2026 Outreach Conference

Geniro Dingle & Dr. Khalila Lomax

Dr. Khalila Lomax (right) is an educator, researcher, and equity strategist whose work centers on advancing justice, literacy, and belonging in education. She earned her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with a specialization in Language and Literacy from the University of Illinois. Drawing on experience in both K-12 education and the nonprofit sector, Dr. Lomax has designed equity initiatives, developed educator training, and partnered with schools and community organizations to create more inclusive learning environments.

Geniro Dingle (left) is a visionary diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practitioner with experience operationalizing strategy within organizations and networks. He oversees Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Safety for Greenpeace International. Geniro holds a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Akron and an M.A. in Public Policy Management from Georgetown University.

Shannon Isaacs

Shannon Isaacs is a member of Community Friends Meeting in Ohio Valley Yearly Meeting. She previously served as the meeting’s original clerk of their first Outreach Committee. Shannon additionally has previously served as a member of FGC Central Committee, as well as the OVYM Religious Nurture and Education Committee and currently serves on the advisory committee for the Quaker Leadership Center at Earlham. She has carried ministry about the revitalization of Friends and the spiritual vitality of the Religious Society of Friends for over 12 years, in a variety of forms.

Naveed Moeed

Naveed is a British-born Pakistani and Muslim-Quaker. Member, Chapel Hill Friends Meeting (North Carolina), Piedmont Friends Yearly Meeting and remains affiliated with Mid-Thames Area Meeting (formerly Reading Monthly Meeting) in the UK. He has borne witness to the Peace testimony through social justice activism with all three. He serves as co-clerk for the American Friends Service Committee South Region Executive Committee. He also serves as a board member for Thee Quaker Project. He has previously led workshops for the FGC Gathering. Naveed holds a PhD. in Astrophysics and is a Director of Business Development for an analytics firm. He is also a member of the American Theatre Critics Association and a semi-professional photographer.

Melinda Wenner Bradley

Melinda Wenner Bradley (Philadelphia YM) is an educator, consultant, and writer. She encourages shifting away from scholastic models for religious formation toward experiential, belonging-focused ways of being with children and inviting them into spiritual community with all ages. Melinda co-founded the Quaker Religious Education Collaborative and Faith & Play Stories. alltogethernowfriends.com

Jade Rockwell

Jade Rockwell is program director of Quaker Connect, and a recorded minister (Sierra-Cascades Yearly Meeting). Jade previously worked as a social worker, birth doula, and community organizer, and was recognized as a poverty scholar by the Kairos Center Poor People’s Campaign. She has attended and served in unprogrammed, evangelical, and pastoral Friends congregations in both urban and rural settings and written and consulted on safeguarding policies. She is bilingual in Spanish and English.

alicia nance & Friends

alicia nance is Friends General Conference’s Ministry on Racism Program Coordinator, working alongside committees, worship spaces, retreats, and strategic antiracism initiatives in service of Friends of Color and communities at the margins, and in support of conflict transformation and a spirit of inclusive belonging within the Religious Society of Friends. alicia roots her ministry in the diasporic Black Protestant tradition, drawing on Black liberation theology and Spiritual Baptist practice, bringing ancestral wisdom to institutional antiracist change strategy work.

Beloved Community: Mind, Body, & Meeting

with Dr. Khalila Lomax & Geniro Dingle

What does it take to cultivate Beloved Community where people from all backgrounds can fully participate and flourish? This opening plenary explores how diversity, equity, and inclusion are not separate from outreach, but essential practices for nurturing communities that engage the mind, honor the whole person, and strengthen the meeting.

Drawing on his experience leading global justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion strategy at Greenpeace International, Geniro Dingle will share practical approaches for creating cultures of belonging where newcomers experience authentic connection rather than simply being welcomed. Khalila Lomax will offer the perspective of someone who came to Quaker spaces from outside the tradition, reflecting on her work partnering with Friends to broaden participation in Quaker youth programs and the practices that fostered trust, curiosity, and meaningful relationships.

