Presenter information

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FRIDAY
 

 8:00 am to 5:30 pm - Professional Development Day
6:30 pm - Summit Pre-Registration
6:30 to 8:30 pm- Welcome Social at Brewhalla

SATURDAY ​

  Presentation Rooms: Očeti Šakowin Ballroom A, Young Adult - Room location varies, Hidatsa, Nueta, Rose, Prairie, Sahnish​

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 8:00am - Registration opens
 8:30am - Welcome! Two-Spirit Acknowledgement

 8:30am - Keynote: What happens when you spend years trying to belong before learning how to belong to yourself? with Author Nicole Morrison
In this engaging and heartfelt keynote, award-winning author Nicole M. Morrison shares her journey of growing up LGBTQ+ without the language, visibility, or safety to fully understand her identity. Through stories, music, humor, and reflection, she explores the hidden loneliness many people carry, the pressure to meet others' expectations, and the courage required to live authentically. Attendees will gain insight into identity, resilience, and belonging while discovering how connection, compassion, and authenticity can help create communities where everyone feels seen, valued, and welcome.

                             

 10:30am -  Break

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 10:45 am 

Understanding Unique Challenges for LGBTQ+ Survivors with Andria Pinkerton, CVIC & Jess Roscoe, LSND Domestic Violence Supervising Attorney
This session explores the unique barriers LGBTQ+ survivors face in domestic violence situations, presented from a legal framework by attorneys with experience in family law and victim advocacy. Topics include fear of being outed, lack of recognition due to misconceptions about abuse in same-sex relationships, isolation from family and limited affirming resources, financial or housing insecurity, navigating name changes, securing protection orders, and addressing stalking issues. Drawing on legal practice and advocacy experience, presenters offer practical guidance for identifying these barriers and connecting survivors with informed, affirming support. 
 

Christina Nationalism with Dr. Brynne VanHettinga

Christian Nationalism is a political ideology and cultural framework that advocates for the merger of Christian and American identities. This is NOT the America of freedom, equality and inclusion, NOR the Jesus who welcomes the stranger and feeds the hungry. Rather, this is a patriarchal and authoritarian worldview that advocates for Christian domination and "traditional" families, with a male/father head and subservient wife/mother. North Dakota is one of the highest states in percentage of Christian Nationalism adherents. Christian Nationalism provides purportedly religious justification for laws and policies against same-sex marriage and disfavoring protection of LGBTQ communities. 

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DREAMM Framework with Megan Jenson, Creative Consulting

This session introduces Creating Community Consulting's DREAMM Framework, a practical, equity-centered approach to strategic planning built for real communities. Designed as a follow-up to last year's Community Engagement and Mapping session, DREAMM takes what you learned about your community and turns it into action: defining results grounded in data, identifying root causes, brainstorming solutions, prioritizing strategies, and building plans that actually get implemented and monitored over time.
Whether you are leading a queer organization, a community coalition, or have an idea to strengthen your community, this session will give you tools you can use Monday morning.

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Red River Rainbow Seniors Breaking Barriers listening session

A quiet space to conduct interviews for "Breaking Barriers: Harvesting LGBTQ Stories from the Northern Plains."  This is an ongoing effort by the Red River Rainbow Seniors Oral History Committee to recruit and interview LGBTQIA+ elders and their allies who were the "pioneers" of the LGBTQIA+ community in North Dakota and Northwestern Minnesota.  

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 10:45 am - Youth (Rose)

Division in community, specifically transmen/masc folks with Aster Cline - ND LGBTQIA2S+ Youth Intern

This session will follow the hardships and division Aster has noticed within the transmen/masc community. This will also include division within the broader 2SLGBTQIA+ community. He will touch on: the erasure of trans men, the hypervisibility of trans women, the invasion of TERFS, and more. From discourse on whether or not a trans man could be a lesbian to gender policing, our community is as divided as ever. The worse part is, nobody seems to care. Our voices and concerns are silenced to make way for the dolls, while we are left to bear the weight of ostracization on our own. 

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12:00 PM - I:00 PM - Lunch Break and Social Spaces   

                  
1:00 pm

HIV: Spilling the Tea: We are on the edge.” with Jason Grueneich - Executive Director of Shine Bright & Live

Alright Folx, what are we not paying attention too? The looming global HIV crisis is beginning to take shape. People living with HIV are losing access to medication assistance in the United States. So what now? Join me for a mix of truth bombs, queer HIV activism history, a little humor (because we need it), and some fierce conversation on how we can keep showing up, shutting down stigma, and sharing the science that saves lives.
 

