2026 Eastern Washington Legislative Conference explores impact of music, art on advocacy

"We Shall Overcome: Building the Beloved Community Today" is the theme for the 2026 Eastern Washington Legislative Conference, which is scheduled from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 31, at Spokane Valley United Methodist Church, 115 N. Raymond, in-person and online.

Morning Plenary Sessions

• LaRae Wiley of the Salish School of Spokane opens and closes with drumming and a prayer song, followed by interfaith sharing with songs and reflecting on the power of songs to sustain advocacy movements. Presenters are Raging Grannies, Jadrian Tarver of Gonzaga University, John Hubbe and Verne Windham of Westminster United Church of Christ and Susan Windham of the Jewish community.
• The Keynote Plenary on "Spiritual Ramifications of Persistence" features discussion with Bishop Gretchen Rehberg of the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane, the Rev. Liv Larson Andrews, director of evangelical mission for the Northwest Intermountain Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Fr. Max Oliva SJ of Gonzaga University, Karen Stromgren of Muslims for Community Action and Support (MCAS) and Gary Jewell, a Mennonite pastor and moderator of The Fig Tree Board.
• Next youth advocates—Nicolai Jagger, youth organizer with the Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane (PJALS), Li Velasco of Nuestras Raíces, Bella Rossi, a Western Washington University environmental education student, and Jada Richardson, a member of the NAACP Spokane Youth Committee—give a plenary presentation.
• The fourth morning session is a briefing on legislation by Kristin Ang, policy engagement director of the Faith Action Network of Washington, Jean Welch Hill of the Washington State Catholic Conference and Luc Jasmin III, the Eastern Washington representative for Governor Bob Ferguson.

During the lunch break, there will be opportunities to visit displays by 40 organizations offering resources about their work and advocacy initiatives.

There will be two sessions of workshops in the afternoon.

Afternoon workshops - 2 Sessions

At 1 p.m., sessions focus on resources for advocacy:

• "People Power: Creative Resistance" is led by Liz Moore, executive director of PJALS.
• "Faithful Education: Learning to Engage in Dialogue" features perspectives of different education institutions by Emily Clark of Gonzaga University, Steve Somers of Spokane Community College and Paul Schneider of Spokane Valley High School.
• "Art Expressing Advocacy" is offered by Shantell Jackson, community organizer with PJALS.
• "The Power of Music in Advocacy" is led by those sharing the opening reflection.
• "Faithful Advocacy: Building the Beloved Community" is the workshop topic for Gen Heywood, convenor of Faith Leaders and Leaders of Conscience with Karen Stromgren of MCAS.
• "Building Collective Power through Organizing" is the workshop by Laurel Fish, organizer with the Spokane Alliance.

The second set of workshops are focused more on issues.

• "Voting Rights" is led by Lisa Gardner, President of NAACP Spokane.
• For "A Deeper Dive on Bills in the State Legislature," Kristin Ang of FAN and Jean Welch-Hill of the WSCC share more on key bills before the state legislature.
• "Rent and Affordable Housing Issues" presenters are Joe Ader of Family Promise, Ami Manning of Spokane Low Income Housing Consortium (SLIHC), Michelle Pappas of Futurewise, and Salvador Rainos of the Tenants Union of Washington.
• "Weaving a Resilient Social Fabric in Climate Change" is led by Zoe Hartman and Ian Webb of the Gonzaga Climate Institute and William Aal of the interfaith committee of 350 Spokane.
• "Indigenous Issues and Climate" is the topic of Jeff Ferguson, photographer-videographer who recently attended COP30 in Belém, Brazil.
• "Refugee and Immigration Issues" is offered by the Eastern Washington Refugee and Immigrant Coalition with Margaret Hinson of International Rescue Committee, Deb Salls of Global Neighborhood Thrift, Christi Armstrong of World Relief, Luis Castillo of Refugee and Immigrant Connections Spokane, Maisa Abudayha of Feast World Kitchen and Pat Castaneda of Manzanita House.

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Sponsors, along with The Fig Tree, include the American Civil Liberties Union WA, Catholic Charities of Eastern Washington, Dorothy Day Labor Forum, Faith Action Network, MCAS, NAACP Spokane, Partnering for Progress, Spokane Community Against Racism, Spokane Helpers Network, SLIHC, Thrivent Financial and Washington State Budget Policy Office.