Together, they will invite Friends to reimagine outreach as more than an invitation to attend. Outreach becomes a ministry of relationship, rooted in Quaker values and expressed through communities that care for the mind, body, and spirit of all who seek connection. Participants will leave with practical insights for building meetings where belonging grows, relationships deepen, and the vision of Beloved Community becomes a lived experience.

Workshop #1a:
20 Quaker Meetings, Six Countries: The Quaker Connect 2 Year Experiment in Renewal

with Jade Rockwell

Quaker Connect is a laboratory for renewal, a project of Friends World Committee for Consultation, Section of the Americas, collaborating with C. Wess Daniels. Over the past two years, participants from 20 Quaker meetings and churches in six countries have experimented with new ways of connecting more deeply with their local communities. As forty-four community-based experiments across two cohorts have unfolded, common patterns are emerging. Hear stories and insights from participants about the power of convergent learning cohorts, spiritual accompaniment, cross-cultural relationships and intervisitation, and intentional experimentation as catalysts for change in the meeting and beyond. Together, we’ll explore what these early findings suggest about renewal and how these practices might support fresh life and faithful witness in your own meeting and neighborhood.

No workshop pre-registration is required. All registrants will log in to the same Zoom link and then choose their workshop breakout room.

Workshop #1b:
Building Across Boundaries

with Naveed Moeed

Strong community partnerships begin with humility, self-awareness, and a willingness to learn. This interactive workshop will explore how Friends can recognize personal and meeting blind spots, move beyond the limits of liberal and neoliberal approaches, and build authentic relationships with leaders and organizations beyond Quaker circles—especially in BBIPOC communities. Participants will assess their meeting’s readiness for partnership, identify potential collaborators, clarify shared goals, and consider how local work connects to broader national and global movements. Attendees will leave with practical tools, including a checklist, resource list, action plan, and sample communications, to help their meetings engage in meaningful, justice-centered collaboration.

No workshop pre-registration is required. All registrants will log in to the same Zoom link and then choose their workshop breakout room.

Workshop #2a:
Welcoming Families with Children:
Belonging is the Beginning

with Melinda Wenner Bradley

What does outreach to families with children look like after an invitation and warm welcome? How can a meeting prepare to minister to the needs of both the adults and children in a family? What would it mean to begin with belonging? In this interactive workshop, participants will explore how spaces, schedules, and practices can both demonstrate welcome and support authentic inclusion of all ages in a faith community. We’ll play with the example of IKEA as a model for intergenerational welcome and belonging. A presentation and resources will be shared, along with time for discussion, sharing experiences, and questions.

No workshop pre-registration is required. All registrants will log in to the same Zoom link and then choose their workshop breakout room.

Workshop #2b:
Conversations with Friends:
What’s Working in Outreach & Visibility

with alicia nance & Friends

Join FGC’s alicia nance for a conversation with Friends from several meetings across North America to hear about what’s working in outreach and visibility.  From best practices in web communication, to the revival of tried and true spiritual practices, Friends are eager to share what’s working and what you can replicate in your meetings today.

No workshop pre-registration is required. All registrants will log in to the same Zoom link and then choose their workshop breakout room.

Changemaking:
Listening for Spirit and Revitalization Ministry

with Shannon Isaacs

Over the past 15 years around the United States friends, led by Spirit, Friends have attempted and been successful at finding ways to revitalize parts of the Society of Friends. There are also thriving meetings with many young families. In this plenary talk we will explore these initiatives, and what people are led to do to use their ability to make change in the Society of Friends. We are no longer at a point where we do not know how to revitalize the Society of Friends – we have tried many things, and some of them have worked. Now we have to learn from, adapt, and share as lead, successful efforts. We will also look at what is encouraging and hindering revitalization. If you are a person who cares about Quakerism existing and you want resources and tools to create change to make that happen, this workshop plenary is for you.