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Sound familiar?

You care.
It's still messy.

You're doing the work. You're the person everyone turns to for LGBTQ+ inclusion, neurodivergent support, and navigating the gray areas. And yet — something still feels off. The policies exist. The harm still happens. The burnout is real.

You don't need a checklist. You need to actually talk about this stuff.

"We have policies, but something still feels off."

"I'm terrified of saying the wrong thing publicly."

"I became the unofficial expert on everything LGBTQ+ and I'm exhausted."

"Allyship keeps getting framed as perfection or compliance."

What we'll actually cover

Real scenarios.
No hypotheticals.

This conference is built around the situations that don't have a script — the ones where you have to make a judgment call, navigate a power dynamic, or figure out what repair actually looks like after something goes wrong.

LGBTQ+ allyship at work

Neurodivergent & neuroqueer allyship

Language, power & everyday decisions

Accountability & harm repair

What to do when policies fall short

Navigating conflict without a script

This is not

  • A 101 training or introductory overview
  • A "best practices" checklist
  • A performative inclusion event where everyone leaves feeling good but nothing changes

The shift

Where you're starting.
Where you'll land.

Before

  • Fear of saying the wrong thing
  • Burnout from being the go-to person
  • Allyship = perfection or compliance
  • Unclear how to navigate conflict or repair
  • Policies exist, harm still happens

After

  • Clearer judgment in messy real scenarios
  • Language for accountability without shame
  • Allyship as practice, not performance
  • Tools for conflict, power & repair
  • More confidence holding nuance

The core transformation:

From performing inclusion → to practicing allyship inside real systems.

Who this is for

You're already
doing hard work.

This conference is designed for the people who sit between leadership pressure and employee impact — expected to "get it right," expected to know everything, expected to be on all the time.

DEI Leaders

ERG Leads & Co-Leads

HR Professionals

People & Culture Teams

Also welcome (but not centered): Managers with people responsibilities, internal facilitators and trainers, individual contributors shaping culture without formal authority.

Why this one

What makes this
different.

Grounded in lived experience, not hypotheticals. Real scenarios from real workplaces — not sanitized case studies.

Centers the messy middle. Not polished success stories. The moments before you figured it out.

Explicitly includes LGBTQ+ and neuroqueer realities. Not as an add-on — as the center of the work.

Names power, harm, and repair without theatrics. Because that's what this work actually requires.

Treats you like the professional you are. You're already doing a lot. This meets you there.

You don't need to be perfect.
You need to be practiced.

Meet your host

Charlie Ocean, MSW

they/them

Charlie Ocean is an LGBTQ+ educator, community organizer, and social worker with a background in turning complicated inclusion concepts into things people can actually use at work — without the guilt trip or the jargon spiral.

They're also the host of the 4x award-nominated (and award-winning!) Allyship Is a Verb podcast, where LGBTQ+ community members share their stories and allyship tips that are practical, personal, and real.

This conference is an extension of that work — bringing the same warmth, honesty, and "okay but what do we actually do" energy into a full day of learning together.

↗ Listen to the podcast

Ready to practice?

Registration isn't open yet, but you can get on the waitlist to be first to know when tickets are available.

When

Fall 2026

Format

Virtual

Platform

Zoom

Price

TBA

Pricing will include a base access tier and a paid tier with recordings, PDFs, and additional resources.

Join the Waitlist

No spam. Just a heads-up when tickets drop.