2026 MCEA Fall Conference: Full Schedule

1:30pm CDT

Beyond the Language Barrier: Masterful Collaboration with Professional Interpreters

Wednesday October 21, 2026 1:30pm - 2:30pm CDT

Language access is a cornerstone of community equity. This session provides a practical roadmap for collaborating with professional interpreters and accessing translation services. By understanding our District’s Language Access Plan and mastering the "how-to" of service requests, you will learn to remove barriers and build stronger, more inclusive connections with the multilingual families you serve.

Outcomes / Key Takeaways

Navigate Support Systems: Successfully use district workflows to request professional interpreters and written translation services.
Implement Best Practices: Apply professional communication standards during interpreted sessions to ensure accuracy, clarity and understanding.
Language Access Plan: Utilize the District Language Access Plan as a guide for maintaining equitable communication with multilingual families.

Speakers

Miguel Benjamin

Coordinator of Interpretation Services, Rochester Public Schools

My name is Miguel Benjamin, and I am the Coordinator of Interpretation Services for Rochester Public Schools. With a background in community engagement, interpreting in Spanish, and program coordination, I have worked extensively with multilingual populations, organizing cultural... Read More →

Wednesday October 21, 2026 1:30pm - 2:30pm CDT
Suite 104 - Lower Level 30 Civic Center Dr SE, Rochester, MN 55904, USA

DEI

2:45pm CDT

Best Practices for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility, and Belonging (DEIAB) in Community Education

Wednesday October 21, 2026 2:45pm - 3:45pm CDT

Suite 104 - Lower Level

Join the MCEA Equity Committee to explore our new DEIAB Best Practices Guide for Community Education. In this interactive session, we will introduce the guide’s core frameworks, share actionable strategies for your programs, and facilitate collaborative feedback discussions to shape the continued development of this guide.

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

Effectively navigate the guide as a resource for improving DEIAB in their own CE departments.
Provide meaningful feedback to help refine MCEA’s Best Practices Guide.
Identify at least two practices from the new guide to apply within their own community education programs.

Speakers

Tiffany Weeks

School-Age-Care Supervisor, Anoka-Hennepin Adventures Plus

Tiffany is the Supervisor for the Anoka-Hennepin Adventures Plus School-Age-Care Program overseeing the program's implementation at 24 site locations. She has 29 years of experience working in the field.

Wednesday October 21, 2026 2:45pm - 3:45pm CDT
Suite 104 - Lower Level 30 Civic Center Dr SE, Rochester, MN 55904, USA

DEI

4:00pm CDT

Community Care as Resistance: Healing, Grounding, and Solidarity in Difficult Times

Wednesday October 21, 2026 4:00pm - 5:00pm CDT

Suite 104 - Lower Level

Community Care as Resistance offers a trauma-informed space for grounding, reflection, and practical coping during times of war, authoritarianism, immigration trauma, and dehumanization. Participants will explore community care, solidarity, and accountability while practicing strategies that support healing without re-centering whiteness or placing additional burden on marginalized communities.

Outcomes / Key Takeaways

Practice trauma-informed grounding and coping strategies for difficult social and political moments.
Explore how Community Education can function as public care infrastructure.
Identify ways to support healing, solidarity, and accountability without re-centering whiteness.

Speakers

Dr. Leonardo E. Candelario-Perez

Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Castor MN

Dr. Leonardo E. Candelario-Perez (they/them) is a Latinx, queer, bilingual clinical psychologist licensed in Minnesota and the Board President of Castor MN. Dr. Leo brings more than a decade of clinical and community-based experience, including specialized work supporting transgender... Read More →

Stephen Keeler

Director of Community Education, Fridley Public Schools

Stephen Keeler (they/them) serves as the Director of Community Education for Fridley Public Schools and Co-chair of the MCEA Equity Committee. Stephen is a justice-centered Community Education leader whose work focuses on anti-racism, decolonized practice, disability justice, gender-inclusive... Read More →

