Register now! Don't miss the EQUITY NOW conference on Friday, May 29, 2026!
This year’s conference focuses on developing new ways of moving equity to be more responsive to children, families and communities who exist furthest on the margins. In this moment, when there is an attack on our most marginalized student communities, what will you do and how can we stand together as a community to support our most harmed and vulnerable children, families, and communities?
NYU Metro Center’s 2026 Equity Now Conference is Honored to Have Dr. Bettina L. Love as Keynote Speaker
NYU Metro Center is proud to announce the William F. Russell Professor at Teachers College, Columbia University, Dr. Bettina L. Love, as the keynote speaker for its 2026 Equity Now Conference: A Call to Action—Reframing Equity Through Refining Culturally Responsive Systems.
Read News Item on Dr. Bettina L. Love being named keynote speaker of 2026 Equity Now Conference
NYU Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools
Equity Now: A Call to Action-Reframing Equity Through Refining Culturally Responsive Systems
May 29, 2026
9:00am-4:00pm
Schedule
8:45-9:30 AM: Continental Breakfast
9:00-9:12 AM: Message from Dr. Fabienne Doucet, Executive Director of NYU Metro Center
9:13-9:35 AM Opening Address: Dr. Lester W. Young, Chancellor for New York State Education Department
9:37-10:35 AM: Organizing for Equity: A Call To Action Session
10:45-11:55 AM: AM Breakout Session
12:00-12:50 PM: Networking Lunch
1:00-2:10 PM: PM Breakout Session
2:20-3:20 PM: Dr. Bettina L. Love Keynote Address
3:35-3:45 PM: Reflections and Closing
3:45-4:00 PM: Book Purchasing/Signing with Keynote
Registration for NYU Metro Center's 2026 Equity Now Conference is officially open.
Please take steps to join us at this critical social justice event. We look forward to engaging with you at the 2026 Equity Now Conference.
Register for the 2026 Equity Now Conference here.
AM Breakout Sessions (10:45 AM-11:55 AM)
From "for" to "with": Building Capacity for Equitable Education
903
Equity Through Project-Based Approaches Practices
904
Healing from Fear: Equipping Educators to Address Equity and Justice in a Challenging Climate
905
Reimagining Civic Power: Supporting Culturally Responsive Youth Leadership Councils
906
A Community-Informed Approach to Boldly Reimagining Multilingual Education in New York City Public Schools Systems
907
CoAction - Four Years of CR-SE in Action
908
Youth in Action: Leveraging Policy and Practice to Advance Liberatory Education
909
Culturally Responsive Family Engagement: Three Strategies to Build Trust
910
R.I.S.E. Forward: Speak. Act. Transform – Engaging Students to Drive School-wide Change
912
PM Breakout Sessions (1:00 PM-2:10 PM)
Education for Peace, Recovery, and Resilience: A Participatory Community Approach
903
Ensuring that Teachers Thrive; Culturally Responsive Schools for Equity
904
Her Stories, Our Standards: Transforming Literacy & Black Studies Through CRSE Leadership
905
Reimagining Civic Power: Supporting Culturally Responsive Youth Leadership Councils
906
Through the Looking Glass…Colors of Change
907
Mapping for Liberation: Shifting Conditions for Students at the Margins
908
Reimagining Culturally Responsive Education Through AsianCrit
909
Dismantling Deficit Data: Build Equity-Centered Evaluation Systems
910
Integrating Professional Development and Leadership Development to Promote Equity for Migrant Students Practice
912
Pre-Conference Sessions
Pre-Conference Sessions for the 2026 Equity Now Conference will take place on March 31st, April 22nd, and May 7th. Programming will consist of presentations, workshops, and conversations led by Equity Conference presenters with the intention of equipping educators and leaders with actionable Culturally Responsive Systems and Practices to create equity-focused environments, through the creation of inclusive classrooms, the implementation of student-centered pedagogy, and addressing implicit biases individually as well as within academic systems.
- Equity Now Conference Pre-Conference Sessions provide free/no cost occasions for teachers, administrators, and parents/caregivers to avail oneself of the educational best practices as shared by peer-led communities.
- The launch of the Pre-Conference Sessions for the 2026 Equity Now Conference allows participants the opportunity to build community and network with technical assistance providers, community organizers, as well as school and district leaders.
NYU Metro Center’s 2026 Equity Now Pre-Conference Sessions
2026 Equity Now Pre-Conference Session #1
Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education (CR-SE) 2.0 for an AI Age: Coding for Equity
Date: March 31st, 2026
Time: 5:30 PM - 7PM
Presenter: Claire Mitchell
Conference Program Track: Culturally Responsive Practices
Description: Led by Claire Mitchell, this session will empower educators, administrators, and families to evaluate digital citizenship and AI literacy curricula through an equity-centered lens, grounded in NYS Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education (CR-SE), Sustainable Libraries practices, and LibraryReady.AI.
