The Voices Project exists to train and promote leaders of color. During the Voices Conference, labs are designed to provide leaders with peer-to-peer collaboration and equipping preferably, though not exclusively, within our 6 domains of culture – art, business, church, education, entertainment/media, and governments/politics. The Workshop RFP is designed to solicit lab proposals and explain what we are seeking for The Voices Conference 2023.

The Voices Conference accomplishes our mission of training leaders of color to influence culture through our collaborative lab sessions. Labs embody our core values of diversity within communities of color; the voice of the marginalized and isolated; the tools of critique and the power of influence;  integration of history, faith, and action. We believe that one of the best ways to equip our attendees is by utilizing the skills and expertise of our practitioners to train other practitioners.

Schedule

A call and response format will be utilized for the 60-minute lab session. Each lab is a 20-minute presentation followed with a 40 minute discussion facilitated by the presenter. Labs will be offered once, on Friday afternoon, 

Please take note of the following expectations as you plan and structure your lab:

• Collaboration: though this will be a virtual event, attendees are desiring to connect with other leaders in and across their respective areas of cultural influence. This can occur during an intentional introduction.
• Conversation: chairs in labs rooms will be set up in a way to promote community and acknowledge the value each voice offers to the conversation 

• Empowerment: attendees are expecting to be empowered to influence culture for the benefit of communities of color, therefore labs should provide resources for leadership development and encourage action
• Handouts: using a handout during your workshop helps attendees follow your presentation, suggests further resources for study, and/or provides a bibliography
• Advertising/Sales: The Voices Conference will not accept workshops that seem like advertisements or a sales presentation for a particular organization or product. If you have a product or service to advertise, consider reserving an exhibit booth or ad space.
• Tech Meeting: Since this is a virtual event, lab presenters may be asked to attend a brief tech meeting prior to the event.  We will be using the Hopin virtual platform for this event.

Tracks

The tracks below have been selected based on areas of cultural influence defined by The Voices Project. As you review the tracklist please keep in mind that your lab proposal needs to align with one of the following tracks: Art, Business, Church, Education, Media, Politics.  

Presenter Profiles

In alignment with The Voices Project’s core value of diversity within communities of color and collaboration, we seek to promote those ideals in our lab experience. During the application process, presenters will be required to provide information about their ethnicity, geographic and age diversity.

Conference Registration

The Voices Conference will offer FREE conference registration to presenters for accepted lab proposals. If your proposal is not accepted, we will honor the early bird registration rate for the presenters listed in your application. 

Though this year’s conference will be livestreamed from Chicago, all labs will be presented virtually from the presenters’ chosen locations.