2026 Bridge Conference

Family engagement is often viewed as a compliance requirement—but what if it became a catalyst for equity, belonging, and student success? In this interactive session, the Directors of Equity, Family & Community Partnerships and Multilingual Education & Student Supports will share how cross-departmental collaboration is transforming family engagement in a mid-sized, diverse school district. Through examples from Dual Language Education, Title I Parent and Family Engagement, and Refugee Family Engagement programming, participants will explore strategies for building family leadership, sharing decision-making, and creating family-driven Open to a 1/2 hour slot opportunities that reflect community strengths and needs. Grounded in Dr. Karen Mapp’s Dual Capacity-Building Framework, this session is most relevant for professionals serving K–12 youth and families.

What becomes possible when adults and young people share leadership instead of simply sharing space? This interactive workshop explores how meaningful youth-adult partnerships strengthen belonging, engagement, and resilience for young people while helping organizations adapt and grow through change. Drawing from experiences in schools, student leadership programs, and statewide youth initiatives, participants will examine what current research and practice tell us about adolescent development, agency, and connection. Together, we will identify practical strategies for creating environments where youth and adults learn, lead, and make decisions together. Designed for professionals working with middle and high schoolaged youth, this session offers tools that can be adapted across schools, expanded learning programs, and community organizations.

It is human and deeply rooted in us all to want to belong. Not surprisingly then, that when we first step into a new group, it is our differences that often bubble to the surface, sometimes manifesting difficult emotions and behaviors. Spotting this kind of pattern is part of how we show up fully for our students — as we support them with new vantage points that see, embrace and celebrate differences.

 LGBTQI+ people have always been here and come from all races, religions, geographies, and lived experiences. Currently the LGBTQI+ community in all its diversity is experiencing backlash. Now is not the time to back away from creating welcoming and inclusive programs. This session will help youth workers and advocates understand how to support healthy youth development and resiliency with strategies that work. Content will include data sharing, small
and large group work, and case studies to address the complexity of youths' lived experience and how to support them.

There is a trend in our society of having a negative, fixed mindset surrounding mathematics. This view is prevalent in learners of all ages, and is reinforced in how math is commonly discussed. When educators see themselves as ‘bad’ at math and vocalize that mindset (even with positive intentions), that negativity can add to students’ mathematical insecurity and impact their approach to the subject. We are passionate about empowering all learners to become problem solvers and to see themselves as mathematicians. To make this shift, we need to reframe our language around math, and utilize more accessible and engaging math activities. We are excited to share some evidence-based content and techniques that you can implement in your learning spaces to empower students, staff, and yourself to become confident mathematicians. With the right tools and mindset, we can all be problem solvers!

Step into a Peace Circle and experience how restorative practices transform the way we respond to harm. In this interactive session, you will sit in circle, hold the talking piece, and practice the core elements of circle keeping so you can keep circles in your own school or program. Through a hands-on activity, you will examine the difference between accountability and punishment and rethink what it means to repair harm rather than simply punish. You will leave with
practical circle keeping tools, a framework you can apply immediately, and a felt sense of how circles work. Designed for educators and youth-serving professionals who want restorative options that build community, strengthen relationships, and keep young people connected.

Young people thrive when they experience belonging, supportive relationships, meaningful engagement, and opportunities to grow. These experiences are created by adults who also need opportunities to connect, reflect, learn, and improve together. Drawing from Associated Recreation Council’s Community of Practice, presenters will share lessons learned from developing and sustaining a year-long workforce development strategy focused on youth
development practices and continuous quality improvement. Participants will explore how trust, shared learning, responsive practices, and staff voice can strengthen organizational culture and program quality. Through discussion and reflection, attendees will identify practical strategies for supporting staff growth, strengthening continuous improvement efforts, and creating the conditions that help both adults and young people thrive.

In youth development, we are often pulled by urgent needs, competing demands, and the expectation to do more with less. Over time, these currents can shape not only our individual experiences but also the culture of our programs and
organizations. Like water, we have the capacity to move with intention rather than simply react to every obstacle in our path. This interactive session invites participants to examine how time, energy, attention, and leadership are flowing within their work. Together, we will explore a powerful question: What systems, norms, or assumptions are directing our energy—and do they still serve our purpose?

Through reflection, discussion, and practical application, participants will identify opportunities to align their daily choices, program practices, and organizational culture with the values and impact they most want to create. Participants will leave with renewed clarity about where to focus their energy, how to cultivate greater sustainability and joy, and how intentional leadership can create ripples of positive change throughout their teams, programs, and communities.

