**Online ticket sales end at noon on Friday, March 20–You may register at the door at either the reception or conference**
Rave reviews about our Action Conference:
- “Great variety of programs and the opportunity to meet new people!”
- “It gave me inspiration and hope.”
- “Surrounded by the energy of like minded people, rare in Spokane!”
- “Open discussions, amazing positive energy, and equality.”
- “I met amazing people and the mingle times were so productive and interesting. The energy at this conference and the reception was amazing. Wow! It is hard to feel hopeless about America’s current state when getting together to make a change like this.”
- “Idealistic but practical. Motivating, energizing.”
We want YOU to join in this year!
Early Bird Registration Open!
Enjoy Early Bird Registration Rates – through March 12th, add $5 after March 12th:
• $40 General Public
• $30 members of PJALS and co-sponsoring groups
• $15 Living Lightly (self-identified low-income, students, seniors, etc)
• Limited “workshare volunteer scholarships” are available—please contact Teresa at [email protected] for info. Two-hour workshare shifts include set-up, registration table, resource table, clean-up, etc.
Location: Unitarian Universalist Church of Spokane, 4340 W. Ft. Wright Drive
Friday, March 20th: Rise Up Singing! Veterans for Peace Opening Conference Reception
6:00 -8:30 Join us for tasty nosh, wine & more, and performances from local musical & spoken word artists.
Saturday, March 21st: Conference
Join us for a full day with three workshop sessions, a fantastic keynote speaker, breakfast, lunch, and lots of opportunities to connect with like-minded folks who are putting their values into action! Full schedule and workshop descriptions will be released on February 9th.
7:300-9:00 Registration and Networking Breakfast
8:45-9:00 Opening Performances
9:00-9:30 Welcome and Dedication
9:30-9:45 Mixer Break
9:45-11:15 “Education for Action” Workshop Session 1 (90 min)
- Planning & Running Meetings That Don’t Suck… and instead are Awesome
Anne Martin, Greater Spokane Progress and Rowena Pineda, Spokane Regional Health District
• A Call to Action for Safe, Affordable Housing
Cindy Algeo, Spokane Low Income Housing Consortium
• Expanding Capacity One Conversation at a Time
Deb Conklin, The Oak Tree
• Naming Racism: Strategies to Challenge Colorblindness
Jessica Maucione, Gonzaga University and Angela Vera Webster, Judicial Assistant
• “Now You See the Violence Inherent in the System” – Common Elements of Militarism and Our Criminal Justice System as Structures of Violence and Oppression Cancelled
Liz Moore, Peace & Justice Action League and Justin Pimsanguan, Don’t Shoot and Washington CAN!
• Circling up the Community through Restorative Justice
Tim Schermetzler and Meaghan Driscoll, Gonzaga Law Students
•Know Your Rights with the Police
Ruth Ptak, Center for Justice Intern and Gonzaga Law School Student and Breean Beggs, Civil Rights Attorney
• Checkpoint! Exploring the Realities of Life in Occupied Palestine
Taylor Weech, PJALS Steering Committee & Palestine-Israel Human Rights Committee and Justin Mauger, PJALS Palestine-Israel Human Rights Committee
11:15-11:30 Mixer Break
11:30-1:00 “Education for Action” Workshop Session 2 (90 min)
• Common Sense Economics
Lori Province, Spokane Regional Labor Council AFL-CIO
• Race: the Power of an Illusion – A Discussion
Anne Martin, Greater Spokane Progress and Rowena Pineda, Spokane Regional Health District
• Designing Effective Actions to Earn Media & Build Power
Eric Ross, Backbone Campaign
• Unist’ot’en Camp: An indigenous blockade fighting imperialism and fossil fuel extraction and winning.
Justin Ellenbecker, Vancouver Island Community Forest Action Network
• Journey to Afghanistan and Back with a Young Soldier
Mary Rupert and Larry Shook
• “Ban the Box” Modern Day Barriers to Successful Reentry
Layne Pavey, I Did the Time and others TBA
• Criminal Justice Reform in Spokane – Moving Our Smart Justice Vision
Mary Lou Johnson, Smart Justice Spokane and Liz Moore, Peace & Justice Action League of Spokane
• Nicaragua: Cristiana, Socialista y Solidaria Cancelled
David Brookbank and Jan Treecraft
1:00-2:00 Lunch and Keynote
Keynote Speaker: Judith Le Blanc, Senior Organizer at the Alliance for a Just Society. It’s a Magic Movement Moment! 
