By Nicholas Ibarra | OBSERVER Staff Writer

More than 600 educators and education-related stakeholders from throughout California are in Sacramento to attend the annual conference hosted by the California Association of African American Superintendents and Administrators (www.caaasa.org).

The sold-out event, themed, “An Equitable Approach to Aligning Education and Health For the Success of African American and Other Students of Color” is being held March 30 through April 1 at the Sheraton Grand Sacramento Hotel.

The three-day, professional development conference will feature workshops, designed to raise awareness of issues impacting African American educators, administrators and students; plenary sessions and panel discussions with noted educators, elected officials, and business and community leaders from throughout the country. Pre-conference events being held today include a parent empowerment summit and youth leadership conference.

            Registration is open for virtual attendance at plenary sessions only. You may register at this link. The plenary sessions are the following:

Wednesday, March 30, 8 a.m.- “Addressing Systemic Inequities During COVID19 with a Focus on Students with the Highest Needs”; 12:15 p.m.- “The Importance of Ethnic Studies in California’s Schools.”

Thursday, March 31, 8 a.m.- “An Equitable Approach to Aligning Education and Health to Support the Success of African Americans and Other Students of Color”;  12:15 p.m. – “Maximizing Federal and State Resources to Ensure Educational Equity for African American and Other Students of Color.”

Speakers include: Congressman Bobby Scott, Representative (D-VA 3rd District) Dr. Miguel Cardona, US Secretary of Education Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond, President, CA. State Board of Education, Founder, Learning Policy Institute.

Friday, April 1, 7:30 a.m. – “Universal Pre-School: The Roadmap to Equity for BIPOC Children, Families and Communities”; 10:45 a.m. – “Addressing Mis-information and Educational Concerns in Communities of Color Due to COVID19.”

Speakers include: Tony Thurmond, CA State Superintendent of Public Instruction Lillie Tyson-Head, Founder, Voices of Our Fathers and daughter of Tuskegee study victim; Camilia Chavez, Executive Director, Dolores Huerta Foundation.

Founded in 1993, CAAASA is a 501c3, education equity and advocacy organization that works through collaboration, network-building and direct community engagement to promote the success of African American, Latinx and other underserved California K-12 public school students and families.  CAAASA’s members include school superintendents, administrators, teachers and other educational professionals from throughout California.  Although its primary focus is education, CAAASA has been at the forefront of numerous issues impacting the health of the African American community.  (www.caaasa.org)

Support for this Sacramento OBSERVER article was provided to Word In Black (WIB) by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. WIB is a collaborative of 10 Black-owned media that includes print and digital partners.