“The Empower Conference is one of the best conference I have been to. The presenters are awesome and the resources are excellent. Truly inspirational to start the school year with like-minded individuals. This is exactly what I needed, multiple thought partners to work with and share ideas with.”
– Cassandra, 2025 EmpowerCon Attendee
The Illinois Resource Center is proud to host three one-day mini conferences that will support educators and leaders to feel empowered and equipped to lead in their schools and districts. This free, in-person conference will provide teachers with an empowering keynote session as well as multiple breakout sessions so that participants can customize their learning. The IRC specialists will leave you feeling inspired, energized, and ready to start the new school year with fresh ideas for serving and supporting your multilingual learners. Get ready! Get set! Get to IRC’s EmpowerCon!
During this event, EL/Bilingual/Dual Language educators will:
- Participate in a keynote presentation about empowering ourselves as educators serving multilingual learners
- Explore various breakout sessions centered around serving and supporting multilingual learners and their families
- Build up their collective efficacy toolkit by recognizing the various ways in which they serve and support multilingual learners and families across their school or district
All participants will receive 5 ECPD credit hours.
There will be three EmpowerCon sessions held in different locations across Illinois throughout July 2026.
- Tuesday, July 14th – Moraine Valley Community College, Palos Hills
- Monday, July 20th – College of Lake County, Grayslake
- Tuesday, July 28th – Moline-Coal Valley School District, Moline
This professional learning event is sponsored by the ISBE Multilingual Department.
Registration for EmpowerCon 2026 will open Friday, May 29th at 10 a.m.
