FreeState Justice invites our state and national partners to submit workshop proposals for our Pathway to Progress Summit, to be held Friday, July 24, 2026, in Baltimore, Maryland.

The Pathway to Progress Summit is a critical convening for public health professionals, HIV advocates, service providers, and community health workers across Maryland and beyond. This is where practitioners, policy leaders, and frontline voices come together to share what is working, address what is not, and build the knowledge and connections needed to move our communities forward.

We learn best from each other. That is why your expertise matters here.

We are now accepting abstract submissions for skill-building sessions, workshops, and presentations. We want to hear from people doing the work, not just talking about it. If you have a practice, model, or lesson worth sharing, we want to make space for it at the Summit.

Things to consider when preparing your proposal: 

1. Audience 

Attendees are movement professionals with a range of experience and roles. Approximately half are staff from state-based LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations. The other half are staff from national LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations and funders. Roles represented include communications, fundraising, public health, organizing, advocacy, leadership, programs, operations, finance, and more.

 

2. Content

Sessions should address topics relevant to the day-to-day and strategic work of state-based LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations. The Summit uses a track-based learning model. Workshops, panels, and sessions are grouped into thematic tracks so participants can engage more deeply with content aligned to their roles, identities, and learning goals. 

 

This Year’s Tracks Include: 

Track 1: Know Your Rights, Use Them

Knowing your rights is not enough if the system makes it impossible to use them. This track brings together legal advocacy, public health practice, and community strategy to show how organizations can close that gap and put the law to work for LGBTQ+ people and people living with HIV.

Track 2: Policy That Moves People

Good policy does not happen by accident. This track covers the full arc of advocacy, from building a legislative strategy to mobilizing communities and developing the next generation of advocates who can sustain the work long after session ends.

Track 3: Building Organizations That Last

Sustainable organizations do not happen by chance. They require intentional investment in people, systems, and community relationships. This track gives LGBTQ+ advocacy leaders practical strategies for developing talent, strengthening organizational culture, and building the kind of infrastructure that holds up under pressure.

Track 4: Southern HIV Advocacy Mobilization Institute

The South is the epicenter of the HIV epidemic in the United States, and the response must match that reality. In collaboration with Act Now: End AIDS and Us Helping Us, People Into Living, this track brings together HIV advocates, service providers, community health workers, and policy staff to build the advocacy capacity and mobilization infrastructure Southern communities need to drive change at every level.

 

3. Presenters 

We strongly encourage submissions that include presenters from our state partners and individuals who are BIPOC, trans, and/or gender expansive, including those whose experiences reflect the intersections of these identities. Panel sessions composed entirely of white or male presenters are unlikely to be accepted without modification. 

 

4. Format 

Workshop sessions are 60 minutes. All sessions must include a strong interactive component. We expect more than question and answer. Formats that invite participants to draw on their own experience and expertise, such as facilitated discussion or structured group activities, are preferred.

I understand and confirm that I (and any co-presenters) am committed to registering and fully participating should our proposal be accepted.