December
13

Event: 2024 Annual Symposium
Location: Holiday Inn By the Bay, Portland

Each December Educate Maine convenes hundreds of educators, business leaders, policymakers, and diverse citizens from across our state's communities at our annual Education Symposium. We are looking forward to welcoming everyone back to the Holiday Inn by the Bay for a full day of in-person learning, networking, and engagement.

We are currently seeking presenters to host a variety of engaging breakout sessions for participants.

THE THEME OF THE 2024 SYMPOSIUM IS INNOVATION.
Maine continues to see an increase of innovative partnerships across all stages of the educational pipeline and industries, resulting in the design and implementation of innovative pathways to support learners and increase career achievement. We encourage proposals highlighting innovative collaborations to and through education and employment, along with information about models, policies, pathways, programs, and beyond that will help Maine reach our statewide education attainment goal that 60% of Mainers will hold degrees or credentials of value by 2025.  

We are seeking proposals that showcase:   

Strong Student Outcomes: Groundbreaking approaches and collaborations throughout the educational pipeline demonstrating robust outcomes, from comprehensive early childhood and family education practices through PK-12 classrooms and Adult Education initiatives. 
Amplifying Student Perspectives: Initiatives that prioritize active involvement of students to design programming and ensure their voices are pivotal in discussion and planning for their own education and trajectories. 
Building Pathways to Post-secondary Success: On-the-job training including apprenticeships; pioneering Experiential Learning Opportunities (ELO) programs; Career and Technical Education (CTE) and diverse postsecondary education options; impactful employer-driven training; fostering robust collaborations between schools and businesses.  
Innovative Investments in Educator Workforce Development: Grow Your Own programs; strategies for teacher recruitment, retention, and professional growth; implementation of mentoring and peer-led programs.  
 

TIMELINE

We will begin accepting proposal submissions on May 23, 2024. The deadline for submission is July 10, 2024. Proposals must be submitted online through the Educate Maine website.

 

SESSION FORMAT

All sessions will be 50 mins - one topic, often a panel, presentation, or brief workshop

 

EVALUATION CRITERIA

Educate Maine welcomes a diverse audience of educators, business and industry leaders, policymakers, and beyond to our symposium each year. Successful proposals will include one or more of the following:  

Highlight opportunities with and for justice-impacted or homeless youth, new Mainers, or other underrepresented groups through diverse engagement including community organizing to connect them with education and workforce training. 
Effectively provide strategies and clear take-aways that participants can implement in their own classrooms, communities, or workplaces. 
Share and discuss policy implications and/or related policy initiatives. 
Employ strategies to engage a broad audience effectively. 
Highlight strategic partnerships, specifically between education and businesses. 
Align to Educate Maine’s priority areas (e.g. champion education investments that produce equitable outcomes across the population, strengthen the alignment between educators and employers, and develop and support exceptional educators)  
 

FORM PREVIEW

All submissions must be made online through our proposal form, which can be accessed through our website. Please have the following information ready

Name, Title/Position, Organization/School/Company of lead presenter and any co-presenters
Contact information (email and phone) for lead presenter
Session Title (please keep this to ~75 characters max)
Area of Focus
Session Description including:
Learning objectives for participants
Plan for participant engagement
If you have any questions about the RFP process, please contact us at info@educatemaine.org. We look forward to reviewing your proposals!

Submit Proposal

Note: Singular vendors and other organizations wishing to highlight their products or services can request a booth in our exhibition area when registration opens but will not be considered for session presentation.  

BECOME A SPONSOR FOR THE 2024 SYMPOSIUM! 
Sponsorship opportunities are available, contact James Murphy (james@educatemaine.org) to learn more.