Laurie Baker with New Leaf Alternatives

Come dive into practices for grounding, clearing, and centering that promote coherence in YOU or your groups. Together, we will understand and come into conscious co-creation with all of our bodies: Physical, Emotional, Mental and Spiritual by reviewing energy anatomy and exploring energy management practices. We’ll gaze into ways of using the body’s wisdom and inner senses to help you make more resonant choices in any situation. Finally, we’ll share several fun and innovative Inner Harmonization exercises and play with the energy magic of the group in ways that can be used by any group to promote unity. Experiential.

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Co-transitioning with Sara Simenson - Sanford Health

The term “co-transition” refers to the adaptation process a partner undergoes alongside their transitioning partner. In this session, we will explore the co-transitioning process, and how counselors can assist the partners of transgender and gender-diverse individuals. Many of these techniques can also be used to assist family members and other loved-ones in navigating this process. 
 

Conversion Practices with Lucas Wilson

Conversion practices—commonly referred to as conversion therapy—constitute the damaging efforts to change queer individuals' sexual orientations and/or gender identities and expressions. Such anti-LGBTQ+ efforts persist and continue to wreak havoc on countless LGBTQ+ individuals, particularly those in high-control religious contexts. As a survivor of conversion therapy himself, Wilson will present a broadened definition of conversion practices before discussing the prevalence of conversion practices in North America. Wilson will flesh out the ways by which conversion practitioners seek the eradication of LGBTQ+ communities in North America and beyond.

Speaker will be virtual via Zoom.

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Red River Rainbow Seniors Breaking Barriers listening session (Transgender Specific Session)

This workshop will serve as a second "listening session" meant to engage in conversation and solicit concrete steps for undertaking an oral history project focusing on the experiences of transgender, nonbinary and gender-fluid individuals living in North Dakota and Northwest Minnesota.  We consider this project to be a companion resource to the RRRS "Breaking Barriers" oral history collection.  

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1:00 PM - Youth (Rose)

Esty and Testy- A Queer Friendly Puberty Lesson with Hannalee Shaw - Planned Parenthood

Remember when you were taught about puberty? Were you split into gendered rooms? Was it taught by your gym teacher whose face turned red every time they said "penis"? Did you leave with more questions than answers?  Planned Parenthood presents a puberty lesson that provides its participants with factual, inclusive, and fun information about bodies and puberty. 

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2:15 pm

Dignity 2026 with Dr. Aisha Cozad, Senior Research Advisor,

Dr. Aisha Cozad, Senior Research Advisor, ,AARP Research, will share AARP's October release of its Dignity 2026 results, a survey addressing aging challenges in the LGBTQ+ community. In her one-hour session, Dr. Cozad will address findings on the health and aging impacts of family/family of choice, caregiving and long-term planning. Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of the opportunities and challenges facing LGBTQIA2S+ older adults and learn how communities can foster dignity, inclusion, and support as people age.

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Queer & Class: Queer Liberation through Class Liberation with Dalton Erickson - Executive Director with the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition
In this session we look at economic justice through our intersectional lens to learn about the ways we can approach advocacy and organizing for systemic change. We will explore the routes of change, find where our skills can make a difference, and discover the interlocking theories that bind us together. On our journey we will look back in our history at the Rainbow Coalition, STAR, and ACT UP to learn lessons from the past to fight for our future.

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Comms and internal relationships in collective organizing with Dominic Meyers - Professor at Concordia College Moorhead

Intrapersonal communication, or the internal relationship with one's identity, body, and self, is often overlooked in collective organizing. This results in collective action being limited to those whose voices and bodies show up, who are already comfortable in their intrapersonal identity. For the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, few have achieved this milestone and those few often exist at intersections of privilege leading to systematic problems regarding whose voices are represented in movements that don’t consider the effects queerness has on communication, relationships, and rhetorics. This research presentation aims to provide attendees with the language, theory, and practical insights into how queerness, in many forms, influences our intrapersonal communication, relationships, and collective organizing. 