Gain an in-depth understanding of what advocating in Olympia looks like and how to build up your advocacy toolkit through empowerment, storytelling, and ideas for accessible action. Through this workshop, participants can apply what they learn for advocating on issues such as and outside of youth development.

There are seasons in our work when the current feels stronger than ever—organizational change, staffing shortages, shifting priorities, and uncertainty can leave us feeling overwhelmed while we continue showing up for young people and our communities. Inspired by The Art of Being Water, this workshop explores what it means to ride upstream with intention: acknowledging challenges, adapting with resilience, and finding strength through connection rather than navigating change alone.

Through interactive activities, reflection, and practical wellness strategies, participants will gain tools to manage stress, maintain perspective, and cultivate a mindset that supports both personal well-being and collective success during times of transition.

In this session, teaching artists and ensemble directors from Yakima Music en Acción (YAMA) will share practices that build belonging and leadership: student-led feedback loops that shape program design, assistant teacher roles, and community agreements. Participants will reflect on how these strategies can translate to their own expanded learning programs, regardless of content area. Focused on school-age youth in grades 3–12. YAMA is an after-school orchestra program serving youth in the Yakima Valley fosters cognitive and social development through high-intensity ensemble-based music training, widening access to the arts, and growing confident leaders throughout their community. By centering youth voices and designing intentional structures that invite students into leadership, YAMA creates a space where young people feel genuinely seen, heard, and in charge of their own experiences.

Strong student engagement does not happen by accident. It is built through intentional relationships, equitable access, meaningful opportunities, and strong school-community partnerships. This session will showcase Spokane Public Schools' approach to increasing engagement by connecting students with extracurricular activities, clubs, athletics, leadership experiences, and community organizations through the EngageIRL initiative. Participants will explore how student voice, engagement data, and cross-sector partnerships guide programming that increases belonging while reducing barriers for historically underrepresented students.

Youth-adult partnership is often treated as the ultimate goal—but is it always the most appropriate way to work with youth? In alignment with the theme "The Art of Being Water," this interactive session invites participants to explore the fluidity of Hart’s Ladder of Youth Engagement. We will move beyond the rhetoric of "youth voice" to examine the full continuum of involvement, from adult-led to shared leadership. Through an experiential "gallery walk," participants will physically navigate the eight rungs of the ladder, identifying where their programs currently sit and how to move intentionally toward more authentic engagement. Drawing on field examples from Tacoma to the Pacific Islands, we will explore how to match challenge and responsibility to developmental readiness. Attendees will leave with a toolkit of reflective exercises and action plans to reduce tokenism and foster equitable, high-impact partnerships in their programs.

In busy after-school programs, belonging cannot depend on long planning time or highly trained staff. This hands-on workshop will show how simple, off-screen games can become daily belonging practices for elementary and middle school students, especially grades 1–8. Participants will explore practical ways to use short, low-prep activities to build connection, curiosity, teamwork, and appreciation for differences. Together, we will look at how games can support staff who are juggling limited prep time, changing schedules, and mixed-age groups, while still creating joyful, inclusive moments for young people. Attendees will leave with activity design principles and ready-to-use ideas they can adapt for their own programs.

Schools are not neutral spaces. Every day, educators are asked to lead, mediate, and hold space for conversations that carry the weight of generations. The current political context contributes to heightened emotions and racial tensions. And you, no matter how experienced, bring your own history too. When a student says something harmful, a colleague dismisses a lived experience, or a systemic issue needs examining, the most powerful thing you can do is to know yourself well enough to stay present and grounded, even when every instinct tells you to fight, flee, or freeze. Through honest storytelling, self-reflection, and hands-on practice, you'll learn to recognize what activates you, strategies to respond instead of react, and ways to hold space for the emotional responses of others.

Educators and case managers know that shared racial or cultural identity alone does not guarantee a strong mentoring relationship. What turns a classroom into a space of trust and brotherhood is something more specific, and it shows up in small, repeatable practices. This session draws on a multi-year, mixed-methods evaluation of a culturally responsive Black studies elective and mentorship program, including a collaborative program evaluation and an in-press, peer-reviewed qualitative study, to name those practices. Findings identify the relational and programmatic elements, including individualized care coordination, identity-affirming curriculum, and consistent relational routines, that young people and their mentor-educators credit with building trust, brotherhood, and engagement, along with the conditions of school and district leadership required to sustain this work. Participants will leave with evidence-based strategies they can adapt within their own culturally responsive mentoring programs.

Understanding why grief matters helps inform how we support young people who are grieving. This interactive workshop explores the impact grief can have on youth and examines ways professionals can move beyond discomfort to engage in meaningful, supportive conversations. Participants will gain practical, creative, and accessible tools that foster connection, helping young people feel seen, understood, and supported in their grief experiences. Through hands-on activities and discussion, participants will learn strategies that can increase youth self-awareness, build resilience, and help them identify strengths they can draw upon when facing adversity. The workshop will also provide tools and approaches that can be shared with caregivers to strengthen support beyond professional settings.

