About Gather
Gather: A Convening for Renewal and Growth, Belonging, and Impact
December 2-5, 2026
Thomas M. Menino Convention & Exhibition Center, Boston
FAQs
What Is Gather? How is it different from PoCC?
Gather is a new NAIS conference experience focused on inclusion and belonging. It is an evolution of the People of Color Conference. While it builds on the legacy of PoCC, the experience has been redesigned, reframed, and renamed.
The convening will be designed in three pathways—Renewing and Growing, Sustaining School Belonging, and Engaging Across Community—to engage attendees personally, professionally, and collectively. All programming will be centered on the overall purpose of strengthening inclusion and belonging at independent schools.
Gather will retain elements of PoCC that members told us were especially important, including affinity-based gatherings and other opportunities for personal renewal, support, and celebration. It will continue to include practitioner-led workshops focused on strategies to enhance inclusion and belonging and schools as well as keynotes to offer inspiration, grounding, and shared purpose for all attendees.
Gather will add new programming elements that are grounded in the needs of schools and individuals in today’s environment. There will be an increased emphasis on support for individuals’ leadership and professional growth, such as networking and coaching. In the Community pathway, there will be new programming focused on dialogue, offering attendees a chance to engage across difference on complex topics relevant to school life—building skills critical for today’s polarized environment.
Who is Gather for? Is it for people of color?
Gather will continue to center the experience of people of color, building on the foundation of the NAIS People of Color Conference. It also opens the door to those whose identities shape independent schools and who are called to lead their schools’ inclusion and belonging initiatives with courage and purpose.
Like PoCC was, and as all NAIS programs are, Gather is open to all people. Its programming intentionally centers voices and perspectives that have not always been visible or fully represented in independent schools, alongside those leading inclusion and belonging efforts within their communities.
Will PoCC and SDLC still take place?
No. 2024 marked the final year of both the People of Color Conference (PoCC) and the Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC).
For many years, SDLC ran alongside PoCC. Over time, however, member feedback made clear that the responsibility of chaperoning students limited many adult attendees’ ability to fully engage in the professional learning and community-building that PoCC was designed to provide. NAIS determined that evolving this model would better serve adults and students alike.
NAIS remains deeply committed to student leadership development. We currently produce the Student Civic Leadership Summit, held in partnership with the Close Up Foundation, and are exploring additional opportunities for student programming that are developmentally appropriate, mission-aligned, and designed to support meaningful civic engagement and leadership growth.
How can I be involved in Gather?
In designing Gather, we relied on input from members and past attendees—offered in surveys, focus groups, and individual conversations, and we welcome ongoing feedback. Please send any ideas and questions to programdesignteam@nais.org. We also encourage you to submit a workshop proposals to present at Gather; the call for proposals will open in Spring 2026.