Stronger Together: Advancing Oregon’s Charter Schools: Full Schedule

8:30am PST

Welcome & Kick Off

Thursday November 5, 2026 8:30am - 9:15am PST

Thursday November 5, 2026 8:30am - 9:15am PST
McKenzie Ballroom, 2nd floor 1000 Valley River Way, Eugene, OR 97401

12:00pm PST

Who Has to Leave Parts of Themselves at the Door? What Are We Asking People to Carry?: Redesigning Schools Through Belonging Infrastructure™

Thursday November 5, 2026 12:00pm - 1:30pm PST

McKenzie Ballroom, 2nd floor

* Every school has infrastructure.
* Academic infrastructure.
* Behavior infrastructure.
* Safety infrastructure.
* Technology infrastructure.
But what if the greatest barrier to belonging isn't the people in our schools, but the conditions we've unintentionally designed around them?
For many students, particularly those from historically marginalized communities, belonging comes with an invisible cost. Students, families, and even educators may feel pressure to code switch, hide parts of their identity, minimize aspects of their culture, or navigate school in survival mode simply to fit into environments that were never intentionally designed with them at the center.
As educators, we care deeply and continue creating programs, initiatives, and strategies because we want different outcomes. Yet we often find ourselves asking the same questions year after year while seeing only incremental change. What if the challenge isn't that people need to belong better? What if we simply haven't redesigned the conditions that shape belonging in the first place?
Through storytelling, guided reflection, and audience participation, Rooted in Power Collective Consultancy invites participants to experience Belonging Infrastructure™, a leadership framework that challenges us to rethink belonging as an organizational design responsibility rather than an individual experience.
Whether you're welcoming students at the front office, teaching in a classroom, supporting families, counseling students, leading a school, serving on a school board, or making decisions that shape district policy, you'll discover how every role contributes to the Belonging Infrastructure of a school and how intentional redesign can create the conditions where everyone thrives.
Every person in a school is part of its infrastructure. The question is not whether we influence belonging. The question is what our daily decisions are producing.
Grounded in the principles of Ubuntu, "I Am Because We Are," and in Lak'ech, "You Are My Other Me," join us for a new lens for examining you schools, practical reflection tools, and concrete strategies for beginning the work of redesigning the conditions that make belonging possible that helps students, families, and educators thrive.
Because belonging should never depend on who learns to navigate the system. It should be built into the system itself.

Speakers

Angelina Muñoz

Co-Founder | Curriculum & Learning Experience Strategist, Rooted in Power Collective Consultancy

I am Angelina Muñoz a Mexican American educator and curriculum specialist with over 10 years of experience in equity and education work. I hold an Oregon K–8 teaching license and have spent my career centering Black and BIPOC student experiences through authentic history curriculum... Read More →

Sade Rivers

Co-Founder | Leadership & Belonging Strategist, Rooted in Power Collective Consultancy

I'm Sade Rivers, Co-Founder of Rooted in Power Collective Consultancy. As a Black woman and mother, my journey began when I saw a gap in my own children's charter school that couldn't be ignored, so instead of waiting for someone else to create change, I created the role I believed... Read More →

Thursday November 5, 2026 12:00pm - 1:30pm PST
McKenzie Ballroom, 2nd floor 1000 Valley River Way, Eugene, OR 97401

General Session