Register for 2026 Equity Now Pre-Conference Session #1 | CR-SE for an AI Age: Coding for Equity
2026 Equity Now Pre-Conference Session #2
From Research to Reality: Designing Equity-Focused Systems to Transform Schools
Date: April 22nd, 2026
Time: 5:30 PM - 7 PM
Presenter(s): Dr. Danielle Mastrogiovanni & Dr. Tristian Cox
Conference Program Track: Culturally Responsive Systems
Description: Moderated by educators Dr. Danielle Mastrogiovanni and Dr. Tristan Cox, this webinar highlights how Plainfield Public Schools is building a coherent equity infrastructure grounded in state policy adaptation, CR-SE, restorative practices, community voice, and strategic systems leadership through applying the research findings of session presenters to district practices. At the foundation of this work is a district equity framework, which includes data-driven progress monitoring of key performance indicators aligned to the district’s strategic improvement plan.
2026 Equity Now Pre-Conference Session #3
Critical Professional Development: From Top-Down to Collective Power
Date: May 7th, 2026
Time: 5:30 PM - 7 PM
Presenter(s): Dr. Samantha Chung & Dr. Abby Emerson
Conference Program Track: Culturally Responsive Practices
Description: Led by Dr. Samantha Chung and Dr. Abby Emerson, this webinar aims to equip educators and leaders with actionable, dialogical practices to transform professional learning into a driver for culturally responsive teaching. This session will explore Critical Professional Development (CPD) as a liberatory framework that shifts power from individuals at the top to the broader collective. Moderators will cover four practices: utilizing book studies for critical reflection; creating responsive teacher inquiry cycles; modeling shared leadership by leaders "stepping aside" to foster teacher agency; and systematically using student feedback to inform culturally responsive changes.
NYU Metro Center's 2026 Equity Now Conference offers a full day of community building, networking and learning from educators, parent/caregivers, youth, community organizers and technical assistance providers who are committed to transforming their classrooms, schools and districts.
Equity Now Conference sessions will include those curated by NYU Metro Center expertise as well as leaders based in districts, schools, classrooms, and organizations who continue to engage in equity and culturally responsive policies, procedures and practices. You will walk away with clear next steps to maintain cultural responsiveness as a core for creating transformational education and liberatory schooling spaces.
NYU Metro Center's 2026 Equity Now Conference
NYU Metro Center is proud to announce that registration for the 2025 Equity Now Conference is officially open. The 4th annual conference will be held again in New York City on Friday May 29, 2026
Early Bird Rate Registration, Effective until April 16th, 2026
- *Regular Registration Cost*: $225.00
Presenter Registration Cost: $200.00
Only Teacher Registration Cost: $135.00 (must send verification of teacher status)
Non-Educator Parent/Caregiver Registration Cost: $85.00
College Students Registration Cost $95.00 (must send verification of student status)
Metro Staff: $65
Past Bird (Standard Rate) Registration, Effective until May 8th, 2026**
- Regular Registration Cost*: $235.00
Presenter Registration Cost: $210.00
Only Teacher Registration Cost: $155.00 (must send verification of teacher status)
Non-Educator Parent/Caregiver Registration Cost: $95.00
College Students Registration Cost: $105.00 (must send verification of student status)
Metro Staff: $75
**Cancellation policy: Registration can be cancelled for a full refund up to April 30, 2026. Registration can be cancelled up to May 14, 2026 for a 50% refund. After May 15 2026 there are NO refunds.
Register here for NYU Metro Center's 2026 Equity Now Conference
***Do you need a Purchase Order? Obtain a Purchase Order for NYU Metro Center's 2026 Equity Now Conference here:
*****Are you looking to briing middle or high school students to the 2026 Equity Now Conferernce? If so, please contact Dr. María G. Hernández ASAP.
Culturally Responsive Systems
- This conference track is inclusive of, but not limited to, the following:
- Elevating district and school policies, procedures and practices that have generated educational spaces that welcome and affirm historically marginalized students’ experiences and identities
- Shifts toward community circles and restorative practices within school-wide discipline systems
- Creating a culturally responsive culture and climate centering youth voice, in which youth are an integral and critical voice in district and school decision making processes
- Development and implementation of equity center liberatory systems approaches
- Policies and processes that have led to developing culturally responsive and sustaining hiring practices - particularly those resulting in a pipeline of administrators, teachers and staff that mirror the demographics of students and parents/caregivers in districts and schools
- The adaptation of State Department of Education policies into practices in districts, schools, and classrooms that are culturally responsive (for example, Portrait of Graduate, SEL, curriculum and instruction, etc.)
- Culturally responsive parent/caregiver policies and procedures that welcome, affirm and create belonging for families across differences
Equity Now Conference Themes
Culturally Responsive Practices
- This conference track is inclusive of, but not limited to, the following:
- Fostering curricular and instructional design and practices that center the joy and brilliance of racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse students (e.g., culturally responsive literacy, mathematics, etc)
- Teaching liberatory curriculum and instructional practices
- Practices that promote emotional and well-being for students, educators, and caregivers
- Culturally responsive capacity building approaches
- Culturally responsive parent/caregiver and youth engagement practices
Thank you for sharing your own Culturally Responsive Systems or Practices with us?
We appreciate everyone who responded to our Call for Proposals for NYU Metro Center's 2026 Equity Now Conference.
Decisions have been made on all conference proposals. Each 2026 Equity Now Conference presenter has been notified.
Thanks again for your time and continued support of NYU Metro Center. We look forward to your attendance at the conference.
Equity Now Conference Travel and Lodging Options
Review your travel and lodging options for NYU Metro Center's 2026 Equity Now Conference
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