Designed to be engaging, experiential, and immediately applicable, this workshop emphasizes both the how and the why behind each activity. Participants will learn the purpose and intention of the tools presented, enabling them to adapt activities to meet the unique needs of the youth and families they serve. While especially relevant for direct service professionals, managers and organizational leaders will also gain valuable insight into supporting grieving children and strengthening griefinformed practices within their programs and organizations.

Many youth-serving organizations serve increasingly diverse communities, yet not every young person experiences the same sense of belonging. When young people feel seen, valued, and included, outcomes improve across engagement, well-being, leadership, and learning. This interactive workshop explores how race, culture, disability, language, socioeconomic status, and lived experience shape belonging. Drawing on experiences working with youth in the United States and Nigeria, participants will learn to identify barriers to belonging, conduct a belonging audit, and implement equitable, inclusive practices. Through case studies and reflection, attendees will leave with practical tools to create environments where every young person can participate, contribute, and thrive.

Kaiser Permanente has been supporting community and school-based interventions to respond to food access and nutrition needs, in the places people need them. Through $1.78 million school-community partnership grants between 2022 and 2025, more than 50,000 food-insecure youth and families had improved access to out of school-time food, directly in their school communities.

Seattle Public Schools joined forces with FamilyWorks to implement a new family resource center model, providing tailored resource navigation and a mobile food bank at convenient locations throughout the district’s footprint. Bethel School District worked with Feeding Feasible Feasts to offer food through free school-based care closets and launch a school food recovery program allowing students to take healthy food home for at-home meals. FEED 7 Generations collaborated with Muckleshoot Tribal School to implement a Tend, Gather, Grow Curriculum focused on food sovereignty principles. And The Farm at Franklin Pierce Schools operationalized free farm produce distribution through district fridges, school meals, and summer meal sites.

The collaboration between school districts and trusted local community-based organizations built an infrastructure designed to ensure access to nutritious food for years to come. Incorporating youth and family voices into these food access solutions helped reduce stigma and increase feelings of belonging. These partnerships also supported families with enrollment in the federal supplemental nutrition assistance program and connection to other resources that improve purchasing power to buy healthy food.

This workshop is designed to share insights from these pilot projects, and a resulting toolkit that Kaiser Permanente has assembled, to support replication of school-community partnerships that improve youth and family food security in other communities. Insights are applicable to community-based organizations, school districts, funders, and systems stakeholders.

Data sovereignty — the right of communities to control data about themselves — is not just a concept. It’s a practice.

Drawing on the work of the Coalition of Communities of Color (CCC) in Portland, OR, this workshop introduces participants to a framework for assessing and strengthening community data stewardship practices in their own organizations. Who currently controls your data? Who benefits from it? And how can youth, parents, and community members become genuine co-owners of the stories data tells? Participants will work through a guided framework to map their current data sovereignty model and develop a concrete action plan for shifting power back toward the community. This session is for leaders and staff ready to move beyond data compliance and toward data self-determination.

Young people today are growing up in a crisis of disconnection - loneliness, anxiety, and a hunger to belong that no app, curriculum, or well-meaning program has been able to fix. The problem isn't the young people. It's that the village around them has quietly eroded. Research on adolescent development is clear: young people thrive when they feel known,
challenged, and expected to contribute within a real community. But knowing that doesn't tell us what to do Monday morning.

This hands-on workshop introduces the circle practice - a research-aligned tool for building belonging, resilience, and leadership in any youth-serving setting. Participants won't just learn about circles. They'll be in one. Drawing from work now implemented school-wide at O'Dea High School (500 students) and piloting across Bethel School District, facilitators will guide attendees through a live circle and share practical tools for immediate use.

Young people do not begin preparing for their future when it is time to fill out a job application. It starts much earlier. It starts with helping them understand who they are, where they belong, what they are capable of, and what possibilities exist beyond what they may see around them every day.

Flow Forward is an interactive workshop focused on helping middle and high school youth connect identity, belonging, life skills, and career exposure to their future. We will explore practical ways youth development professionals can help young people recognize their strengths, build confidence, expand what they believe is possible, and begin connecting everyday experiences to education, leadership, training, and career pathways.

Participants will also take part in reflection, small-group discussion, and a hands-on pathway-mapping activity that can be adapted and used with the young people they serve. My goal is for participants to leave with more than information. I want them to leave with practical strategies and tools they can actually take back to their programs and use.