Explore all of the details for O&B 2026 below.
You can find information on registration, logistics, and attendee experience below.
- Schedule & Location
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Our 2026 conference will be held October 9-10, 2026, with two full days of conference sessions taking place from approximately 8:00 am to 5:00 pm each day. We will also be hosting a set of pre-conference sessions on October 8. Stay tuned for more details!
Our conference location is:
Kentucky International Convention Center
221 S. 4th St, Louisville, KY 40202PARKING
Cowger Garage is located at 4th & Market Street (next to FedEx).
Cost: $12 per dayCommonwealth Garage is located on Jefferson Street (middle of block on left hand side) between 3rd & 4th Streets and connected to Hyatt Regency.
Cost: $12 per dayA lost parking ticket will result in a flat charge per day.
- Lodging
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There are two hotel blocks available to choose from which offer special discounted rates for the 2026 Othering & Belonging Conference attendees.
Rates and booking links for O&B26 hotels will be available in January 2026, please check back then!
Hyatt Regency Louisville
320 West Jefferson Street
Louisville, KY 40202
+1 502 581 1234The Galt House Hotel
140 N Fourth St,
Louisville, KY 40202Additional Hotels
There are many hotels at many price points in the immediate downtown Louisville area where the conference will be held which are not part of a dedicated conference block rate. Hotels.com or Kayak.com are useful sites for price comparisons.
- Registration and Fees
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The registration levels were developed to make the conference as accessible as possible to a wide range of attendees. OBI does significant fundraising to provide different fee levels as well as scholarships.
Please select the highest level that your organization or you are able to afford. In this way, we are able to stretch our conference funding further and provide additional high-quality content and more scholarships to those who would otherwise not be able to attend.
Belonging Champion: $2,930*
You are a foundation, organization or individual who wants to spread Belonging to as many people as possible by supporting those who are not able to afford the full conference registration fee. This registration level will support yourself and two scholarship applicants to attend the Conference. Register here.Pay It Forward Foundations and Businesses: $1800*
You work for a foundation or business that has a budget for conferences or are an individual with the means to cover the actual per person cost of the conference plus supporting two other attendees at the subsidized Co-Creator rate. Register here.Architect of Belonging: $1000*
You work for a medium to large non-profit, government, or educational institution, and your organization is paying for the cost of your registration. By registering at this level, you are paying the actual per person cost to attend the conference. Register here.Co-Creator: $600*
This subsidized registration level is for those who cannot afford the actual per person cost of the conference. This rate may be appropriate for UC staff and faculty, employees from organizations/ institutions that do not have sufficient conference or professional development budgets, or individuals who are covering the registration cost out of their own funds and who cannot afford the Architect of Belonging rate. Register here.Bridge Builder: $250* (Limited availability)
This highly subsidized registration option is for individuals who are unable to pay the Co-Creator rate such as staff of nonprofits with very small budgets and underemployed/low-paid individuals who are covering the cost out of their own funds. Please only select this level if you do not have the capacity to pay the Co-Creator rate. Register here.*There will be a 3.5% credit card processing fee charged on top of all registration fees listed above. Fee is determined by the credit card company.
**If you registered you should receive a confirmation email within a few minutes of completing registration and payment. If you did not, be sure to check your spam or junk folder of the email you registered under.
Group Registration, Rate and Discount
If you are registering/paying for a group, you must register yourself first (or choose one group member to serve as the primary registrant) and then you will be prompted to add additional members to the registration prior to payment. If members of your group are paying individually (for example, with different credit cards), each member must register separately.If you work for a medium to large non-profit, government, or educational institution, and your organization is paying for the cost of your registration, register your group under the Architect of Belonging rate. For groups that cannot afford the Architect of Belonging rate, register under the Co-Creator rate. These are the discounted group rate options. Register here.
A note on Day Rates
The conference is meant to be experienced as a whole and as such, we are not extending day rates as a registration option.
Cancellation and Substitutions Policy
- Cancellations requested before September 12, 2026 are eligible for a refund minus a $50 cancellation fee for each registration.
Please email cancellation or substitution requests to obconf@berkeley.edu.
