NW Regional Equity Conference

💙 Thank You, WA SBCTC – Educational Resources & Innovation

We extend our sincere appreciation to the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges – Educational Resources & Innovation (ERI) team for their partnership and continued leadership.

The ERI team’s dedication to advancing equitable access, innovation, and excellence across Washington’s community and technical colleges aligns powerfully with NWREC’s mission. Your support helps create space for brave conversations, shared strategy, and transformative practice across institutions and communities.

We are grateful for your collaboration and your unwavering commitment to students, educators, and system-level change.

Thank you for helping make NWREC possible. 💙

💛 Thank You, College Spark Washington

We are deeply grateful to College Spark Washington for their generous support of the 2026 Northwest Regional Equity Conference.

College Spark’s commitment to educational justice and systems transformation across Washington makes gatherings like NWREC possible. Because of their partnership, we are able to convene educators, leaders, and changemakers for critical dialogue, collective learning, and bold action in pursuit of more just and inclusive systems.

Your investment in equity-centered leadership strengthens not only this conference—but the broader movement for belonging and systemic change throughout our region.

Thank you for standing with us in this work. 💛

We’re excited to feature Suneeta Eisenburg as a workshop presenter at NWREC 2026: Reclaiming Our Narratives.

Suneeta has worked across service, travel, hospitality, food systems, and education for more than two decades. Her work is rooted in strong relationships and big-picture thinking. She is the founder and Executive Director of Whatcom WAVES, a women’s empowerment nonprofit using sport to advance climate and community justice, and she launched Washington’s first hemp-focused statewide community land trust to support fair land access and regenerative local economies.

Her session, “Decarbonizing and Decolonizing the Built Environment,” will introduce community land trusts as a creative housing model, explore hemp+lime construction, and share ideas for weaving these topics into interdisciplinary curriculum. She’ll also highlight summer workshop opportunities in the North Salish Sea region for hands-on learning.

If you’re curious about connecting climate action, housing, and community care, this is a session you won’t want to miss.

📅 February 11, 2026

Register today! https://www.clark.edu/go/nwrec

We are thrilled to announce that Paul Iarrobino will be one of our workshop presenters at NWREC 2026: Reclaiming Our Narratives!

As a proud gay elder, storyteller, and dedicated gerontology professional, Paul harnesses the power of personal narrative and research to unite communities. A founding member of Elder Pride Services, he was honored with their Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018 and celebrated with the Oregon Q***r History Collective’s Q***r Hero Award for his impactful leadership during the pandemic. His latest anthology, Different Voices, hit the shelves in April 2025, capturing diverse experiences that inspire.

This pivotal session at NWREC arrives at a crucial moment when LGBTQ+ communities are confronting renewed challenges to their basic rights, alongside rising discrimination and fear. Instead of merely highlighting the harm, this workshop will shine a light on our collective strength and resilience. Joined by the talented Heidi Green, Joshua Thomas, and Scott Strickland, participants will hear powerful testimonials from community members who transformed their struggles into solidarity and action.

Discover how local institutions—libraries, community centers, bookstores, and faith spaces—are creating safe havens for these vital stories to be shared boldly. The session will feature an interactive Q&A, offering you the opportunity to ask questions and reflect on ways to support your LGBTQ+ colleagues, students, and neighbors effectively.

Join us in this essential workshop and be part of a movement to uplift voices that matter and affirm our shared humanity.

📅 February 11, 2026

Register today at: https://clark.edu/go/nwrec

We’re excited to feature Dr. MarcusAntonio “Dr. Gunn” as a presenter at NWREC 2026: Reclaiming Our Narratives.

Dr. Gunn is a statewide Policy Associate with the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges and a respected leadership coach, systems designer, and storyteller. He leads efforts such as the Middle Leadership Academy and Evolve Initiative, which support middle leaders, redesign institutional culture, and build community-rooted leadership capacity across Washington’s colleges. His work is grounded in the experiences of Black male administrators and other leaders who often hold both the weight of institutional expectations and the hopes of their communities.

His session, “Healing in the Middle: Reclaiming Our Leadership Narratives Through Trauma-Informed, Equity-Minded Practice,” explores what it means to lead from the “middle” with care, integrity, and healing at the center. Participants will:

Reflect on how identity, trauma, and institutional pressure shape their leadership stories.

Engage with a four-part “Healing in the Middle” framework that includes self-reclamation, healing-aligned leadership practices, community-centered leadership, and structural healing.

Take part in an interactive storytelling activity, “Reclaiming My Leadership Narrative,” and leave with concrete tools, reflection prompts, and practices they can bring back to their teams.

This workshop is especially valuable for leaders who are navigating complex systems and want their leadership to be sustainable—for themselves and for those they serve.

📅 February 11, 2026

Visit https://www.clark.edu/go/nwrec for complete conference details and registration information.