Wednesday October 21, 2026 4:00pm - 5:00pm CDT
Suite 104 - Lower Level 30 Civic Center Dr SE, Rochester, MN 55904, USA

DEI

1:30pm CDT

Belonging by Design: Creating Inclusive Learning Spaces Where Everyone Can Thrive

Thursday October 22, 2026 1:30pm - 2:30pm CDT

Suite 104 - Lower Level

Belonging is essential for engagement, learning, well-being, and community connection. This interactive workshop explores how unconscious bias can influence educational environments and provides practical strategies to recognize and interrupt bias. Through reflection, discussion, and real-world case studies, participants will gain actionable tools to foster inclusive learning spaces where all learners feel welcomed, valued, and connected.

Speakers

Amrita Prakaashana

Founder, Coach, & Facilitator, Artria Consulting, LLC

Amrita Prakaashana (she/her) is the Founder, Coach, and Facilitator at Artria Consulting LLC. She partners with high-achieving individuals in healthcare, nonprofit, and caregiving professions who give so much of themselves caring for others to navigate career and life transitions... Read More →

Thursday October 22, 2026 1:30pm - 2:30pm CDT
Suite 104 - Lower Level 30 Civic Center Dr SE, Rochester, MN 55904, USA

DEI

2:45pm CDT

Equity in Action Lab: Tools for Belonging, Inclusion, and Public-Sector Change

Thursday October 22, 2026 2:45pm - 3:45pm CDT

Suite 104 - Lower Level

This interactive think tank invites Community Education professionals to generate bold, practical ideas for equity, inclusion, belonging, and public-sector change. Participants will help inform MCEA Equity Committee best-practices work while engaging in a trauma-informed space with clear guardrails for de-centering whiteness, avoiding performative allyship, and moving from values to action.

Outcomes / Key Takeaways

Generate practical equity best-practice ideas for Community Education systems and programs.
Practice shared agreements that de-center whiteness and support accountable participation.
Identify bold, actionable strategies for advancing equity, inclusion, and belonging in public-sector spaces.

Speakers

Stephen Keeler

Director of Community Education, Fridley Public Schools

Lisa Rahn

Director of Community Education, Shakopee Public Schools

Lisa Rahn serves as the Director of Community Education for Shakopee Public Schools and is an active member of the MCEA Equity Committee and the RALLI Legislative Committee. Lisa brings experience in Community Education leadership, public-sector program development, legislative advocacy... Read More →

Thursday October 22, 2026 2:45pm - 3:45pm CDT
Suite 104 - Lower Level 30 Civic Center Dr SE, Rochester, MN 55904, USA

DEI

11:15am CDT

Equity 101: Equity and Inclusion Work in Community Education

Friday October 23, 2026 11:15am - 12:15pm CDT

Suite 104 - Lower Level

This 60-minute session invites Community Education leaders to examine how equity, inclusion, anti-racism, disability justice, gender-inclusive practice, and white supremacy culture show up in daily systems. Participants will reflect on access, belonging, dignity, safety, and practical ways to move equity work from values statements into everyday Community Education practice.

Outcomes / Key Takeaways
Participants will:

Build shared language around equity, inclusion, anti-racism, disability justice, gender-inclusive practice, intersectionality, and white supremacy culture.
Reflect on how Community Education systems, including registration, fees, communication, staffing, facilities, and program design, shape access, belonging, dignity, and safety.
Leave with reflection questions and practical next steps for moving equity work from stated values into daily leadership and operational practice.

Speakers

Stephen Keeler

Director of Community Education, Fridley Public Schools

Friday October 23, 2026 11:15am - 12:15pm CDT
Suite 104 - Lower Level 30 Civic Center Dr SE, Rochester, MN 55904, USA

DEI

1:30pm CDT

2:45pm CDT

4:00pm CDT

1:30pm CDT

2:45pm CDT

11:15am CDT

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