Save the date! The Research Institute (TRI) will be hosting the 2026 Leadership Conference at the Salem Convention Center on June 23-24th, 2026. Primarily sponsored by The Department of Early Learning and Care as well as The Ford Family Foundation, this two-day event is a professional learning and networking opportunity for Child Care Resource & Referral professionals and partner agencies. Our theme is Leading Together: Growing Oregon’s Early Learning Community. This conference offers space for all participants to reconnect with each other, with focus on collaboration, innovation, and envisioning a better future for the early learning system. The sessions are rooted in equity, building collaborative partnerships, innovative teaching and learning practices, and resilience and well-being.
Central Coordination of Child Care Resource and Referral (CCCCR&R) is administered by The Research Institute at Western Oregon University under the direction of the Department of Early Learning and Care (DELC). This conference is funded in part by the Department of Early Learning and Care.
Request For Proposals
Sessions are encouraged to integrate state initiatives and frameworks. These initiatives and frameworks include, but are not limited to: Pyramid Model, Motivational Interviewing, Raise Up Oregon, Trauma Informed Practices and Awareness, Every Child Belongs, and Anti Racist Practices. Priority will be given to sessions rooted in equity, collaborative partnerships, innovative teaching and learning practices, and resilience and well-being. Sessions that explore embedded professional learning to support quality program practices and strong family partnerships are especially encouraged.
Request for Proposal applications for the 2026 TRI Leadership Conference are now closed. Please contact Lupita Nuñez Morales at nunezmoralesg@wou.edu for any questions or support.
Our Keynote Speaker
Chris Amirault, Ph.D. served for two decades as the director of NAEYC-accredited Early Head Start, preschool, and state PK programs in RI and OK. He was president for several years of the Rhode Island Association for the Education of Young Children and has also served in many national leadership capacities, including as Chair of the Council for NAEYC Accreditation, a member of the NAEYC Affiliate Advisory Council, a founding facilitator of NAEYC’s Diversity & Equity Interest Forum, and on the NAEYC working groups for developmentally appropriate practice and equity. He has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in early childhood education at Brown University, the Community College of Rhode Island, the University of Oklahoma, and elsewhere, and he served as Director of the Institute for Elementary and Secondary Education at Brown. The author of the book “Sparking Learning in Young Children: Classroom Best Practices” and co-author (with Christine Snyder) of “Finding Your Way Through Conflict: Strategies for Early Childhood Educators,” he has published articles in several early childhood journals and has presented many times at state and national early childhood conferences. His new book, “Instructional Coaching Essentials: Partnerships, Principles, and Practices” will be published in fall 2026. He has a PhD in cultural studies from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Sessions
Use the tabs below to see all of the sessions, their locations, and their descriptions.
| Conference Topic Themes |
Session Title Session Room
|
CKC Set Level
|
Presenter Agency
|
Session Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Activating Adult Learning to Support Behavior Change |
N/A N/A
|
Chris Amirault |
Click here |
|
Leadership and Reflective Practices
|
Oregon’s ECE Workforce: What’s Working, What’s Missing, What’s Next |
N/A N/A
|
April Westermann DELC
|
Click here |
|
Leadership and Reflective Practices
|
IECMHC (Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation) Working in Collaboration with CCR&R TA Supports! |
N/A Set 2
|
Caroline Falcone ORIMHA
|
Click here |
|
Leadership and Reflective Practices
|
CCR&R Panel – Sharing Successes |
N/A Set 1
|
CaSandra Zeller TRI
|
Click here |
|
Training, Consultation, and Coaching to Support Developmentally Appropriate Practices (DAP) in Programs
|
All on the Same Page – Educators and Families Working Together |
N/A Set 2
|
Dianice Torrado TRI
|
Click here |
| Conference Topic Themes |
Session Title Session Room
|
CKC Set Level
|
Presenter Agency
|
Session Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Leadership and Reflective Practices
|
Building Reflective, Equity-Centered Leadership in ECE Systems: Introducing the RECAP Framework |
N/A Set 3
|
