ESC Partner Programs
Back to Basics: Discovering Our Why — cultivating values, strengthening civic engagement, and inspiring action as boundary spanners
Schedule
Monday, October 6, 2025 | 4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. | Optional networking evening event
Tuesday, October 7, 2025 | 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. | Pre-conference workshop
Cost
$125 - Participation fee includes programming materials and meals, including networking event
Description
Join us for the 2025 Outreach and Engagement Professionals Network (OEPN) Pre-Conference, hosted by the Engaged Scholarship Consortium (ESC), and take a journey Back to Basics: Discovering Our Why — cultivating values, strengthening civic engagement, and inspiring action as boundary spanners.
In a time marked by rapid change, widening divides, and shifting trust in public institutions, the role of boundary spanners—those who build bridges across differences and sectors—is more vital than ever. As engagement professionals, scholars, and practitioners, we are called not only to build partnerships and design programs but to root our work in the foundational values of civic learning.
This year’s pre-conference is an invitation to pause, reflect, and realign your professional practice with the deeper “why” behind community-engaged scholarship and outreach. Together, we’ll explore how reconnecting with core values can strengthen our ability to navigate complexity, foster civic responsibility, and inspire meaningful action for the public good.
Whether you’re a seasoned leader or just beginning your engagement journey, you’ll leave with fresh insights and practical tools to cultivate a values-based approach to your work while connecting with a network of dedicated professionals and scholars.
Now more than ever, as boundary spanners, we must equip ourselves to guide conversations that bridge divides and foster collective action.
