Disrupting Erasure: Collaborative and Transformative Educational Leadership
The CAPEL Fall 2026 Virtual Conference invites educational leaders, faculty, practitioners, and emerging scholars from across California to engage in critical dialogue, collaborative inquiry, and reflective practice around the most pressing issues confronting educational leadership today.
Pre-Conference Gathering | Thursday, October 15 | 6:00–8:00 p.m.
Join CAPEL colleagues for a special virtual pre-conference gathering featuring conversations with distinguished leaders in the field:
- Garth Lewis, Ed.D., Yolo County Superintendent of Schools
- Dr. Ken Magdaleno, Founder, Center for Leadership, Equity, and Research (CLEAR)
- Dr. Noni Mendoza Reis, Professor Emerita and CAPEL Past President
The evening will provide an opportunity to reconnect with colleagues, build community, and set the stage for the following day's conference.
Fall Conference | Friday, October 16 | Beginning at 9:00 a.m.
The conference opens with a keynote address by Dr. Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz, whose scholarship and leadership challenge educators to examine how identity, equity, racial literacy, and belonging shape educational institutions and experiences.
Throughout the day, conference sessions will explore:
- Digital Technology and Educational Leadership
- Leadership for Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging
- Leadership Preparation and Development
The conference will also feature a special roundtable examining the future of educational leadership in California, including the evolving landscape of leadership preparation, the California Administrator Performance Assessment (CalAPA), credentialing, and other emerging issues affecting the preparation and practice of educational leaders.
Grounded in this year's theme, Disrupting Erasure: Collaborative and Transformative Educational Leadership, the conference calls us to consider whose knowledge, histories, experiences, and leadership are made visible—and what educational leaders can do collectively to create more equitable and transformative institutions.
Join CAPEL for two days of learning, dialogue, connection, and collective action as we imagine the future of educational leadership in California.
