ECHO Conference 2026 - Call for Speaker Proposals
Join a Distinguished Lineup of Notable Speakers
Keynote Speaker-Viet Thanh Nguyen
Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, short story writer, and professor. Born in Vietnam and raised in the United States, his work often explores themes of war, memory, and identity, particularly through the lens of Vietnamese refugees and their experiences. He is best known for his novel The Sympathizer, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and its sequel, The Committed.
Keynote Speaker-Shirley Torres
Shirley Torres is the Chief Program Officer for Homeboy Industries, the largest gang-intervention program and therapeutic community in the United States. Homeboy Industries serves 12,000 former gang members and high-risk youth a year in a city with over 80,000 known gang members. In her current capacity, she leads the agency in strategies to receive, engage, and retain citizens returning from California state and federal prisons, county jails, and juvenile detention facilities.
Be a champion of Equity, Empowerment, and Belonging
Whether working within classrooms, correctional facilities, student services, or institutional systems, we are called to cultivate inclusive and culturally responsive practices that nourish belonging, confront inequities, and foster resilience. Together, we will explore how to grow an educational culture that centers compassion, justice, and collective empowerment—for every student, colleague, and community we serve.
We welcome proposals from faculty, student services professionals, classified staff, and community leaders and organizations that offer research-based, practice-ready sessions aligned with one or more of the conference's goals:
Conference Goals
- Promote Equity-Minded Pedagogical Practices: Equip participants with practical tools and strategies to implement culturally responsive teaching, race-conscious inquiry, and anti-deficit frameworks that honor the diverse identities and experiences of students.
- Advance Institutional Capacity for Equity-Driven Change: Foster dialogue and collaboration to challenge and dismantle structural inequities, empowering attendees to lead transformative change in policy, practice, and culture.
- Foster Collaborative Action for Racial Equity and Justice: Inspire collective efforts to decenter Whiteness, disrupt systemic barriers, and build sustainable, justice-oriented practices across all institutional roles and levels.
We are especially seeking proposals that align with one or more of the following tracks:
- Inclusive Instruction & Holistic Student Support – Teaching, services, and collaboration that enhance belonging and success.
- Minority Serving Institution (MSI) Innovations – Research and practice focused on student success and cultural validation.
- Rising Scholars & Justice-Impacted Education – Models that support incarcerated and system-impacted students.
- Classified Professionals as Equity Leaders – Equity initiatives led by or centering classified professionals.
Conference Information:
- Date: March 6, 2026
- Location: Hilton Orange County/Costa Mesa: 3050 Bristol St., Costa Mesa, CA 92626
All session types are welcome, including interactive workshops, panels, facilitated discussions, and applied practice sessions. All sessions will be 45 minutes.
Proposal Deadline
January 5, 2026
History and Mission
Coastline College is dedicated to advancing equity and social justice. Supported by a $300,000 grant from the Chancellor's Office, this initiative focuses on professional development in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA). Our programs aim to eradicate systemic inequities and transform educational practices, with the ultimate goal of improving student success.
Learn more about our ongoing DEIA efforts here.
Coastline believes professional development can advance the racial equity and racial justice agenda envisioned for California’s community colleges. The focal point of the proposed project leverages professional development activities that can be a lever for eradicating the practices that create the "separate and unequal" academic caste system that continues to be upheld by structural racism.