The In-Person Experience
September 26, 2025
8:15 AM - 9:00 AM
Please plan to arrive in time to check in and get your nametag on Level 4 of Monona Terrace before heading to the Grand Terrace for the opening of the day.
The Monona Terrace is located at 1 John Nolen Dr, Madison, WI 53703.
Additional information about Directions, Parking and Accessible Parking for the Monona Terrace- including info on accessible parking can be found here.
Parking at Monona Terrace will be limited due to ongoing construction that has removed 150 spots from the onsite ramp. We encourage all attendees to:
Arrive early to allow time to find parking
Carpool if possible
Check nearby ramps and view real-time parking availability on the City of Madison website. The closest alternate ramp is the Wilson Street Garage, a City-owned parking ramp just a short walk away.
Registration
9:00 AM - 9:20 AM
Opening Plenary
The Opening Plenary is a shared moment for all Summit attendees to come together before the day unfolds. Through grounding practices, reflection, and collective intention-setting, we root ourselves in the values that guide our time together. This gathering offers space for connection, presence, and purpose—setting the tone for a day of learning, dialogue, and transformation.
9:30 AM - 12:00 PM (Morning) & 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM (Afternoon)
Breakout Experiences
The Institutes and Sessions at the Racial Justice Summit are curated learning experiences designed to meet a wide range of needs, interests, and identities within our broader justice ecosystem.
Institutes offer extended opportunities for deep engagement, with 2.5-hour sessions focused on building skills, exploring frameworks, and creating space for reflection. Sessions, which range from 45 minutes to one hour, provide more focused experiences centered on specific topics or practices.
Topics reflect the interconnected nature of justice work. Participants can expect a variety of engaging formats, including somatic practices, roundtable discussions, presentations, skill-building workshops, peer-to-peer support, art and writing-based practices, and even film screenings. These spaces invite us to learn, unlearn, create, and imagine, both individually and in community.
Featured Pracitioner
Adaku Utah
We are honored to welcome Adaku Utah as our Featured Practitioner at this year’s Racial Justice Summit. Adaku is a visionary healer, cultural strategist, and movement builder whose work bridges ancestral wisdom, somatic practices, and collective care. With deep roots in Black feminist traditions and healing justice, Adaku creates powerful spaces that invite grounding, restoration, and embodied liberation.
Adaku will be leading an Institute on multiracial solidarity building, supporting in reconnecting with ourselves, each other, and the movements we’re building.
Featured Film
Sacred Wisdom Sacred Earth
We are honored to be trusted as a host for the Madison Premiere and the first non-native audience to view Sacred Wisdom Sacred Earth, a brand-new documentary by the Loka Initiative, in partnership with Bravebird, UW-Madison's Center for Healthy Minds, and the Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council. The documentary unveils the deep connection of Wisconsin’s Native American tribes to the land and waters of the Great Lakes and how that relationship seeds their efforts to restore spiritual, cultural, and environmental resilience.
This screening is a closed event and open only to registrants for the Racial Justice Summit who have tickets that include the in-person day on September 26.
3:15 PM - 4:30 PM
Closing Generative Dialogue
Jaquelyn Boggess, Mouna Algahaithi, Karen Romo and Shahad Al Quraishi
The Closing Intergenerational Generative Dialogue brings our in-person day to a meaningful close with a powerful, intergenerational conversation grounded in racial justice work across Madison and the surrounding area. This year were are proud to learn from the wisdom and lived experiences of deeply connected visionaries and activists to local movements: Jaquelyn Boggess, Mouna Algahaithi, Karen Romo, and Shahad Al Quraishi.
This space invites us to listen deeply, reflect collectively, and consider the commitments we’re ready to carry forward beyond the Summit and into our communities. It is both a closing and a beginning, held in the spirit of connection, reimagination, and shared responsibility for our emergent liberation ecosystem.
5:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Rooftop Party
Hosted by Bianca Martin
Music by DJ Easy E
Get ready to dance the night away under the stars at our unforgettable Rooftop Party overlooking Lake Monona on one end and the stunning Capitol building on the other! Open to all ticket holders, this high-energy, love-filled celebration features DJ Easy E who specializes in Afrobeat, Amapiano, Hip-Hop, R&B, Reggae, Salsa, Bachata, and more! There will also be talented performances by Kai Brown and Madison’s Youth Poet Laureate, Octavia Ikard, along with delicious appetizers, and plenty of room to move, vibe, and connect.
We are thrilled to have Madisonian audio journalist and creative storyteller, Bianca Martin to lead us in the festivities.
Whether you're showing off your best dance moves, cheering on performers, or just soaking in the views with good people and good food, this is the space to celebrate, unwind, and revel in joy after a powerful day of learning and connection.
Bring your energy, bring your friends—let’s party and live into the life-giving joy that heals and sustains us.
12:00 PM - 5:00 PM
BIPOC Creatives and Justice Initiatives Pop-Up
Open to all ticket holders, come and support the BIPOC Creatives and Justice Initiatives Pop-Up. This is a beautiful space that will be located in Promenade Hall of Monona Terrace, celebrating the creativity and vision of BIPOC artists, makers, organizers, and community leaders. This space invites attendees to explore, connect, and support those building liberatory futures right here in our communities.