July 23–26, 2018; Grand Hyatt, Washington, DC
NCIL’s Annual Conference is the largest Independent Living event of the year. NCIL regularly hosts over 1,000 people, including grassroots advocates, CIL and SILC leadership, members of Congress, government officials, and representatives from other major organizations that work for justice and equity for people with disabilities.
NCIL’s 2018 Annual Conference theme is Mobilize: Resistance through Action. For over a year now, members of Congress and aggressive ideologues have tried their hardest to strip people with disabilities of their health and liberty. We have met these challenges head-on and will continue to do so. Some battles have been won, others lost. The goal of this year’s Annual Conference is to improve our strategy and cohesion. We are powerful, but we must share our resources, strategize, and train new advocates if we want to succeed in our efforts to protect our programs and secure the independence of people with disabilities.
In 2018, NCIL will debut and begin a new strategic plan that focuses heavily on mobilization and advocacy. This has always been and will remain the core of our work, but, like this conference theme, we must challenge ourselves to stay focused, strategic, and proactive. We cannot make progress without you. You provide NCIL with its power. We need your ideas, strategies, and resources to create the workshops and presentations that make up our conference agenda. We need you to join us in Washington to show our power, take to the streets, and share our message of independence and empowerment.
It is with these goals in mind that the National Council on Independent Living seeks workshops for our 2018 Annual Conference in the following tracks:
- Advocacy & Organizing Track: Workshops related to systems advocacy, individual advocacy, and organizing.
- Mobilizing New Leaders Track: Workshops related to building new leadership by including and prioritizing the perspectives of youth, people of color, people who are LGBTQ, and other advocates under-represented in the IL Movement.
- Core Services Track: Workshops addressing innovation and best practices in the core services of Centers for Independent Living, especially the new core services of youth transition, transition from institutions to the community, and avoiding institutions.
- SILC Track: Workshops covering best practices and innovation in operations and programs of Statewide Independent Living Councils.
- General Track: Workshops for staff, consumers, and other advocates in the Independent Living Movement that do not fit the other four categories.
In addition to these priorities, NCIL’s Annual Conference Subcommittee encourages workshops that seek to improve the skills and resources of staff to carry out the core services of CILs and operate strong SILCs.
- Please see NCIL’s Important Information for Presenters for further details before planning your proposal. Presenters and facilitators are not exempt from registration fees. Presenters must register and pay for all days they plan to attend; presenters that attend only their session and no other events do not need to pay.
- Deadline for Submission is Monday, January 22, 2018. No proposals will be accepted after 11:59 p.m. Eastern time.
Word and plain text proposal forms are available for those who are unable to complete the online form.