Judith is currently organizing a project to create a national Native leadership network to provide support for strategic planning and capacity building trainings in Indian Country. She was the Field Director for Peace Action, a national grassroots organization representing 90,000 members committed to a fundamental change in U.S. foreign policy.
She coordinates the Move the Money Campaign, an effort to organize grassroots coalitions of community, labor and peace groups to change national spending priorities from wars and weapons to fund jobs and public services as one of the steps towards a “new economy” that works for all.
She has worked on a national level for over 30 years on campaigns ranging from labor rights, racial justice to peace, and disarmament campaigns. She served two terms as a national co-chair of United for Peace and Justice, the national coalition that organized the movement to oppose the 2nd war in Iraq. In 2014 she received the National Priorities Project’s Democracy Champions Award.
Judith is a member of the Caddo Tribe of Oklahoma. She lives in Harlem, New York.
2:00-2:45 Youth Activist Panel
Moderator: Taylor Weech
Panelists: Jackie Vaughn, Planned Parenthood; Martin Martinez, MEChA de EWU; Emmanuel Flores, Young Emerging Labor Leaders; Charlie Johansen, Odyssey Youth Center GSA Leader
2:45-3:00 Mixer Break
3:00-4:30 “Education for Action” Workshop Session 3 (90 min)
• How to Persuade and Influence Using Stories
Bart Haggin
• Escalation of Creative Nonviolent Direct Action Tactics
Eric Ross, Backbone Campaign
• How to Effectively Communicate with Lawmakers **New time**
Blaine Stum, Legislative Assistant to Councilman Jon Snyder and Shar Lichty, Peace & Justice Action League of Spokane
• From Oppression to Connection: Learning to Interact with Compassion and Honesty Using Marshall Rosenberg’s Nonviolent Communication principles.
Mark Hamlin and Carol Bryan
• Ending Washington’s Debtors Prisons
Sonja Trio, ACLU-WA
• Tools for Death Penalty Abolition: Knowledge and Skills
Danielle Fulfs, Washington Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
• Talking about Prosperity and Security in the US and around the World
Judith LeBlanc, Alliance for a Just Society
4:30-5:00 Closing Plenary: Going Forward Together!
Evaluation
Door Prizes!
**Online ticket sales end at noon on Friday, March 20–You may register at the door at either the reception or conference**
Co-sponsoring organizations’ members can attend at the PJALS member rate. If you’d like to co-sponsor, just fill out this quick form and return it to us, or email [email protected]. Underwriting sponsors make this event a wonderful success–and we appreciate you! If your network is bigger than your budget, your group might be able to give sponsorship support through in-kind publicity! Contact us to talk about it!
Meal Sponsorships:
Networking Breakfast:
Social Justice Fund Northwest
Lunch:
Smith-Barbieri Progressive Fund
Reception Sponsorship:
Veterans for Peace, Chapter 35, Spokane
Conference Sponsorships:
Si, Se Puede!
Community Building Foundation
Building Power to Win:
Unitarian Universalist Church of Spokane
Growing Our Movement:
Spokane Regional Labor Council AFL-CIO
Washington Community Action Network!
UFCW 1439
SEIU 1199 NW
Strengthening Our Work:
ACLU of Washington
Envision Spokane
Occupy Spokane
Spokane Faith and Values
Dedicated To Justice:
Eastern Washington Voters
Greater Spokane Progress
Rachel Corrie Foundation
Telelogics
In-Kind Support:
Erin Jellison Design
The Oak Tree
KYRS Thin Air Community Radio
Carol Bryan
Helena Service for Peace and Justice (SERPAJ)
Spokane Moves to Amend (SMAC)
Tenants Union of Washington
The Fig Tree
Washington Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (WCADP)
Why this conference? We want participants to leave with…
• Analysis: deeper understanding of patterns of unequal power relations, locally and globally, and the interconnections of our work for change in this moment in history.
• Skills: greater confidence and sharper skills to take creative and strategic action to shift the balance of power toward economic justice, human rights, and peace.
• Relationships: strengthened relationships and networks as building blocks to creating change in our communities, with an emphasis on young activists and regional participation.
• Action: increased commitment to ACT!
**Online ticket sales end at noon on Friday, March 20–You may register at the door at either the reception or conference**