COSSBA Updates 

Here’s the latest on upcoming events and news from COSSBA, the Consortium of State School Boards Associations. 

The annual Urban Boards Alliance Symposium is taking place this week in Chicago. IASB Associate Executive Director of Field and Equity Services Nakia Hall and Associate Executive Director for Board Development Lori Grant are among the presenters. The event brings together school board leaders from across the nation for conversations on improving the educational outcomes of students and schools in challenging environments. 

Grant is presenting “Trust Matters! Exploring Pillars of Trust” and Hall is leading two sessions: “Leading Your Educational Equity Journey” and “How to Use Data, Dialogue, and Determination to Prepare Your Culture for Equity Work and Initiatives.” 

In other COSSBA news, the Federal Advocacy Conference, September 25-27 in Washington D.C., is sold out. Illinois has 14 members attending and seven IASB staff. The event includes networking, advocacy training and issue presentations, and a full day of scheduled appointments with the Illinois Congressional delegation. 

The Urban Boards Alliance also offers the UBA Webinar Series; the next one is October 18 and previous installations are available on-demand.  

The second COSSBA Annual Conference will take place February 22-25, 2024, in Dallas. Registration for the conference will open August 28 and the Call for Proposals is posted with a deadline of September 18. 

Founded by state school boards associations in late 2021, the Consortium of State School Boards Associations (COSSBA) is a non-partisan, national alliance dedicated to sharing resources and information to support, promote, and strengthen state school boards associations as they serve their local school districts and board members.