Accelerating Health Equity Conference speakers help lead the conversations and collaborations to develop more equitable solutions that address barriers preventing access to high-quality care and improved health outcomes.

The call for content is now closed.

Notices have been sent to all proposal applications with the status of their submission. Please check your spam/junk folder for an email from healthequity@aha.org. Invited speakers can log into the speaker resource center to sign the speaker agreement by January 15. Please contact us with any questions.

Content Areas

Conference sessions feature leading-edge tactics particularly focused on the following content areas:

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Building Authentic and Sustained Community Engagement and Partnership

 

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Understanding and Meeting Individuals’ Health and Social Needs

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Establishing Systematic and Shared Accountability and Building Diverse Leadership and Governance

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Creating Equitable and Inclusive Workplaces

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Other Emerging Topics

Presentation Formats

The AHA is committed to highlighting content of the highest caliber that expands conference attendees’ knowledge base and fosters peer learning. We are seeking experienced presenters who can transfer their knowledge, demonstrate actionable tools and engage conference participants in discussion. Successful proposals will:

  • Address practical needs of attendees from diverse professional backgrounds and organizations
  • Highlight key takeaways and how-to strategies for advancing health and health equity
  • Focus on evidence-based, replicable models
  • Demonstrate value and measurable impact
  • Encourage engagement and interaction from attendees

  • Concurrent breakout sessions provide an opportunity to share successful strategies with a broad audience. There are three different breakout session opportunities: panel sessions, deep dive sessions and workshops.

    • Panel Sessions: Panel sessions will feature multiple presenters who deliver informative and practical content, convey knowledge, demonstrate actionable tools, highlight key takeaways and focus on replicable models and measurable impact. This can involve presentations, case studies, demonstrations or sharing success stories. These sessions will be organized by common themes and may be combined with one to two additional proposals into a panel-style presentation or discussion. We have seen that sessions are stronger when paired together! If submitted proposals are combined, a member of the conference education committee will facilitate an introductory meeting and support the combined session as needed until the conference. Each session will last 60 minutes with at least 15 minutes reserved for attendee Q&A and interaction.
    • Deep Dive Sessions: Deep dive sessions are an extended and intensive exploration of a specific topic area led by a moderator. These sessions are designed to go beyond surface-level discussions, providing attendees with comprehensive insights, facilitated discussions and practical applications related to the chosen subject matter. Deep dive sessions should encourage active engagement, networking and collaborative learning among attendees.
    • Workshops:Workshops allow attendees to actively learn, discuss and participate in practical activities focused on a specific topic area. Workshops should be interactive and include group exercises, hands-on demonstrations, and facilitated discussions. Creative learning strategies should be employed to actively engage participants. This might include interactive elements, group activities or audience polls to foster engagement. The session should encourage discussion and questions, involving participants in meaningful conversations related to the topic. This type of session is designed to provide participants with practical knowledge, tools and strategies that they can apply directly in their health care organizations or community. Each workshop will last two to three hours.

  • In lieu of a traditional poster session, we are seeking original content about your organization’s initiatives to improve community and population health and advance diversity, equity and inclusion that can be presented in a “story slam” style.

    Accepted proposals will be grouped into topic clusters and provided with guidance on how to structure their stories. Story slam presenters will provide a seven-minute overview of the innovative approaches organizations have used to address specific issues, with a focus on the interventions and lessons learned.

    The story slam will take place during a dedicated time at the conference that has yet to be determined. One person should serve as the lead presenter; additional attendees from the organization(s) represented are invited to join the session as contributors.

 
 
 
 

Selection Criteria

Submitted proposals will be evaluated by a panel of experts according to the following criteria:

  • Demonstrated impact — Highlights the collection and use of data to drive action and measure results. Shows the outcomes or impact on advancing health equity, both in terms of successes and failures.
  • Collaborative — Integrates the patient and community voice and showcases the effectiveness of working with different organizations to reach a common goal.
  • Application to practice/transferable — Showcases models and tools that can be adapted and presented to audience members' own hospitals, organizations or community settings. Focus on the “how” vs. the “why.”
  • Innovative — Extent to which the program or initiative displays innovation or originality.
  • Sustainable and scalable — Highlights sustainable and measurable practices that can be scaled beyond a small pilot.
  • Relevance — Extent to which the proposal addresses the conference theme and selected content area.
  • Clarity — Extent to which the proposal offers a clear description of the proposed session and practice-oriented learning objectives.

PLEASE NOTE: To preserve the integrity of the conference experience, AHA has a policy of not selling services, products or future consulting assignments during presentations. All accepted breakout session speakers will be asked to sign a speaker agreement that includes this policy.

We strongly recommend all proposals include at least one presenter from a health care organization (hospital/health system or similar entity) though AHA membership is not required to present. Submissions that feature vendors or consultants as presenters will likely not be included in the submission review process. If your organization is interested in designing a breakout session or pre-conference workshop, please visit the Sponsor Opportunities page.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Notification

All submissions will be evaluated by AHA, and presenters will be notified of their acceptance status by early December 2024. If selected, your name, biography, presentation title and session details will be made available on the Accelerating Health Equity Conference website and conference mobile app by March 2025. Conference attendees will receive your presentation via the mobile app.

We anticipate receiving more high-quality proposals than we can include in the conference agenda. We may contact you about featuring the proposed content through another component of the conference or sharing the proposal with AHA colleagues seeking additional educational content for 2025.

 
 
 

Conference Fees

All presenters are responsible for their own travel, accommodation expenses, and registration fees for the conference. Confirmed presenters will receive a discount code to register for the conference at a rate of $575.

PLEASE NOTE: if you are submitting on behalf of a group, please inform the selected speakers about the discounted rate. If your organization wishes to pay registration for speakers in your session, we can help to facilitate that on the back end.

 

Presenter Timeline

Proposal Submissions Due All proposals must be submitted electronically.Monday, September 19, 2024
11:59pm CT
Notifications Sent AHA will notify all applicants of their application status via email.Early December 2024
Speaker Agreement Due All accepted session presenters must fill out the speaker agreement form via Cvent to confirm conference participation.January 15, 2025
Session Facilitation AHA staff and/or the conference education committee will connect with session speakers and provide any needed support and answer logistical questions.January/February 2025
Session Details Confirmed The conference agenda is scheduled to go live in March 2024. Therefore, one presenter will need to approve and finalize session details (title, description, speaker names, etc.) via Cvent. Changes can be made after this date due to emergency speaker changes or additions, but we recommend presenters finalize all changes in Cvent up until a week before the conference.February 20, 2025
Session Materials Due Presenters must submit final slides and other materials via Cvent. Presentations will be available to conference attendees via the conference mobile app. Materials mentioned during the session that were not included originally can be added after the event.April 30, 2025
Accelerating Health Equity Conference AtlantaMay 19-22, 2025
Atlanta skyline daytime - Credit: ACVB Marketing | Melissa McAlpine