2026 CDS Annual Conference

New to CDS — or just ready to reconnect?  This orientation session offers an overview of the organization’s mission, structure, and opportunities for involvement. Open to all members, it’s a chance to learn how CDS can support your work, amplify your voice, and help you grow professionally. Come with your questions, and leave with ideas for how to make the most of your membership! We especially recommend this session if you joined CDS between August, 2025 and July, 2026 or if you’ve rejoined us after some time away!

Looking to build meaningful connections with fellow community development practitioners, scholars, and advocates? Join us for this interactive networking session designed to help members meet, share ideas, and discover common interests. Whether you’re seeking collaborators, mentors, or simply new friends, this is a great opportunity to foster relationships that strengthen both your work and the CDS community.

This workshop will be a collaborative space for students and those affiliated with the CDS Student Chapter to come together and talk about this CDS initiative. We will begin by reviewing the 2025 outcomes from the Student Chapter workshop, then move into goals for the rest of 2026 and 2027. This workshop space proved to be quite useful in developing the mission, vision, and goals for the International Student Chapter Collective (ISCC), and we would like to carve out a space at the 2026 conference to do the same. 
The ISCC and the CDS Student Chapter provide places where students can be supported in their own unique ways as young scholars and practitioners. The ISCC provides learning opportunities and collaborative efforts geared towards students and faculty, specifically in university setting, and beyond. This is a practical application to community development practice. 
The learning objectives for this workshop include: 

• Outlining the objectives and focus areas for the following year of ISCC activities 
• Reviewing the past year of progress from the ISCC 
• Holding space for additional insights and suggestions related to the ISCC

For the past 8 years, the Coming Together for Racial Understanding (CTRU) program series has been held in communities across the U.S. Over this time, the series, mainly facilitated by Extension professionals, has provided facilitated dialogue around complex issues to foster larger community efforts to address these important issues. As the Community Development Society partners on the CTRU effort and the curriculum and program efforts are offered though CDS, this workshop provides an opportunity to experience a sample of the program and invite feedback from CDS members.

Participants of this workshop will:

• Experience dialogue as a tool to address complex community issues by participating in a portion of the Coming Together for Racial Understanding curriculum (program in total is 6-8 2-hour sessions).
• Be able to provide initial feedback on the Coming Together for Racial Understanding curriculum.
• Provide guidance and affirmation to the CTRU and CDS transition team.