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Independent Living News & Policy from the National Council on Independent Living

NCIL 2023 Annual Conference: Call for Proposals

2023 Annual Conference on Independent Living Logo: Indivisible. Graphic features intersecting threads.

July 24-27 (Grand Hyatt, Washington, DC)

NCIL is excited to announce our 2023 Annual Conference on Independent Living! The theme of this year’s conference is Indivisible. Our movement is Indivisible. We must advocate together for disability justice, unite with our allies, and fight against ableism and prejudice of all types.

NCIL’s Annual Conference is designed to provide peer support, organizing, advocacy, and learning opportunities. It is the largest Independent Living event of the year. NCIL regularly hosts over 1,000 people, including grassroots advocates, CIL and SILC leadership, members of Congress, government officials, and representatives from other organizations that work for justice and equity for people with disabilities.

This year’s conference will take place onsite in Washington, DC and will be archived and available online for those who cannot join us onsite. NCIL will host 25 workshops. Of those, twenty are reserved for in-person presentations. Five are reserved for presenters who will join us virtually. Those workshops will be streamed live at the Hyatt during the in-person conference.

All main events and workshops will be archived for virtual attendees and available on the conference website within approximately 48 hours.

NCIL seeks workshops in the following tracks. Priority will be given to workshops that address these topics through the lenses of anti-racism; Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion (DEAI); and disability justice.

  • Community Organizing & Systems Advocacy: Workshops addressing organizing and advocacy at the grassroots, statewide, and policy levels.
  • IL Workforce Development & Expansion: Workshops looking into areas related to increasing the size of the workforce within the Independent Living Movement at CILs and SILCs and developing youth into leaders in the IL Workforce.
  • Core Services Track: Workshops addressing innovation and best practices in the core services of Centers for Independent Living. 
  • Equity in Action: Workshops that explore the different aspects of our movement as they relate to equity. This track offers space to explore best practices and current motifs surrounding anti-racism, gender inclusion, intersectionality, socioeconomic status, and other sectors in the disability movement that need to be discussed.
  • SILCs in the IL Network: Workshops covering promising practices in SILC and CIL interactions, knowledge on SILC roles in the IL Movement, and discussion about how SILCs can best connect to the IL Community.

In addition to these priorities, NCIL’s Annual Conference Subcommittee encourages workshops that seek to improve the skills and resources of IL staff to carry out the core services of CILs and operate strong SILCs.

Presenters and facilitators are not exempt from registration fees. However, this year NCIL will offer a discount to up to three presenters per accepted workshop. Presenters must register and pay for all days they plan to attend. Presenters that attend only their session and no other events do not need to register nor pay.

Deadline for Submission is January 31, 2023. No proposals will be accepted after 11:59 p.m. Eastern time.