- After September 12, 2026 cancellations will be refunded at 25% of the registration fee.
- No refunds will be issued after October 8, 2026.
- Failure to appear at the conference will result in forfeiture of the full registration fee.
- Requests to substitute registrations can be processed until October 8, 2026.
ScholarshipsA limited number of scholarships will be made available and will be accepted on a rolling basis. The scholarship application link will open in April 2025. If the link is active, we still have scholarships available. If your application is accepted, there will be a $35 processing fee that must be paid upon acceptance of the scholarship/registration. Scholarships will be for the cost of registration only. Scholarship recipients will be responsible for coordinating their own travel to and lodging during the conference.
If you do not accept the scholarship by registering/paying the fee within 14 days, the scholarship will be made available to the next applicant.
If you are unable to attend the conference after receiving a scholarship, please let us know so we can offer the scholarship to the next applicant.
After completing this form, you will receive a response from a member of our team within 2-3 weeks about your application and instructions on how to register.
Payment Methods
We accept all major credit cards, and credit card payments are strongly preferred.
Select the “Check” payment option ONLY if you or your organization is paying and not using a credit card. Upon selecting the Check option, you must print out your registration invoice and send it along with your check made payable to the "The Regents of the University of California" with “Othering & Belonging Conference" in the memo line. You can find our W-9 here. Please do not send checks to the address in the W-9 but to:
O&B26
Othering & Belonging Institute
UC Berkeley
460 Stephens Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720-2330
Your registration will be completed and considered active only upon receipt of your check. All checks must be received by October 7, 2026 to activate your registration for the conference. Please contact obconf@berkeley.edu if you are unable to meet this deadline.
Invoices will not be automatically generated. If you need to submit an invoice to your employer for payment, you must generate an invoice from the registration record page (following the payment page).If you are a campus group in the UC system and are paying via chartstring, please use the Pay by Check option and contact Puanani Forbes with your chartstring.
- Accessibility
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It is our goal that the Othering & Belonging conference is accessible to all who want to attend and to support attendees to engage as fully as possible. The Kentucky International Convention Center is wheelchair accessible and accommodating to patrons who have limited mobility or are blind, visually impaired, deaf or hard of hearing.
American Sign Language (ASL) Interpretation: ASL interpretation will be available upon request for the mainstage. Please inform us during the registration process if you require ASL interpretation and/or have any specific requests.
Live Captioning: Live captioning will be provided. Please inform us during the registration process if you have any specific captioning requests.
Onsite Accommodations (subhead)
Seating Accommodations: To ensure your comfort during sessions, please let us know if you require specific seating accommodations for mobility access or hearing/visual impairments. Provide details about your seating needs or preferences in the registration process.
Fragrance-Free: We strive to create a comfortable space for all attendees, including those with fragrance sensitivities or allergies. We kindly request that all attendees refrain from using scented products such as perfumes, colognes, and heavily scented lotions during the conference.
Food Allergies: A variety of food preference options (vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, etc.) will be made available at our conference lunch offerings. Please inform us during the registration process if you have any severe food allergies that we should be aware of.
Childcare Services: We will have childcare options available at the conference. Please check back here for updated information. If you would like to be added to future communication by email on this topic, indicate your interest when you register.
Nursing Information: We will have privacy rooms available for lactating mothers.
Prayer and Meditation Room: A nondenominational prayer and meditation room will be made available for attendees.
COVID-19 Protocols
Attendees are encouraged to test for COVID-19 in advance, stay home if they are feeling unwell, and wear masks if preferred as an extra precaution. We will closely monitor and adhere to local health and safety regulations and guidelines. Attendees are expected to comply with these regulations to ensure the collective well-being of the conference community. We encourage you to read further information on COVID-19 safety measures provided by the World Health Organization (WHO) on ways to protect yourself and prevent the spread of COVID-19.
- Contact
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If you have any questions about registration, accessibility, or any of the above, please email obconf@berkeley.edu or leave a message at (510) 642-3326. Please note that email is our strongly preferred method of contact (if possible); most of our team works remotely and may not be as responsive to voice messages.