DEI Empowerment Conference Presenter Resources

• October 2025 – Conference theme announcement
• November 2025 – Presentation Proposal Submission Form live!
• December 16, 2025 – Question and answer session(s)
  • Held virtually over Zoom
  • Those interested in presenting are encouraged to attend to ask questions.
  • Register for the Q&A session [Zoom] 
• January 14, 2026 – Question and answer session(s)
  • Held virtually over Zoom
  • Those interested in presenting are encouraged to attend to ask questions.
  • Register for the Q&A session [Zoom]
• January 20, 2026 – Presentation Proposals submission ends at Noon on Tuesday, January 20th, 2026.
• March 13, 2026 – Selected presenter notification and final scheduling confirmation.

• Review the Proposal evaluation elements before submitting your proposal. We evaluate presentations on several elements. Reviewing the evaluation tool may help you present your proposal in the best light.
• Review tools for making accessible documents and presentations guides to understand the level of work that will be needed to make documents accessible. Making documents accessible to folks with vision impairments or reading challenges like dyslexia can require a lot of time and effort. Please build this work into your estimated time commitment and fee request.
• Understand your exposure. Review the Public Records Act rules for Washington State to make sure you understand your exposure. As a state agency, any presentation content and presentation recordings are subject to RCW 42.56 the Public Records Act for Washington state. The Public Records Act aims to increase transparency in government.
• Understand the notification timeline. We receive over a hundred submissions each year for potential proposal topics. Our committees review each one and have the tough task of selecting only sixteen. This takes time and discussion. Some presenters will have submitted their proposal in November, others will have submitted in January. Everyone, regardless of submission date, will be notified if their presentation has been selected or not in March. You may wish to make a note on your calendar for the conference dates and times to keep those in your mind over the long wait for notification.

• Schedule and attend your 60-minute tech check in May. This time is set aside for presenters to walk through presentation production details with the production team. We will ask questions about how you want your slide deck controlled, how you want the Q&A section managed, any poll questions you want built, etc. This will help the production run smoothly and eliminate some of the last-minute anxiety live events can create.
• Provide a list of poll questions you would like to run during your presentation in advance. This allows our production team to build the polls before your session starts.
• Before your presentation close all apps and content not related to your presentation before you go on camera.  Any content captured on video during transitions will be a part of the formal record. Even if we edit the content out for review purposes, if we have a Public Records Act request for the recording, in most cases we will be obliged to release an unedited version.
• Join your session at least 15 minutes early for just-in-time discussions with moderators, interpreters and other production volunteers to start your session off smoothly.

Conference guidance

• 2026 Presenter guide [PDF]
• 2026 Presentation Proposal Application Reference [PDF]
• Learning Focus Areas [PDF]
• Learning Objectives Development Tips [PDF]
• Presenter Biography Development Tips [PDF]
• Session Description Development Tips [PDF]
• Proposal Evaluation Elements [PDF]

Register as a vendor with the state of Washington

• State-Wide Vendor registration submission via DocuSign.  You may choose a different submission option from our website Vendor Registration information page.
• Direct Deposit form electronic submission via DocuSign. You may choose a different submission option from our website direct deposit information page.
• Office of Women & Minority Business Enterprises (WMBE) certification information
• Public Records Act rules in Washington State

Creating accessible documents

• Presentation Accessibility Expectations [PDF]
• Making accessible documents and presentations from the University of Washington DO-IT
• Digital Accessibility at WSSB – How-to videos on creating accessible Word, PowerPoint, InDesign, and PDF documents – from the Washington State School for the Blind