April Westermann DELC
|
Click here |
|
Leadership and Reflective Practices
|
Navigating Uncertainty |
N/A N/A
|
Dr. Amy King |
Click here |
|
Training, Consultation, and Coaching to Support Developmentally Appropriate Practices (DAP) in Programs
|
Interpreting and Using Environmental Rating Scales (ERS) Scores |
N/A Set 2
|
Aimee Brown TRI
|
Click here |
|
Coaching, Implementation Supports, and Mentoring Early Learning Professionals
|
Seeing Your Path as a Trainer: Certification with the Oregon Registry Trainer Program |
PPLD Set 1
|
Nancy Orem OCCD
|
Click here |
|
Leadership and Reflective Practices
|
Partnering with Change: Who’s the Boss? |
N/A Set 2
|
Sarah Garczynski CCR&R
|
Click here |
|
Equity and Inclusion in Professional Learning
|
What If It Is Trauma? |
PPLD Set 1
|
Alex Davidson CCR&R
|
Click here |
| Conference Topic Themes |
Session Title Session Room
|
CKC Set Level
|
Presenter Agency
|
Session Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Humanizing Systems Thinking in Anxious Times |
N/A N/A
|
Chris Amirault |
Click here |
|
Coaching, Implementation Supports, and Mentoring Early Learning Professionals Equity and Inclusion in Professional Learning Leadership and Reflective Practices
|
Más allá de la traducción: Navigating Burnout in Bilingual & Bicultural Leadership |
N/A Set 1
|
Esmeralda Amescua & Lupita Nuñez Morales TRI
|
Click here |
|
Coaching, Implementation Supports, and Mentoring Early Learning Professionals
|
Applying Trends and TA in Supporting CQI in Early Learning Programs |
N/A Set 2
|
Jennifer McMullen & Beth Shuler-Krause TRI
|
Click here |
|
Equity and Inclusion in Professional Learning
|
Building Capacity by Providing Culturally Responsive Technical Assistance and Professional Development |
DIV Set 2
|
Nancy Orem OCCD
|
Click here |
|
Coaching, Implementation Supports, and Mentoring Early Learning Professionals
|
FCCN Pilot Year in Review: Insights from DELC, TRI and FCCN Coordinators |
N/A N/A
|
Sierra Hake & Alyssa Geoffroy DELC & TRI
|
Click here |
|
Equity and Inclusion in Professional Learning Leadership and Reflective Practices
|
Rooted in Community: Tribal Governance and Native-Led Business Models for Early Learning in Oregon |
N/A Set 1
|
Valeria Atanacio & Mykel Johnson Northwest Native Chamber
|
Click here |
| Conference Topic Themes |
Session Title Session Room
|
CKC Set Level
|
Presenter Agency
|
Session Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Strengthening Business Foundations: Guiding Providers in Strategic Planning |
N/A Set 1
|
Kyle Sanchez First Children’s Finance
|
Click here |
|
Early Learning Strategies to Support Business, Finance Supports, and Best Practices Coaching, Implementation Supports, and Mentoring Early Learning Professionals
|
Building Resilient Child Care Businesses in Oregon Through Substitute Supports |
N/A Set 1
|
Esmeralda Amescua, Bertha Camacho & Veronica Mendoza Ochoa TRI
|
Click here |
|
Equity and Inclusion in Professional Learning
|
Honoring All Voices: Cultivating Cultural Humility |
DIV Set 2
|
Duygu Gokeri, Erin Kost & Ephrem Mamo TRI
|
Click here |
|
Equity and Inclusion in Professional Learning Coaching, Implementation Supports, and Mentoring Early Learning Professionals
|
Coaching for the Future: A Look Inside Early Learning Apprenticeship |
PPLD Set 2
|
Julie Smith CCR&R
|
Click here |
|
Training, Consultation, and Coaching to Support Developmentally Appropriate Practices (DAP) in Programs
|
Developing a Training That Is Impactful, Equitable, and Relevant |
PPLD Set 2
|
Alyssa Geoffroy & Jasmin Rivera TRI
|
Click here |
|
Equity and Inclusion in Professional Learning Training, Consultation, and Coaching to Support Developmentally Appropriate Practices (DAP) in Programs
|
Behind the Decisions We Make: Noticing Bias in Action |
N/A N/A
|
Sarah Garczynski & Mayra Corona CCR&R
|
Click here |
| Session Time |
Session Title Session Room
|
CKC Set Level
|
Presenter Agency
|
Session Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 23rd (2:30 PM – 4:30 PM) |
Seeing Your Path as a Trainer: Certification with the Oregon Registry Trainer Program |
PPLD Set 1
|
Nancy Orem OCCD
|
Click here |
| June 24th (9:00 AM – 11:00 AM) |
Más allá de la traducción: Navigating Burnout in Bilingual & Bicultural Leadership |
N/A Set 1
|
Esmeralda Amescua & Lupita Nuñez Morales TRI
|
Click here |
| June 24th (9:00 AM – 11:00 AM) |
Applying Trends and TA in Supporting CQI in Early Learning Programs |
N/A Set 2
|
Jennifer McMullen & Beth Shuler-Krause TRI
|
Click here |
| June 24th (9:00 AM – 11:00 AM) |
FCCN Pilot Year in Review: Insights from DELC, TRI and FCCN Coordinators |
N/A N/A
|
Sierra Hake & Alyssa Geoffroy DELC & TRI
