Sold-out conference set for September 21-22 at Renaissance Esmeralda Indian Wells
RIVERSIDE – What began as a one-day event for 200 local educators at the Riverside Convention Center in 2014, has grown into a popular multi-day conference that has welcomed internationally-recognized keynote speakers and more than 7,000 equity-minded professionals over the last 10 years from public schools across California and neighboring states.
The 10th Anniversary of the Excellence Through Equity Conference is set for September 21-22 at the Renaissance Esmeralda Indian Wells (44400 Indian Wells Lane, Indian Wells, CA 92210), and the popular conference is full as nearly 1,000 educators are registered to attend.
The 2023 Excellence Through Equity Conference theme is “Building Bridges to Cultivate Excellence” and will provide specific tools to support systems, structures, and practices, that will strengthen county, districts, and school sites, with shared directions and actions towards more equitable educational experiences.
“As we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Excellence Through Equity Conference, the importance and the passion for equity continues to deepen and expand with each passing year,” said Riverside County Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Edwin Gomez. “When we take bold, deliberate, courageous, and consistent strides as individual educators in the journey towards equity, the entire educational system will transform from the inside—resulting in a brighter future for our scholars and our communities.”
The agenda will include student spoken word performances, and commemoration of equity champions and speakers from a decade of hosting the conference. Riverside County Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Edwin Gomez, will also be presenting the first Community Equity Champion Award to Vision To Learn, the non-profit organization that has provided more than 41,000 vision screenings and nearly 9,000 pairs of glasses free of charge to students in 13 Riverside County school districts since 2021.
The 2023 Excellence Through Equity conference schedule will feature dozens of breakout sessions and keynote speakers highlighted by:
- Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings – Author, and Professor Emerita, University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Shane Safir – Leadership coach and author, former teacher (X @shanesafir, shanesafir.com)
- Dr. Louie F. Rodriguez – Professor, Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Education, University of California, Riverside (X @louiefrodriguez, drlouiefrodriguez.com)
- Alycia Anderson – Author, speaker, podcaster, inclusion consultant (IG @alyciaspeaking, alyciaanderson.com)
- Captain Barrington Irving – World-record aviator, founder of The Flying Classroom (X @captainirving, flyingclassroom.com)
Previous keynote speakers have included: Jeff Duncan-Andrade, Pedro Noguera, Tavis Smiley, Alan Blankenstein, Chris Emdin, Shaun Harper, Bernard Kinsey, Kati Haycock, Michael Bonner, Alberto Carvalho, Gregory Boyle, Remi Adeleke, Steve Perry, Ron Clark, Consuelo Castillo Kickbusch, Talithia Williams, and Jeremy Anderson.
Attendees at the 2023 conference include educators from 31 school districts in California, seven county offices of education, multiple universities, and representatives from the California Department of Education (CDE).
For more information, visit the Excellence Through Equity Conference website.