WASHINGTON, DC, Sept. 30, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- With up to $30 Billion in new federal funding for summer and out of school time programs over the next three years for education recovery, the National Summer Learning Association’s Summer Changes Everything™ national conference will be among the most important convenings for leaders to exchange lessons learned, best practices and solutions to help America’s learners and education leaders recharge, rebound and heal from this pandemic. Registration is open through November 7, 2021. See schedule here.
“With the support of historic federal funding, summer learning and out of school time leaders are in a unique position to expand access to programs that accelerate learning, address social emotional needs and ultimately, rekindle the joy of summer for millions of students,” said Aaron P. Dworkin, CEO, National Summer Learning Association (NSLA). “We are thrilled to convene our country’s leaders here in our nation’s capital to discuss how summer can change everything, for better or worse for America’s most vulnerable students.”
NSLA-–the only national nonprofit exclusively focused on closing the achievement and equity gaps in education by increasing access to high-quality summer learning opportunities —will host its national conference:
Summer Changes Everything™
November 8-10, 2021
at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C.
Studies show that high-quality summer and afterschool programs can change the trajectory of a young person’s life. Recent research from the report of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NAS) on Summertime Experiences and the RAND Corporation report on the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) offer conclusive evidence that summer is an opportunity to close academic gaps while promoting healthy development and well-being for all students to thrive. RAND also reports that more than 40 of 43 rigorously evaluated summer programs showed positive impacts on at least one youth outcome, ranging from reading fluency to increased social and emotional skills and GPA.
Notable speakers for this year’s conference include an influential lineup of education, philanthropic, public policy and youth leaders:
- Margaret Brennan | Moderator of Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan, CBS News
- Geoffrey Canada | President, National Board, Harlem Children’s Zone
- Sandra Magsamen | Author, Artist, Art Therapist
- Denise Forte | Interim CEO, The Education Trust
- Jon Fortt, Co-anchor | CNBC’s TechCheck
- Christian Rhodes | Chief of Staff, U.S. Department of Education
- Dr. Monique M. Chism | Under Secretary for Education, Smithsonian
- Gigi Antoni, Director, Learning and Enrichment, The Wallace Foundation
- Christopher Caruso | Managing Director, School-Age Children, Robin Hood Foundation
- Lisa M. Hamilton | President and Chief Executive Officer, The Annie E. Casey Foundation
- Philip Li | President & CEO, Robert Sterling Clark Foundation
- Jennifer Sloan McCombs | Director, Behavioral and Policy Sciences Department; Senior Policy Researcher at RAND Corporation
- Karen Pittman | Co-Founder and Senior Fellow, The Forum for Youth Investment
- Tom Rosenberg | President/Chief Executive Officer, American Camp Association
- Dax-Devlon Ross | Author and Social Impact Consultant, Author of A Letter to My White Male Friends
- Dr. Jacqueline L. Sanderlin | Author of “The Why Not?” Challenge: Say “Yes!” to Success With School-Community Partnerships, Senior Executive Consultant, Scholastic
- Carlos Santini | CEO, Mizzen by Mott
- Fatima Shama | Executive Director, The Fresh Air Fund
A robust schedule of events and networking opportunities offer innovative and scalable strategies to meet the academic and well-being needs of students during the summer months. Highlights include:
- An Opening Town Hall, Building Back Better: The State of Education and Summer Learning (Monday, November 8, 2021)
- Pre-Conference Summer Learning Training Institute – a boot camp for shaping quality summer programs (Monday, November 8, 2021)
- Opening General Session: Learning and Leading During COVID, moderated by Jon Fortt, CNBC (Tuesday, November 9, 2021)
- An NSLA awards luncheon with keynote conversation featuring Margaret Brennan and Geoffrey Canada and a ceremony recognizing honorees of the 2021 New York Life Foundation, Excellence in Summer Learning Awards (Tuesday, November 9, 2021)
- A Closing General Session featuring philanthropic experts on Investing in Innovation, Equity, Leadership in Out of School Time (Wednesday, November 10, 2021)
See all featured speakers here. To register or learn more, please visit: https://www.summerlearning.org/national-conference/.
The conference is supported, in part by the following partners: Allstate, Harry Singer Foundation, Eugene Lang Foundation, Deckers Brands, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation®, Clear Channel Outdoor, Discovery Education, Gilbane Development Company, MetaMetrics Inc., NBA Foundation, New York Life Foundation, Nintendo SWITCH, Scholastic and The Wallace Foundation.
About the National Summer Learning Association
The National Summer Learning Association (NSLA) is the only national nonprofit exclusively focused on closing the achievement and opportunity gaps by increasing access to high-quality summer learning opportunities. NSLA recognizes and disseminates what works in summer learning, develops and delivers community capacity-building offerings and convenes and empowers key actors to embrace summer learning as a solution for equity and excellence in education. For more information, visit www.summerlearning.org.
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