|
Click here |
| June 24th (1:30 PM – 2:45 PM) |
Building Resilient Child Care Businesses in Oregon Through Substitute Supports |
N/A Set 1
|
Esmeralda Amescua, Bertha Camacho & Veronica Mendoza Ochoa TRI
|
Click here |
| June 24th (1:30 PM – 2:45 PM) |
Coaching for the Future: A Look Inside Early Learning Apprenticeship |
PPLD Set 2
|
Julie Smith CCR&R
|
Click here |
| Session Time |
Session Title Session Room
|
CKC Set Level
|
Presenter Agency
|
Session Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 24th (1:30 PM – 2:45 PM) |
Building Resilient Child Care Businesses in Oregon Through Substitute Supports |
N/A Set 1
|
Esmeralda Amescua, Bertha Camacho & Veronica Mendoza Ochoa TRI
|
Click here |
| Session Time |
Session Title Session Room
|
CKC Set Level
|
Presenter Agency
|
Session Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 23rd (2:30 PM – 4:30 PM) |
What If It Is Trauma? |
PPLD Set 1
|
Alex Davidson CCR&R
|
Click here |
| June 24th (9:00 AM – 11:00 AM) |
Más allá de la traducción: Navigating Burnout in Bilingual & Bicultural Leadership |
N/A Set 1
|
Esmeralda Amescua & Lupita Nuñez Morales TRI
|
Click here |
| June 24th (9:00 AM – 11:00 AM) |
Building Capacity by Providing Culturally Responsive Technical Assistance and Professional Development |
DIV Set 2
|
Nancy Orem OCCD
|
Click here |
| June 24th (9:00 AM – 11:00 AM) |
Rooted in Community: Tribal Governance and Native-Led Business Models for Early Learning in Oregon |
N/A Set 1
|
Valeria Atanacio & Mykel Johnson Northwest Native Chamber
|
Click here |
| June 24th (1:30 PM – 2:45 PM) |
Honoring All Voices: Cultivating Cultural Humility |
DIV Set 2
|
Duygu Gokeri, Erin Kost & Ephrem Mamo TRI
|
Click here |
| June 24th (1:30 PM – 2:45 PM) |
Coaching for the Future: A Look Inside Early Learning Apprenticeship |
PPLD Set 2
|
Julie Smith CCR&R
|
Click here |
| June 24th (1:30 PM – 2:45 PM) |
Behind the Decisions We Make: Noticing Bias in Action |
N/A N/A
|
Sarah Garczynski & Mayra Corona CCR&R
|
Click here |
| Session Time |
Session Title Session Room
|
CKC Set Level
|
Presenter Agency
|
Session Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 23rd (9:45 AM – 11:45 AM) |
Oregon’s ECE Workforce: What’s Working, What’s Missing, What’s Next |
N/A N/A
|
April Westermann DELC
|
Click here |
| June 23rd (9:45 AM – 11:45 AM) |
IECMHC (Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation) Working in Collaboration with CCR&R TA Supports! |
N/A Set 2
|
Caroline Falcone ORIMHA
|
Click here |
| June 23rd (9:45 AM – 11:45 AM) |
CCR&R Panel – Sharing Successes |
N/A Set 1
|
CaSandra Zeller TRI
|
Click here |
| June 23rd (2:30 PM – 4:30 PM) |
Building Reflective, Equity-Centered Leadership in ECE Systems: Introducing the RECAP Framework |
N/A Set 3
|
April Westermann DELC
|
Click here |
| June 23rd (2:30 PM – 4:30 PM) |
Navigating Uncertainty |
N/A N/A
|
Dr. Amy King |
Click here |
| June 23rd (2:30 PM – 4:30 PM) |
Partnering with Change: Who’s the Boss? |
N/A Set 2
|
Sarah Garczynski CCR&R
|
Click here |
| June 24th (9:00 AM – 11:00 AM) |
Más allá de la traducción: Navigating Burnout in Bilingual & Bicultural Leadership |
N/A Set 1
|
Esmeralda Amescua & Lupita Nuñez Morales TRI
|
Click here |
| June 24th (9:00 AM – 11:00 AM) |
Rooted in Community: Tribal Governance and Native-Led Business Models for Early Learning in Oregon |
N/A Set 1
|
Valeria Atanacio & Mykel Johnson Northwest Native Chamber
|
Click here |
| Session Time |
Session Title Session Room
|
CKC Set Level
|
Presenter Agency
|
Session Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 23rd (9:45 AM – 11:45 AM) |
All on the Same Page – Educators and Families Working Together |
N/A Set 2
|
Dianice Torrado TRI
|
Click here |
| June 23rd (2:30 PM – 4:30 PM) |
Interpreting and Using Environmental Rating Scales (ERS) Scores |
N/A Set 2
|
Aimee Brown TRI
|
Click here |
| June 24th (1:30 PM – 2:45 PM) |
Developing a Training That Is Impactful, Equitable, and Relevant |
PPLD Set 2
|
Alyssa Geoffroy & Jasmin Rivera TRI
|
Click here |
| June 24th (1:30 PM – 2:45 PM) |
Behind the Decisions We Make: Noticing Bias in Action |
N/A N/A
|
Sarah Garczynski & Mayra Corona CCR&R
|
Click here |
Session Description
Session Description
Oregon has identified clear priorities for strengthening the early childhood workforce through recent statewide efforts, including HB 2991: A Path Forward and the Growing Oregon Together Strategic Plan. This interactive roundtable invites conference participants to move beyond findings and into action by exploring how these priorities align with real-time experiences across regions. Through guided discussion and small-group dialogue, participants will surface current workforce realities, share strategies that are making a difference, and identify system-level gaps impacting recruitment, retention, and workforce stability, with a focus on entry pathways, workforce well-being, and system alignment.
