Welcome to the 2023 Annual Forum session proposal form. We welcome proposals broadly related to improving the lives of young adults throughout the nation. We also especially welcome proposals or sessions that include youth presenters!

For examples of past accepted session proposals please view the 2022 All Youth Connecting Forum. Please also only select no more than three session tracks for your session. 

The submission portal requires: 

• Your name, email, organization, and title 
• Session title, description, and learning objectives 
• A profile picture and bio

Session proposals are due at 9pm EST/6pm PST November 14th, 2022


2023 Annual Forum Session Tracks

Best Practices for Sustainable and Effective Employer Partnerships

This session track will tackle the intersection of a quickly changing job market, burgeoning new career paths such as green jobs, cybersecurity, and infrastructure, and how we can create effective employer partnerships to boost career prospects of Opportunity youth in these new fields.

Changing the Narrative Around OY

The session track will channel creative means to change the narrative around young adults who are disconnected from school and work. Too frequently, young adults are framed as offenders of violence, deserving of low-wage work, and/or lacking work ethic as compared to previous generations. Young people seeking attachment to work are seeking to use their assets to better their lives and the community around them. Attendees will leave equipped with updated data, stories, and narrative angles to combat the disparaging misconceptions surrounding Opportunity Youth. 

Using Data to Best Serve Youth

This session track will showcase innovative practices in data collection, use, and analysis. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about new ways to assess youth, utilize virtual options to reach youth, and capture new data that can enable personalized offerings for youth. Communities are also using data to prioritize populations, understand if they are making a difference, and track their progress in serving disconnected young people. Attendees will be able to problem-solve ways in which we can use data to improve and modify service delivery systems.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA)

This session track will highlight topics on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility within the employment space. Attendees will take away best practices to adequately integrate DEIA practices into their organizations, ensure equitable opportunities for youth, address hidden biases, and implement effective evaluation methods for their DEIA goals.

Integrating Youth Mental Health into Your Workforce Systems and Programs

This session track will focus on best practices to address the pervasive youth mental health crisis. The mental health crisis has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and requires bold innovative solutions to adequately address it. Attendees will be able to implement a wealth of mental health tools, activities, and metrics in their communities from the sessions in this track.

Organizing for Successful Advocacy

This session track focuses on best practices for engaging young adults, youth-serving professionals, employers, and other stakeholders to create and sustain equitable work environments for youth. Attendees will be able to gain tangible tactics they can use in their local areas to engage their elected officials, employers, and advocates to improve local youth employment issues.

Outreach and Engagement: Innovative Strategies and Helpful Technology

With shifts toward remote learning and work-from-home, this session track will focus on the future of work as it pertains to the virtual environment. Attendees will gain knowledge about closing the digital skills gap, creating effective virtual work environments, and forming new virtual employer partnerships. 

Youth Ecosystems: Making “No Wrong Door” Work

Community-based organizations, local workforce development boards, intermediary organizations, and local elected officials are working to create cohesive ecosystems that provide high-quality services and are easy for young people to navigate. Sessions in this track will address initiatives led by local elected officials, collective-impact or functional-zero approaches, youth-led leadership and advisory bodies, and data-sharing efforts.