{"id":205,"date":"2025-06-07T15:58:08","date_gmt":"2025-06-07T15:58:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nysden.org\/staging\/?page_id=205"},"modified":"2026-04-06T23:18:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T23:18:10","slug":"conference25","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nysden.org\/staging\/conference25\/","title":{"rendered":"NYSDEN Conference: August 5, 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Digital Equity Advocates Connected, Learned, and Built Collaborations at NYSDEN 2025<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

More than 100 digital equity advocates from across New York State gathered at Stony Brook University\u2019s Center of Excellence for Wireless and Information Technology on Tuesday, August 5th for a day-long conference focused on expanding digital access statewide. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep an eye out for information about the 2026 NYSDEN Conference in Albany, NY!<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Event Information (for Posterity)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Join digital equity leaders from across New York State at Stony Brook University on August 5, 2025 for a high-impact day of learning, collaboration, and advocacy.<\/strong> The NYSDEN Annual Conference brings together practitioners, policymakers, funders, and grassroots organizations to explore bold solutions for expanding digital access and opportunity in every region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year\u2019s theme, Advancing Access Through Collective Advocacy<\/strong>,<\/em> highlights how through strategic and collective advocacy we can unlock funding, drive outcomes, and fuel meaningful, community-based change. Through interactive panels, skill-building workshops, and case-driven breakout sessions, attendees will dive into urgent issues including AI and digital inclusion, hardware affordability, infrastructure volatility, funding diversification, and reaching underserved populations like people with disabilities and those impacted by incarceration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether you’re working in the field or shaping policy, this conference offers practical insights, real-world strategies, and powerful networking to help advance your mission\u2014and the digital equity movement statewide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hosted in collaboration with:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Center of Excellence for Wireless and Information Technology<\/strong> (directions<\/a>)
1500 Stony Brook Road <\/strong>
Stony Brook, NY 11794-6040<\/em>
Date: August 5, 2025
Time: 8:00 am to 4:30 pm – Conference \/ 4:30 pm to 5:30 pm – Networking Social Hour<\/strong>
Light Breakfast & Lunch Served<\/em> (see menu below<\/a> or download PDF<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learn more about this year’s Conference Planning Committee<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Agenda<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Update: Pre-Conference Mixer!
Arriving on the 4th with some time to kill? Consider joining some of your digital equity colleagues at a pre-conference mixer. It’ll be at Castaways<\/a> in Port Jefferson (the next town over) from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Join us for a day of plenaries, panels, and workshops designed to educate, illuminate, and spur continued progress and innovation in digital equity throughout New York State<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n \n Speaker Bios\n <\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Time<\/strong><\/th>Track 1<\/strong>
(Room 200)<\/th>		Track 2<\/strong>
(Room 152)<\/th>		Slides\/Materials\/Speaker Info<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
8:00am – 9:00 am<\/td>Breakfast & Networking<\/td><\/td><\/td><\/tr>
9:00 am – 9:15 am<\/td>Welcoming Remarks<\/td><\/td>Welcome Slides and Emcee Information<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
9:15 am – 9:20 am<\/td>Opening Remarks
Joshua Breitbart, Senior Vice President, ConnectALL; Empire State Development<\/td>		<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
9:20 am – 9:55 am<\/td>Keynote with Dr. Revati Prasad<\/td><\/td>Keynote Speaker Information<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
10:00 am – 10:50 am<\/td>From Coalition to Campaign — Turning Partnerships in to Advocacy Engines for Digital Equity<\/td><\/td>Panelist\/
Moderator Info: From Coalition to Campaign<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
11:00 am – 11:50 am<\/td>The AI Equity Conversation: Nonprofits, AI, and the Future of Equitable, Ethical Service<\/td>Accessibility Is Equity: Centering Services for those with Disabilities in our Digital Inclusion Programming<\/td>Panelist\/
Moderator Info: AI Equity Conversation<\/a>

Panelist\/
Moderator Info:
Accessibility is Equity<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
12:00 pm – 12:50 pm<\/td>Lunch<\/td><\/td><\/td><\/tr>
1:00 pm – 1:50 pm<\/td>Cross-Sector Alignment for Impact: Integrating Digital Equity into Workforce, Healthcare, and Economic Systems<\/td>Workshop<\/strong><\/em>:
AI For Non-Profits: Workshop on AI Agent Creation<\/td>		Panelist\/
Moderator Info: Cross-Sector Alignment<\/a>

Speaker Information and Slides: AI For Non-Profits<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
2:00 pm – 2:50 pm<\/td>Workshop<\/strong><\/em>:
Stronger Together: Strategic Casemaking to Power NYSDEN\u2019s Collective Impact<\/td>		<\/td>Speaker Information and Slides: Strategic Casemaking<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
3:00 pm – 3:50 pm<\/td>Funding in Freefall \u2014 Strategies for Sustaining Digital Equity in a Shifting Landscape<\/td><\/td>Panelist\/
Moderator Info: Funding in Freefall<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
4:00 pm – 4:30 pm<\/td>Closing<\/td><\/td>Closing Plenary Slides<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
4:30 pm – 5:30 pm<\/td>Networking Social<\/td><\/td><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lodging<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Lodging is available at the Hilton Garden Inn (Stony Brook) or Danford’s Hotel & Marina (Port Jefferson). We do not have any room blocks reserved or preferred rates at either establishment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hilton Garden Inn
1 Circle Road
Stony Brook, NY 11794<\/p>\n\n\n\n