Input gathered during the session will directly inform ongoing statewide workforce strategy efforts, ensuring that next steps are grounded in both data and lived experience.
Participants will leave with shared insights, stronger cross-regional connections, and a clearer understanding of how their work contributes to building a more aligned, equitable, and sustainable early childhood workforce system.
Session Description
Session Description
We invite you to join a conversation with a panel of CCR&R staff who will share their recent professional successes related to coaching, launching focused networks, and adapting strategies to meet providers where they are. TRI's Essential Fellowship team will guide the discussion using a Success Analysis Protocol for Leadership Teams, helping panelists reflect on what contributed to their success.
Session Description
In this 2-hour interactive session, Technical Assistance (TA) Specialists will apply research-based strategies to elevate family engagement practices within the programs they support. This session moves beyond theory into practical application, utilizing the "Glow and Grow" framework and targeted observation tools to provide high-level technical assistance.
Through a consultancy-based lab, participants will analyze video studies to identify program strengths and develop actionable goals for family inclusion. By integrating anti-bias resources and the Family Engagement Framework, specialists will practice facilitating the critical conversations necessary to help programs transition from basic activities to intentional, research-driven partnerships between home and school.
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Bilingual and bicultural leaders often serve as more than translators of language; they act as cultural bridges, strategic interpreters, and emotional anchors within their organizations. While this dual lens is a powerful leadership asset, it carries an invisible labor that can lead to chronic stress and burnout.
This session explores how equity, collaboration, innovation, and well-being are deeply connected through the belief that Every Child Belongs also means every adult belongs. Participants will explore code-switching, cultural brokerage, identity negotiation, and how adults directly impact systems that affect children. Through reflective exercises, practical frameworks, and peer discussions, participants will:
- Reframe bilingualism as more than translation
- Integrate the practice of cultural responsiveness
- Awareness in adult learning spaces
- Deepen cultural understanding
- Strengthen inclusive practices that honor diverse identities, experiences and perspectives.
Participants will leave with language to articulate their experiences, tools to advocate for structural supports, and strategies to lead across cultures with clarity, confidence, and sustainability, moving beyond translation toward transformation.
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How can CCR&R staff leverage substitute systems to better support child care providers? This session explores practical strategies for using the Child Care Substitutes of Oregon (CCSO) program to prevent burnout, maintain continuity of care, and strengthen program stability.
Participants will learn how to coach providers in preparing for substitute success through clear expectations, strong communication, and classroom readiness. The session also highlights approaches for building and sustaining relationships with substitutes as key partners in the early learning workforce.
Leave with actionable tools to help providers implement sustainable, relationship-driven substitute practices.
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Lodging Information
Two room blocks are available for attendees of the conference:
- The Grand Hotel: 503-540-7800
– Attached to the Salem Convention Center - The Hotel Salem: 503-588-9220
– 9 minute drive between Hotel Salem and the Salem Convention Center
📣 When calling, please state you will be attending the Western Oregon University Leadership Conference.
Salem Convention Center Map & Directions
On-site free conference parking is available in the parking garage at the Salem Convention Center. In addition, complimentary parking is one block from the convention center located on the top level of the Pringle Parkade.
View all maps and resources on the Salem Convention Center website.
