OST Symposium 2021:  Reimagining OST and Innovating into the Future

Welcome to the highlights of the AFCOST Symposium 2021. You can view the slide deck from Day 1 here.  Watch the video recordings of our Panel and Keynote Speaker on Day 3.  See the schedule below.  

For those who joined us, in person or virtually, for the OST Symposium, please fill out this survey and give us your feedback. We will continue to. incorporate your ideas and suggestions as we plan for Symposium 2022.  

Coming Soon!  Notes from the OST Virtual Clubhouse Conversations. 
If you attended or led an OST Virtual Clubhouse, tell us what you thought about your experience.  

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OST Symposium 2021 Panel, Moderated by Tyrell Dortch: 
Uplifting Black & Brown Leaders, Youth & Families.

OST Program Leaders: ashley herring of blackyard, Michael & Donna Dawson of Innovators for Purpose, Solomon Montagno of CitySprouts, and Queen-Cheyenne Wade of Cambridge Heart Program share their learnings and practices and insights.   

• How can we transform how we define youth and community development, prioritizing racial equity in who leads the way?
• How can we center Black and brown youth and families’ interests, needs and hopes as core to our practice? 

Watch the video here.
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OST Symposium 2021 Keynote Speaker:  Professor Ceasar McDowell shares his insights about how Out-of-School Time Programs can "struggle together, with the traditions that bind us, and the interests that separate us" and "realize a future that is an equitable improvement on the past." 

If we intentionally design with and for the people on the margins,  OST Programs can be the place where BIPOC caregivers, parents, and youth have voice and agency and hope. 

Watch the video and view the presentation slides.  

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View the AFCOST Symposium 2021 schedule & directory.