• Digging for Wisdom and Finding the Words with Leslie King

    These days, there are so many vehicles to speak quickly. We can find ourselves speaking before we have our necessary information. We can find ourselves speaking to symptoms rather than the roots of the problem. With so much provocation in the public sector, how can orators in our various vocations find the "tap root" on subjects that are vital for civility and the greater good? With so much temptation to declare opinion and bias on social media outlets, how can the relationship filter recover its integrity?

  • ORTCON26: An Open & Relational Conference

    Held at the beautiful Grand Targhee Resort in the Grand Teton mountains of Wyoming, ORTCON26 is an in-person conference exploring topics in Open and Relational Theology. ORTCON26 brings together scholars, leaders, pastors, and activists. The conference provides workshops, lectures, and social activities to deepen relationships and present new ways of imagining God and the universe.

  • Transformation in Practice: The Process of Youth Empowerment in Soweto with Natasha Yen

    How does empowerment emerge? Drawing on her experience facilitating youth and community development programs in Kliptown, Soweto, South Africa, Natasha Yen explores how empowerment and transformation unfold in practice. Rather than treating empowerment as a predefined outcome, the presentation explores how it unfolds over time, and how community change becomes possible when people are equipped not only with skills, but also with the belief and capacity to shape their own futures.

  • Fines, Fees, and Futures: The Shadow System of Court Debt with Alejandra Davila

    In this presentation, Alejandra Davila will explore court debt as a living system that perpetuates itself through interconnected cycles of punishment and profit. The presentation will be structured in three parts: Context, Cycles, and Campaigns. Alejandra will briefly trace the history of fines and fees, unpack how court debt sustains and deepens itself across communities, and explore the organizations campaigning to end fees and right-size fines. The session will close with a conversation on the shifts—cultural, political, and relational—that could make a justice system genuinely just.

  • Little By Little: Exploring Justice, Ecology, and Spirituality with Music | Patrick Ioakimedes

    In this SPARKS Exchange, Patrick Ioakimedes will share music videos of his original songs Little By Little and Tales of PSi as well as a live performance. In his presentation, he will explore themes such as justice, ecology, sustainability, and spirituality as expressed in his music. For the experiential portion of this session, attendees will co-create a participatory protest chant to explore the intersection of music and activism.