other aspects we dropped the ball a bit and have room to grow.   Holistically, though … [ ]

Planting seeds in the shadow of hope

By Sheely Mauck

“This is the shadow of hope. Knowing that we may never see the realization of our dreams, and yet still showing up.” – Austin Channing Brown We often talk about change as moving from one state to another. You are one way. You do something or something happens, and then you’re in a new state. In our quality improvement work, I have referenced different frameworks for change including the “Stages of Change,” which has concrete steps to signify the change process or the matrix for “Managing Complex Change,” which includes flow chart boxes with specific elements of the change process. When looking at the stages, there are gaps between one step to the next step. On the flow chart, there are gaps between … [ ]