Help shape the future of education by voting for WestEd’s innovative session ideas for the 2026 SXSW EDU Conference & Festival, happening March 9–12, 2026 in Austin, Texas. SXSW EDU is where educators, leaders, and changemakers come together to explore bold solutions and inspire real impact—and your vote decides which sessions make it to the stage. Don’t miss your chance to elevate ideas that matter. Cast your vote for WestEd today and be part of driving meaningful change in education!
WestEd Sessions
Designing Belonging: Centering Identity in Math EdTech
Presenters: Saroja Warner (WestEd), Rebecca Neri (WestEd), Aleata Hubbard (WestEd)
This workshop explores how technology can make math learning more relevant by incorporating student identity, culture, and lived experience. Participants will engage with resource briefs that translate teaching practices into product design, apply these in a collaborative design challenge, and create tools that increase connection and relevance for students.
Attendees will leave with resource briefs, hands-on design experience, and a framework for integrating these approaches into math technology.
Empowering Education & Workforce Future through Dashboards
Presenters: LeAnn Fong-Batkin (WestEd), Laura Lara-Brady, Ph.D. (WestEd)
Two statewide dashboards are helping connect students to high-demand careers. One examines historical trends in student outcomes; the other projects job demand, earnings, and opportunity areas. This session demonstrates how these tools support localized decision-making, align pathways between systems, and guide students toward career success.
Attendees will take away dashboard strategies, examples for advising and policy alignment, networking opportunities, and practical tools for improving educational and economic outcomes.
Engaging Tribal Nations in Workforce Initiatives
Presenters: Alexandria Wright (WestEd), Thurman Roberts (Nevadaworks)
Through the Good Jobs Northern Nevada initiative, Nevadaworks has invested in strategies for connecting to the 22 Tribal communities in their service area to advance economic mobility and regional growth. This session will explore a variety of methods for meaningful engagement with Tribes such as implementing Tribal Career Navigators and elevating Title II onramps to technical training.
Attendees will learn about fundamental principles for increasing Tribal engagement and strategies for workforce development in Native Nations.
Making Career Central to Every Student’s College Journey
Presenters: Pamela Fong (WestEd), Svetlana Darche (WestEd), Joy Lewis (WestEd), Danene Brown (San Diego & Imperial Counties Community Colleges)
Imagine career navigation as an integrated part of every community college student’s journey. This interactive workshop showcases how colleges are embedding career development and work-based learning from orientation through completion. Participants will explore practices, use career integration tools, and design strategies to improve student success.
Attendees will gain a replicable framework, a career navigation toolkit, and strategies for making career development a core part of the student experience.
One Dashboard to Rule Them All
Presenter: Erik Cooper (WestEd)
Over the past 20 years, tools like Tableau and PowerBI have made it easier to create complex dashboards. While these tools can reveal trends and increase transparency, the abundance of data, coupled with powerful computing, has led to multi-layered dashboards that often overwhelm rather than inform. This session examines the costs of “one dashboard to rule them all” and shares practical, user-centered design strategies that support better decision-making in educational settings.
Attendees will leave with insights into data structures, design principles, a practical toolkit for improving dashboards, and actionable strategies for creating reports and visualizations that align with how people make decisions.
Research vs. Practice: Making College More Career-Focused
Presenters: Kathy Booth (WestEd), Peter Riley Bahr (Strada Institute for the Future of Work)
This conversation between a researcher and a practitioner explores how to align curricula with work-ready skills. Together, they identify actionable steps to help colleges clarify their value, expand their reach, and improve job stability for learners—particularly through short-term coursetaking, stackable credentials, and skills integration.
Attendees will learn about the economic impact of credentials, challenges in skill-building, and strategies for linking academic programs to career mobility.
Rethinking Data: Identity, Music, and the Power of Play
Presenter: Jose Blackorby (WestEd)
Discover how unconventional data sources—like music, names, food, and fashion—can spark curiosity and engagement. This hands-on workshop features “Data Adventures” through maker activities, games, and creative challenges, and guides participants in designing their own using UDL principles, student voice, and both tech and non-tech tools.
Attendees will leave with innovative strategies for exploring, visualizing, and teaching data in ways that connect with learners.