ECB Conference - Innovate to Elevate: Connecting for Change

Intended For: Registered ECEs, Home Child Care Visitors, ECB Resource Consultation Staff, EarlyON Practitioners, ECB Managers/Supervisors, ECB Specialized Consultation Staff

Login to register for the event

Date: Jun 18, 2026

Time: 08:00 AM - 04:15 PM

Fee: FREE

Current Availability: 100

Description

Join us for the 21st Annual Every Child Belongs Conference

For more than two decades, the Every Child Belongs Conference has brought together educators, leaders, and professionals who are committed to creating inclusive, responsive, and equitable environments where every child can thrive.

This year's theme, "Innovate to Elevate: Connecting for Change," invites participants to explore how meaningful connection, collaboration, and reflective practice can inspire positive change across the early years sector. As we navigate the opportunities and challenges of an evolving landscape—including advances in AI, growing understandings of neurodiversity, increasing mental health needs, and workforce pressures—we will examine how innovation can strengthen our work while keeping relationships at the centre.

Through an inspiring keynote on early childhood mental health and a diverse range of breakout sessions, participants will explore leadership, neuroinclusive practice, sustainable approaches to work, coaching for implementation, and compassionate responses to children experiencing grief and loss.

Together, we will reflect, learn, and connect as we continue building systems where every child is seen, valued, supported, and empowered to thrive within strong, connected communities.

We look forward to welcoming you.

Agenda

Breakout Sessions

Timing	Name and Description	Location
10:45 am - 12:15 pm	Neuroinclusive Strategies in Community Services Participants will explore neuroaffirming procrastination strategies to support the high demands of executive functioning skills in client care and documentation contexts. Participants will learn neurodiversity terminology and practical approaches for their own neurodivergence as well as client-facing strategies for neuroaffirming care. Learning Goals: Participants will have a greater understanding of the neurodiversity movement and the pressures of neuronormativity Through engaging in material, participants will learn to manage common executive dysfunction and neurodivergent related impacts to procrastination Participants will build skills in balancing their daily capacity to become an effective advocate for personal and professional demands
10:45 am - 12:15 pm	Creating Space Within: Inner Systems for Outer Success What happens inside of you when... something doesn’t go the way you planned? You receive a piece of harsh feedback? You receive yet another notice of change. What’s that voice inside of you like? The truth? When stuff gets hard... we tend to go... well... hard. Like really hard on ourselves. We tend to think, “Well if I don’t go hard, I’ll never get anything done.” Why is that? And does it work? Not really. Though it feels counter-intuitive, “going hard” renders us tight and small. When we can befriend our inner world, our outer world becomes a lot lighter and wider for us. For real. In this hands-on experience, using reflection and research-backed practices, we will explore ways we can work with our inner systems to create more space inside to navigate (and maybe even thrive within) what’s happening on the outside. Participants will walk away with not only practices they can apply right now, but a deeper connection to themselves and others.
10:45 am - 12:15 pm	Not-Urgent-Everything: A Humane Approach to Prioritization Most of us are living inside a priority system we never chose, one that treats everything as urgent and leaves us wondering why we still feel behind. In this talk, Dr. Deena Kara Shaffer disrupts our relentless pace and offers a more honest alternative: a grounded, sequenced approach to deciding what actually matters, what can genuinely wait, and how to protect enough of yourself to keep showing up well. Less triage, more intention, and breathing room you can feel.Learning goals. Participants will leave with: A clear-eyed understanding of how false urgency gets constructed, and why it's so hard to resist A practical framework for sequencing what matters, without guilt or second-guessing Concrete strategies for protecting attention and capacity in high-demand environments Increased agency over task sequencing and time alignment
10:45 am - 12:15 pm	Coaching for Follow-Through in Early Childhood Education Resource Consultants play a vital role not only in supporting children with diverse developmental and regulatory needs, but also in strengthening the capacity of the adults who care for them. Sustainable change happens when educators and caregivers feel understood, empowered, and confident in integrating supportive strategies into everyday routines, environments, and relationships. Yet even with thoughtful consultation, follow-through and meaningful implementation can remain ongoing challenges across early learning settings. This 90-minute breakout session is designed specifically for Resource Consultants working within the Every Child Belongs model who support child care centres, home child care providers, EarlyON programs, educators, and families. The session will explore advanced coaching practices that deepen collaboration, strengthen reflective capacity, and support greater consistency and carryover of strategies within real-world early childhood environments. This session will help resource consultants and early childhood leaders foster stronger partnerships with early childhood educators and families, to encourage meaningful participation beyond the classroom or program setting. Participants will: Describe the role of coaching within early childhood education, including its foundational principles and relevance to sustainable educator/caregiver engagement and achievement of functional outcomes. Identify the intrapersonal and interpersonal skills essential for impactful coaching, such as mindfulness and attunement. Discuss the structured coaching tools and frameworks to support and empower participants in navigating relational dynamics and fostering growth-oriented conversations.
10:45 am - 12:15 pm	Tiny Hearts, Big Grief Grief in early childhood is rarely linear and often speaks through behaviour rather than words. This session moves beyond theory to provide Resource Consultants, ECEs, and supervisors with a practical toolkit for navigating grief—from cancer and death to adjusting to new caregivers. Participants will leave with a clear framework for supporting the unique processing needs of neurodivergent children and strategies for coaching frontline staff through emotionally heavy moments. Key Learning Pillars ● The Language of Behaviour: Decoding how young children express grief and identifying how to help neurodivergent learners consolidate big concepts (like death and cancer) into understanding with confidence. ● Creativity and play as pathways to Connection: Practical, play-based, creative and sensory-based techniques to support children’s needs when grieving. ● Concrete Tools for Abstract Concepts: A curated deep dive into favourite resources, including picture books and tactile tools that bridge the gap between abstract ideas of dying and a child’s literal, concrete world.
10:45 am - 12:15 pm	Every Child is a Gift: Honouring the Bundles Children Carry Through Indigenous Ways of Knowing In many Indigenous worldviews, children arrive as gifts carrying unique bundles of teachings, strengths, gifts, identities, and potential. Rather than asking "What is wrong with this child?" Indigenous approaches invite us to ask "What gifts does this child carry, and how do we help those gifts flourish?" This interactive session explores Indigenous perspectives of children as sacred gifts and examines the collective responsibilities of families, educators, communities, and support professionals in helping children carry their bundles with strength and pride. Participants will reflect and explore the ways of relationship-centered practices that honour belonging, identity, and wellbeing. Using storytelling, reflection activities, dialogue, and practical examples from Indigenous early learning settings, participants will examine how their role contributes to uplifting children's gifts and supporting families as partners in children's journeys. Participants will leave with practical strategies that can be applied immediately within early learning, resource consultation, and family support settings. Participants will learn: • Indigenous perspectives of children as gifts and the teachings of the bundles they carry. • How strengths-based approaches support belonging, identity, confidence, and wellbeing. • The shared responsibilities of educators, families, consultants, and communities in nurturing children's gifts. • Reflective practices that move beyond deficit-based thinking.

Lunch Session/Carnival & Experts Perspectives

Timing	Name and Description	Location
12:15 pm - 2:15 pm	Lunch, Carnival & Experts Perspectives

Location

Barrett Centre For Technology Innovation
Humber Polytechnic- North Campus
5th Floor - 205 Humber College Blvd.
Toronto, ON M9W 5L7