 

Seasons of Storytelling with Max Kringen -Chief Storyteller at Tell Well

Most nonprofits and community organizations have great stories. They tell them at the wrong time, to the wrong audience, in the wrong season. This session introduces the Seasons of Story framework: a practical, repeatable system for matching your communication to where your audience actually is in their relationship with you. Spring introduces. Summer educates. Fall engages. Winter reminds. When you get the rhythm right, trust builds. Donors give again. Volunteers stay. This is a hands-on session. You will leave with a real action step for your organization, not just a new way to think about storytelling.

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Red River Rainbow Seniors Oral History Project Interviewer training

The Red River Rainbow Seniors Oral History Project team will conduct an interviewer training session.  The purpose of this is to orient potential interviewers to the interview questions, equipment and procedures utilized when conducting an oral interview for the "Breaking Barriers" oral history project.  We are particularly eager to train volunteers for the Transgender/Nonbinary/Gender-Fluid Oral History Project.

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2:15 pm - Youth (Rose) 

Coming Out and What It Means for You: Resources and assistance during times of struggle with Phii Regis - The Trevor Project
Exploring your sexual orientation and/or gender identity can bring up a lot of feelings and questions.
Guided by The Coming Out handbook from the Trevor Project, we will work together to explore your identity, what it might be like to share your identity with others, and provide you with tools and guiding questions to help you think about what coming out means to you.
The session will consist of discussion covering social considerations, differences between LGB and TQ coming-out concerns, forced outing, and resources to help cope with difficult situations surrounding the topic of coming out.
This session is targeted to youth 23 years and younger. We want this session to be a safe space for questions and discussion without outside pressures such as parents or guardians

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4:00 pm

Codependency within the LGBTQ2+ relationships and community dynamics with Jacqueline Hassett - Eosis Northern Plains 

The purpose of the presentation is to shed light on the often overlooked issue of codependency within the LGBTQ2+ relationships and community dynamics. While codependency is not exclusive to one group, the unique social, cultural, and psychological experiences of LGBTQ2+ individuals can shape how it develops and manifests. This session will explore the roots of codependency,  its impact on mental health and relationship quality, and practical strategies for building healthier, more autonomous connections.  
 

PLAG ND with Asheley LeFors

This is the official launch of PFLAG North Dakota. Spend time with us and learn what PFLAG has to offer North Dakota. Hear our plans for building community support and allyship. Voice your ideas and give feedback on how we can best support you with future chapter programming.

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Story Telling for Narrative Change: Sharing Your Story & Testifying with Charlie Williamson - North Dakota Program Manager  for Gender Justice and Shaydora Todd - Assistant Executive Director with the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition

In partnership with Gender Justice and the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition, this interactive training equips community members with the tools to create better narrative storytelling and its utilization in legislative testimony. Together, we’ll explore the reason for storytelling, parts of a story, how to use storytelling for narrative change and its application in legislative testimony. Through guided practice, breakout sessions, and real-world examples, participants will gain confidence in building their story, learn about real world application of story telling, and leave with concrete skills to advocate for their communities.

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How to Thrive: Social Connections, Health and Aging with Marnie Piehl, Aisha Cozad, rep from RR Rainbow Srs and AARP EC Council member

The panel will consider the AARP Dignity 2026 findings and how the research shows up in real life. We'll explore questions about combatting loneliness, and families of choice; we'll discuss lived experiences in caregiving, and how panelists engage in protecting their dignity and promoting well-bring in their lives and the community as a whole.

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4:00 pm -Youth (Rose)

Queersona: Art Session with Fuego Inferno and Aster Cline - ND LGBTIQ2S+ Summit Youth Intern
Ever wanted to be a drag artist? Maybe you have an idea for a look? Or you’re just inspired by the art; this 45-minute session is for you! Come in with Ro and build your drag persona; they’ll be all the materials you need, along with an artist who can provide advice! So dive into that future you or create a look for fun, either way, we hope to see you there.
 

5:00pm -  Summit ends for the day.

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SUNDAY

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  Presentation Rooms: Očeti Šakowin Ballroom A,  

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 ​8:30am - Summit Welcome & Recognitions

 8:30am - Youth Panel-More information to come

 9:30am - Break

 9:45 am - Red River Rainbow Seniors Coming Out Stories from the Past 

Meet the Red River Rainbow Seniors: A panel consisting of a moderator who will ask 5-6 Seniors about growing up in the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s. Then open it up to questions from the audience. This is an opportunity to learn from our elders about their challenges and successes.

 10:45am - Break

 11:00 am - Elected Officials Panel -More information to come

 12:00 pm - Break
 1:00 pm - Closing