One Size Doesn’t Fit All: Tailoring Community Engagement for Real Impact
Date: 7/20/2026
Time: 8:30 - 9:30 AM
Room: Grand Salon 3 & 6 (Floor 1)
Skill Session - Live lecture, panel discussion or interactive session with time for Q&A. 60-minutes.
ENGAGEMENT–Internal/external stakeholder engagement
Session Description
Explore strategies for intentionally connecting with diverse groups within your school district by meeting communities where they are. Learn how to shift from informing to facilitating by leveraging community strengths, building leadership capacity, and creating meaningful partnerships. Drawing from real examples—including a parent leadership academy, multilingual parent groups, and student and staff leadership councils—this highly interactive session invites participants to reflect, discuss, and apply concepts in real time. Attendees will leave with practical tools and actionable ideas to elevate engagement efforts and build a community of ambassadors.
Through guided activities, small-group discussion, and real-world scenarios, participants will dig deeper into the strategies that make engagement efforts purposeful, sustainable, and responsive to the communities they serve.
Attendees will:
Discover how to design and lead purpose-driven engagement groups that align with district goals while honoring the unique needs of diverse community members.
Learn practical strategies for inviting participation, setting clear expectations, and sustaining meaningful involvement across parent, student, staff, and multilingual audiences.
Explore tools for evaluating the impact of engagement efforts and continuously refining your approach to build stronger, more inclusive school communities.
Presenter(s)
Raquel Williams
Culture and Engagement Manager
Adams 12 Five Star Schools (CO)
Raquel Tarín Williams is a school communications and community engagement professional who believes strong relationships, not just strong messages, are at the heart of effective public education. With experience in district-level engagement, she brings a thoughtful, people-centered approach to helping schools move beyond one-directional outreach toward meaningful, inclusive connections with families and communities.
Currently serving as Culture and Engagement Manager at Adams 12 Five Star Schools, Raquel partners with school leaders, educators, and departments to strengthen trust, improve transparency, and create opportunities for authentic dialogue. She focuses on understanding the diverse needs, perspectives, and strengths within school communities and using those insights to design engagement strategies that foster shared ownership in student success.
A bilingual, first-generation professional, Raquel’s personal experiences deeply shape her approach. She understands how language access, cultural awareness, and relationship-building influence families’ experiences with schools. This perspective drives her commitment to engagement strategies that are inclusive, responsive, and grounded in respect for students’ and families’ lived experiences. LinkedIn Profile
One Size Doesn’t Fit All: Tailoring Community Engagement for Real Impact
Category
Skill Session - Live lecture, panel discussion or interactive session with time for Q&A. 60-minutes.