Speak at
Belong 2026
Join the speaker line-up for Belong: a two-day online conference exploring inclusion, connection and community building in education organisations
Proposal deadline: 23:59 Pacific Time on Monday 2 March 2026
We're looking for engaging, generous and practice-driven speakers to join us at Belong 2026 - a new two-day online event for education sector marketing and community professionals committed to inspiring a greater sense of belonging in their institutions and communities.
Whether you're in a university, college, school, or agency supporting the sector, we want to hear how you're developing content and community engagement strategies that intentionally strive to develop a deep sense of belonging in your communities. This is about going so much further than ticking a DEI box to really designing for emotional and psychological safety, connection and creating a sense of “home” for all.
You don’t need to have all the answers - we love honest stories about what’s working, what isn’t working, and what you're learning along the way.
We are especially interested in speakers from:
Education institutions around the world. We welcome non-native English speakers although the language of the conference is English
Underrepresented groups, including persons of colour and people with disabilities
Emerging roles and professions in the content space, including content marketers, content strategists, content designers, inclusion leads and student experience managers and strategists.
A note for vendors, consultancies and agencies:
You are always welcome to submit non-promotional session proposals for consideration for our programme. However, you may also wish to consider a sponsor partnership. Contact hello@contentedlive.com to enquire about sponsor and partner opportunities for Belong and other ContentEd events.
What we’re looking for
We're looking for sessions that offer insight, spark ideas, and reflect the real-world challenges of understanding and generating true inclusion, psychological and emotional safety and belonging in education spaces.
We want to hear about what’s working and what’s not, and how you’re bringing your colleagues along on the journey. We also want to hear about how you’re leaning into inclusion and belonging initiatives even more in a world that seems at time to be turning its back on DEIB and affirmative action.
Formats and audience
All sessions will be delivered online. We welcome:
Solo talks (20–30 mins)
Paired or panel conversations
Case studies
Personal stories and student panels
Our audience includes:
Content and communications professionals
UX strategists and designers
Marketing and student recruitment teams
Education sector leaders working on inclusion and belonging
Student experience professionals
First-time speakers welcome
You don’t need a big job title or a polished pitch. If you’ve got a story worth sharing, we want to hear it. We’re especially keen to hear from:
People with an unwavering commitment to belonging and inclusion
Professionals from a wide range of education institutions and roles
Those working behind the scenes to improve content and student experience
We’re committed to creating a welcoming, inclusive and supportive event.
Speaker benefits
In return, speakers selected for our line-up receive:
A free place to attend the whole event for you and a colleague
A speaker honorarium of £50 per session
Additional ticket discounts for your network.
📌 Understanding belonging in education
What does belonging really mean in an education setting – and who gets to define it?
The emotional landscape of inclusion: empathy, safety and connection
Exploring intersectionality: how overlapping identities shape the student and staff experience.
📌Designing inclusive content and communications
Inclusive content design: making accessibility, representation and relevance non-negotiable
Editorial choices that matter: language, tone and imagery that welcome or alienate
Using audience research to uncover gaps in belonging and representation.
📌Creating systems and strategies for long-term inclusion
Building inclusion into your content governance, operations and workflows
Auditing for bias: evaluating your content, platforms and processes
Shifting from compliance to culture change: embedding inclusive practices across teams.
📌Challenging norms and amplifying lived experiences
When I didn’t belong: personal stories and what they taught us about our systems
Beyond performative inclusion: making space for challenge and accountability
Co-creating content with underrepresented communities: trust, process and power-sharing.
Submit your speaker proposals today
Speaker proposal are now open.
Deadline for proposals: 23:59 Pacific Time on Monday 2 March 2026
A note on co-presenting: We do allow co-presenting of sessions but we don’t necessarily encourage it. Co-presented sessions can feel disjointed, and we want to avoid that. We therefore ask that this is intentionally considered and well-planned. If you wish to have more than two speakers in your session, please email us hello@contentedlive.com.