Share Your Expertise at the 2026 Practitioner Forum

Call for Proposals

Every practitioner has strategies, lessons, and experiences worth sharing. The 2026 Practitioner Forum: Advising Practices in a Changing Landscape, taking place virtually on November 5, is designed to uplift the expertise already present across DC's postsecondary ecosystem and create a space where advisors, educators, coaches, navigators, and learner-facing practitioners can learn directly from one another.

Whether you've developed an innovative advising strategy, built a successful partnership, or gained valuable insights through your work, we invite you to submit a proposal for this year’s Forum, sharing your expertise with colleagues across the city. We are especially interested in sessions that create opportunities for participants to engage interactively in a virtual setting, reflect, and leave with strategies they can immediately apply in their own work.

Before you begin working on your proposal, please review this year’s five session themes and proposal guidelines below. For your planning purposes, you can also download a worksheet containing all of the proposal questions by clicking here.

If you’d like to be considered, please submit your proposal by September 11, 2026 at 11:59 PM EDT. Selected facilitators will be notified on their acceptance by September 25, 2026.

Please note: If you have a strong idea that does not fit neatly into these themes, we encourage you to still submit — all proposals will be considered!

Our Session Themes

  • How can we strengthen advising while supporting the practitioners doing the work?

    Explore strategies for navigating capacity limits, supporting practitioner well-being, collaborating across programs for greater efficiency, and expanding advising beyond one-on-one models. Sessions will also highlight promising approaches, including staged or phased advising models and role differentiation by grade band, that help organizations extend their reach while maintaining quality support for learners.

  • How can we prepare practitioners to support every pathway a learner might pursue?

    Build the skills needed to have effective advising conversations across the full range of postsecondary options. Sessions will explore advising for both degree and non-degree pathways, internships and work-based learning opportunities, and practical approaches for supporting learners whose goals and next steps are still taking shape.

  • How do we help learners navigate the barriers that stand between them and opportunity?

    Explore how practitioners can support learners in making financially feasible pathway decisions while addressing the broader challenges that impact access, persistence, and success. Conversations will include barriers related to documentation and immigration status, academic challenges, disability, chronic absenteeism, housing and food insecurity, language access, mental health, and other factors affecting learners’ journeys.

  • How can we create more connected support for learners at every stage?

    Explore strategies for expanding career exploration throughout the K12 journey, building stronger cross-sector partnerships for consistent career exposure, staying connected with learners beyond graduation, re-engaging disconnected students, and strengthening coordination across DC’s advising ecosystem, including greater integration of adult education programs.

  • How can advising evolve alongside a rapidly changing world?

    Explore how practitioners can interpret labor market and workforce data, understand the impact of policy on postsecondary access and success, strengthen education-employer sector relationships, and help learners build sustainable plans aligned with an evolving economy. Sessions will examine how advising practices can remain responsive to emerging trends and the future of work.

What We're Looking For

  • Practical strategies practitioners can apply immediately

  • Interactive sessions that encourage discussion and peer learning

  • Real-world lessons, successes, and challenges from the field

  • Tools, resources, or frameworks participants can take back to their teams

  • Ideas that strengthen advising practice and improve learner outcomes

Who Should Submit A Proposal

  • Postsecondary advisors and counselors

  • College access and success professionals

  • Career and workforce practitioners

  • K12 educators and school leaders

  • Community-based organizations

  • Higher education and government partners

  • Individual practitioners and frontline staff

  • Research & policy professionals

What Facilitators Receive

  • Complimentary registration to attend the Forum*

  • Recognition as a featured facilitator on Forum materials

  • Opportunity to share your practice, tools, and resources with hundreds of peers across DC

  • Support from the Collaborative before the Forum

*One facilitator per selected session receives complimentary registration. Any youth co-facilitators (ages 16-24) will also receive free registration.

Submit Your Proposal

Ready to share your expertise? Complete the form below to submit your proposal by September 11, 2026 for consideration. If you have any questions, reach out to Mukta Ghorpadey at mukta@dcpostsecondarysuccess.org.

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