Access to Justice Conference Agenda

View the details agenda with workshop descriptions and speakers here. Below is the agenda at a glance.

Friday Listening Sessions

The Conference will begin on Friday afternoon with listening sessions from three communities that experience marginalization, providing an opportunity to build relationships and deepen our understanding of justice system challenges and needs. We will hear from individuals from the immigrant community, tribal community and formerly incarcerated community.

Saturday Workshops

Saturday will be packed with knowledge and skill-building workshops and activities that will strengthen our equity and justice toolboxes. Conference tracks will offer workshops focused on four themes: race equity, mass incarceration, community lawyering and partnerships, and trauma-informed advocacy. Attendees can attend all the workshops in a track or just attend one. There will also be other workshops outside of the tracks including topics like: innovations for the self-represented litigants, reproductive justice, and community-centric technology.

Sunday Strategy Session

On Sunday, we will engage in strategy sessions with the goal of building an effective & collaborative network to end poverty and racism. Attendees will engage in small and large group discussions about our shared goals of ending harmful policies, practices, and systems that perpetuate poverty, racism, and other oppression, how can best we lift up and support one another’s work and maximize our collective community’s overall effectiveness and impact through better coordination and communication across Alliance for Equal Justice entities and all equity & justice partners.

New This Year!

We have some exciting, new options this year!

Idea Labs – Attendees will have opportunities to meet one-on-one with experts for 15-minute sessions on topics like tips and tricks for using social media in your organization, how to have difficult conversations in the workplace, how to set up a criminal records sealing clinic, upping your technology game and more! See the full list of Labs here.

Racial Justice Caucus Session – Attendees will have the option to join a facilitated discussion space in affinity groups (or caucuses) based on racial identity. Affinity groups are a useful opportunity for participants who identify as people of color or as white to explore how their different lived experiences intersect with approaches to racial equity and racial justice. RSVP for a Racial Justice Caucus Session here.

Agenda at a Glance

Friday, June 14

Pre-Conference

10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.: Re-entry Simulation (Pre-registration required. Register here.)

10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.: Access to Justice Board and Minority & Justice Commission Joint Meeting (Open to All Interested. RSVP here.)

12:30 p.m.- 1:30 p.m.: Court of Appeals 50th Anniversary Open House. RSVP here.

Conference Day 1 – 1.75 Other Continuing Legal Education Credits

1:00 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.: Orientation for New Attendees (Optional. Not for CLE credit)

1:45 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.: Break

2:00 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.: Tribal Welcome Ceremony (Not for CLE credit)

2:15 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.: Welcome Remarks

2:45 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.: Break

Concurrent Community Listening Sessions

3:00 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.: Listening Session – Building the Defense Line for Immigrant and Refugee Communities in WA

3:00 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.: Listening Session – Formerly Incarcerated Community

3:00 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.: Listening Session – Native American Tribal Community

Evening Activities

5:00 p.m. – 7 p.m.: Networking Reception

7:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.: Racial Justice Caucusing (Not for CLE credit)

Saturday, June 15

Conference Day 2 – 6.25 Other Continuing Legal Education Credits

8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.: Breakfast

Concurrent Sessions

9:00 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.: Past Lessons for Future Planning: Housing Discrimination in Spokane and Structural Racism (Race Equity Track)

9:00 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.: Mass Incarceration and Public Health (Criminal Justice Track)

9:00 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.: Developing a Trauma-Informed Approach: Trauma, Incarceration, and Adults’ Ability to Learn (Trauma-Informed Track)

9:00 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.: Combating Bias Against Muslims in the Legal System: Equipping and Empowering the Legal Community

9:00 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.: Radical Tools for the Oppressed (Community Track)

10:15 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.: Break

Concurrent Sessions

10:30 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.:  Management & Leadership Skills for the Equity & Justice Movement (Race Equity Track)

10:30 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.: Legal and Community-based Approaches to Reducing Barriers to Reentry (Criminal Justice Track)

10:30 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.: From the Bar to the Bench: Trauma Informed Approaches (Trauma-Informed Track)

10:30 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.: Transgender Competency in Legal Services

11:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.: Break

Lunch and Keynote

12:00 p.m.: Lunch Service Starts

12:00 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.: Keynote: The Power of Community
Sandra Williams, the Black Lens/Carl Maxey Center, Spokane, WA

Plenary Panel Discussion: An overview of Spokane’s community involvement in efforts to reform the local criminal justice system and address persistent racial disparities.

• Sandra Williams, The Black Lens/Carl Maxey Center, Spokane, WA (moderator)
• Nikki Lockwood, Every Student Counts Alliance/ACLU, Spokane, WA
• Kurtis Robinson, NAACP, Spokane, WA
• Cam Zorrozua, Center for Justice, Spokane, WA
• Duaa-Rahemaah Williams, Black Prisoners Caucus, Spokane, WA
• Pastor Walter Kendricks, Spokane Ministers Fellowship, Spokane, WA
• Angelique Sam, The Bail Project, Spokane, WA

Extended Break

1:15 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.:Break

1:15 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.: Idea Labs (Sign up at the registration table)

Concurrent Sessions

1:45 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.: Advancing Equity from the Inside Out (Race Equity Track)

1:45 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.: If You Don’t Like the Law, Change It! Collaboration for Systems Change (Community Track)

1:45 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.: The Dangers of Practicing Law (Trauma-Informed Track)

1:45 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.: Ignite Your Mission! Community Engagement & Volunteer Program Planning

1:45 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.: A Case Study in Collaboration

Extended Break

3:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.:Break

3:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.: Idea Labs (Sign up at the registration table)

Concurrent Sessions

3:30 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.: Reimagining Self-Help for Unrepresented Litigants: Learning from National Models

3:30 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.: Trauma Informed Advocacy: How Understanding the Impact of Trauma on the Body and Brain Informs the Way We Interact with Our Clients (Trauma-Informed Track)

3:30 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.: A Holistic Journey through the Legal System

3:30 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.: Algorithmic Systems, Structural Inequity, and Community-Centric Technology

3:30 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.: Movement Lawyering in Practice: Lessons from the Intersection of Law and Organizing in Los Angeles (Community Track)

Evening Activities

5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.: Reception in the Gaffney Room, Volkar Center at Gonzaga University

7:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.: No-host networking Supper Clubs (Restaurant locations TBD. Sign up at the registration table.)

Sunday, June 16

Conference Day 3 – 2.5 Other Continuing Legal Education Credits

8:00 a.m.: Breakfast Service Starts

Strategy Session

8:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.: Building an Effective & Collaborative Network to End Poverty & Racism

10:00 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.: Break

Awards Ceremony

10:15 a.m. – 11:15 a.m.: Access to Justice Board Awards

Keynote

11:15 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.: Closing Keynote: Building a Justice BHAG – The Political, Policy, and Moral Path to Progress
Nicholas Brown, Pacifica Law Group, Seattle, WA

12:00 p.m.: Adjourn