The full-day Conference is hosted by one school in a geographic region, and aims to promote action and strengthen leadership by deepening the conversation, addressing challenges, sharing effective practices and generating positive steps. The goal is to improve inclusion within schools and the understanding that racial, socioeconomic, religious and sexual diversity enhances all elements of our schools. Each school attending the Conference sends a group of community members called a POD, which includes two members from each constituency: administrators, alumni, diversity coordinators, faculty, parents, students and trustees. The day runs as follows: • Following a welcome and a keynote address, schools meet in their own peer constituent group to share challenges and effective practices around the Conference topic. To jumpstart the potentially difficult conversations, participants are given a list of provocative comments or assumptions that reflect the day-to-day impact of diversity challenges. • After lunch, the students have a voice. Student attendees share concrete recommendations with all conference attendees to help make schools more sensitive to differences. • Once the student share-out is finished, each School POD then meets as its own group to debrief the morning, and create an Action Plan that can be taken back to their school to begin implementing change. Host schools pay a fee to Pollyanna that includes a Project Manager who will guide the school throughout the process. Documents associated with one of the Conference topics: race, leadership, LGBTQ, socioeconomics, intersectionality, white engagement and privilege will be provided as part of the fee. These documents include: survey and interview questions, icebreakers, logistical plans, budgets and facilitator scripts. Contact us to learn more.