Rooted in Resistance: Organizing and Collective Care (Friday, 3:15 pm)
Organizing and Collective Care will bring together organizers, activists, and attorneys to share their perspectives on sustainable generational organizing. The panel will include discussion on the urge to view political and community organizing as momentary. We see this perception in responding to the “singularity” of the Trump administration. Although this administration might be targeting our communities and interests in a different way, this is not the first time that our communities have experienced authoritarianism or repression. This conversation is oriented around understanding how to navigate current challenges through the lens of building sustainable, long-term movements.
Moderator: Baher Azmy
Panelists: Rachel Cohen, Justin Farmer, Nerdeen Kiswani, Reverend Scott Marks
State and Local Advocacy (Saturday, 11:15 am)
The State and Local Advocacy Panel will gather organizers and lawyers who have experience fighting for change at the state and local level. Drawing from this year’s conference theme, the panel’s discussion will focus on how movements working to transform our state and local communities can be Rooted in Resistance. Panelists will answer questions about how to build sustainable coalitions to affect state and local politics, what we can learn from organizing tactics that have proven successful in the past, and how we can collectively reimagine our neighborhoods, cities, and states.
Moderator: Jason Parkin
Panelists: Carter Shannon, Chelsea-Infinity Gonsalez, James Jeter, Jennifer Wood
Defending Health Justice (Saturday, 11:15 am)
This panel will explore the evolving medical and legal landscape today surrounding federal funding cuts to scientific research focused on marginalized communities. The panel brings together medical practitioners, legal experts, and advocates to speak on the real-world consequences of the federal funding shifts, the broader implications for health equity, and the current strategies being deployed to challenge and respond to these changes. Panelists will also reflect on movement goals and the pathways forward to protect equitable access to care nationwide.
Moderator: James Bhandary-Alexander
Panelists: Dr. Gregg Gonsalves, Rachel Meeropol, Dr. Michelle Morse
Deconstructing the Carceral State (Saturday, 3:15 pm)
Deconstructing the Carcercal State will bring together lawyers, academics, and activists to interrogate and imagine paths toward dismantling oppressive institutions and systems of punishment. Drawing on lived experience, scholarship, and frontline advocacy, the speakers will explore what anti-carceral lawyering looks like in practice—from challenging punitive legal frameworks to building community-centered alternatives to punishment. This panel hopes to examine the history of abolitionist and anti-carceral lawyering and apply effective strategies to the current moment. This conversation invites participants to think critically about the role of law in sustaining harm, and to consider strategies for transforming legal practice into a tool for liberation rather than control.
Moderator: Elizabeth Hinton
Panelists: Kara Crutcher, Bryan “Luv” Jordan, Daniela Gilbert, Eliana Green
Immigration & Immigrants’ Rights (Saturday, 3:15 pm)
The Immigrants’ Rights Panel will bring together practitioners and advocates from across the United States to discuss their efforts to provide essential support and solidarity during these turbulent times. In the face of the current administration’s attacks on immigrant communities, this panel will explore the many forms of immigrant advocacy, encompassing community-oriented direct services, removal defense, and impact litigation at the highest levels of our legal system.
Moderator: Marisol Orihuela
Speakers: Nicole Ramos, Karlene Maxwell-Williams, Matthew Toyama