In a time of political and economic volatility, vigorous technological disruption, and declining public trust, community stands as an essential social tie of the human condition. In 2026, community exists as an essential lever to help combat the powerlessness, isolation, and anxiety of these stressful times. Social justice advocates, such as the late bell hooks, frequently suggested that “...we sustain ourselves by building communities of resistance, places we know we are not alone.”
NYU Metro Center has worked to foster this community for the entirety of its 45-plus-year history, particularly for social justice, racial equity, and public education advocates. Building community among these dedicated audiences is in part what has driven NYU Metro Center to produce the annual Equity Now Conference since 2023. With all of the political and social challenges presented this year, NYU Metro Center has taken the additional step of crafting Equity Now pre-conference sessions to highlight the collective power needed to strive for and truly reimagine equity in this ever-changing world.
Pre-conference sessions for the 2026 Equity Now Conference will take place on:
- Tuesday, March 31st at 5:30 PM (CR-SE 2.0 for an AI Age: Coding for Equity),
- Tuesday, April 22nd at 5:30 PM (From Research to Reality: Designing Equity-Focused Systems to Transform School Systems), and
- Tuesday, May 7th, at 5:30 PM (Critical Professional Development: From Top-Down to Collective Power).
Programming will consist of presentations, workshops, and conversations led by Equity Conference presenters with the intention of equipping educators 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 by addressing implicit biases individually as well as within academic systems.
Equity Now pre-conference sessions provide free, no-cost occasions for teachers, administrators, and parents/caregivers to avail themselves of the educational best practices shared by peer-led communities. The launch of these sessions allows participants the opportunity to build community and network with technical assistance providers, community organizers, and school and district leaders.
The first of these pre-conference sessions will take place on Tuesday, March 31st, at 5:30 PM. NYU Metro Center’s Pre-Conference Session #1 is a webinar titled "Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education (CR-SE) 2.0 for an AI Age: Coding for Equity." 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.
The second of these pre-conference sessions will take place on April 22nd at 5:30 PM. NYU Metro Center’s Pre-Conference Session #2 is a webinar titled, "From Research to Reality: Designing Equity-Focused Systems to Transform Schools." 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.
The third of these pre-conference sessions will take place on May 7th at 5:30 PM. NYU Metro Center’s Pre-Conference Session #3 is a webinar titled, "Critical Professional Development: From Top-Down to Collective Power." 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.
Community is the infrastructure that keeps us grounded. Community is where we find the trust, safety, and collective power needed to thrive in a rapidly changing world. In addition to being invited to the 2026 Equity Now Conference on May 29th, NYU Metro Center invites you to join our community of passionate scholars, practitioners, and advocates as we stand together to mobilize resources to address educational inequity, disproportionality, and social injustice. Know that you and your peers are welcome members of this community of practice, whether you register for one, two, or all three of the 2026 Equity Now pre-conference sessions. We look forward to your participation.
Please note that both the full day schedule and workshop descriptions for the 2026 Equity Now Conference are now available on the conference website.