We’re honored to feature Jennie Brandis as a workshop presenter at NWREC 2026: Reclaiming Our Narratives.

Jennie is a transracial South Korean adoptee who grew up in the Pacific Northwest. She has spent the last five years working in sexual violence response and prevention, and now serves as the Title IX Advocacy Coordinator at Mt. Hood Community College. In this role, she supports students and staff so they feel informed, respected, and accompanied when navigating Title IX reporting.

Her session focuses on a pressing question for campuses: How do we make sure survivors—especially survivors of color—are not further harmed by the very systems meant to help them?

Attendees will walk away with practical strategies to build trauma-informed, survivor-centered, and culturally responsive practices in their own institutions.

Join us on February 11, 2026

Register at: https://clark.edu/go/nwrec

Values don’t matter when they’re easy.

They matter when systems are under pressure—and real people bear the consequences.

In this interactive, hybrid workshop, participants will examine how organizational values shape power, access, and outcomes when equity, urgency, and institutional constraints collide. Through collective reflection, small-group dialogue, and a game-based simulation, we’ll practice navigating real-world dilemmas and explore how equity-centered leadership can disrupt harm and strengthen collective impact.

Facilitated by April Pereira (ile/they/she) — Director of Special Projects in the Office of People and Culture at Clark College and Founding Director of StorySpark Collective. Drawing on a background in community planning, public housing policy, museum and public programs, and equity-centered storytelling, April brings both academic rigor and lived experience to this work. Their facilitation centers shared responsibility, lived experience, and the power of narrative to drive systems change.

Participants will leave with practical strategies for values-aligned action, deeper clarity about their role in systems change, and commitments they can carry back into their organizations and movements.

For anyone committed to justice-oriented leadership, collective liberation, and turning values into action.

Join us on February 11th! Register today: https://www.clark.edu/go/nwrec

We’re excited to feature Anne Grey as a workshop presenter at NWREC 2026: Reclaiming Our Narratives.

Anne is an educator, instructional designer, and leader with extensive experience in curriculum development and inclusive teaching. Born in Mumbai, India, and having lived in seven countries, she brings a truly global lens to her work. Her doctorate in higher education and background in psychology and counseling allow her to connect personal growth with systemic change.

Her NWREC session focuses on how the stories we tell ourselves influence our sense of identity, agency, and belonging. Participants will explore the cultural scripts they’ve inherited, identify the narratives they carry, and practice shifting those stories from a deficit mindset to one grounded in strength.

Learn how story work can be a powerful practice for leaders who support others through transition and transformation.

📅 February 11, 2026

Visit https://www.clark.edu/go/nwrec for complete conference details and registration information.

We’re excited to feature Dr. Raven C. Major as a workshop presenter at NWREC 2026: Reclaiming Our Narratives.

Dr. Major is a scholar-practitioner, speaker, and consultant whose work focuses on institutional culture, belonging, and the day-to-day realities of Black people in schools, colleges, and organizations. She leads The Folding Chair Collective, a learning and consulting firm that helps institutions move from performative statements toward practices grounded in fairness, accountability, and care.

At NWREC 2026, Dr. Major will share insights and tools for shifting organizational narratives, creating climates where Black women and other underrepresented colleagues can belong, and building structures that do not rely on silent endurance. This session is especially relevant for leaders, educators, and staff committed to creating healthier, more honest workplaces. Together, we will continue building the just and equitable future our communities deserve.

We hope you’ll join us on February 11, 2026.

Register here: https://www.clark.edu/go/nwrec

We’re deeply grateful to the Washington State Board of Community and Technical Colleges — Educational Resources & Innovation Team for their generous sponsorship of NWREC 2026.

Your continued investment in equity-centered learning, innovation, and community building helps make this conference possible and strengthens the collective work happening across our region.

Thank you for standing with us and for supporting spaces that center justice, connection, and transformation. We’re honored to partner with you.

Join us at NWREC Wednesday, February 11, 2026.

Register today! https://www.clark.edu/go/nwrec

We’re excited to feature Angie Ebba (she/they) as a workshop presenter at NWREC 2026: Reclaiming Our Narratives.

Angie is a q***r, disabled educator, advocate, writer, and artist who has worked in education for over two decades. They serve as a Student Success Specialist at Mt. Hood Community College, teach ABS/GED courses, and lead community education classes at Portland Community College. Angie holds a Master’s in Transformative Language Arts and focuses on how story, art, and performance can help us understand ourselves, connect with others, and spark change.

Their NWREC workshop centers on the experiences of people living with disability and chronic illness and the power of telling our own stories. Participants will hear Angie’s personal narrative, along with creative presentations of stories from other disabled and chronically ill individuals they have interviewed.

Attendees will leave with a deeper understanding of personal narrative as a tool for connection, healing, and classroom practice.

📅 February 11, 2026

Register today! https://www.clark.edu/go/nwrec