SELC 2019 – Call For Proposals

Submissions are now closed.

Download: SELC 2019 Call for Proposals (pdf)

For 18 years, the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) has partnered with a host organization to organize the Social Equity Leadership Conference (SELC) focused on social equity as defined by NAPA to be "The fair, just, and equitable management of all institutions serving the public directly or by contract: the fair, just and equitable distribution of public services and implementation of public policy; and the commitment to promote fairness, justice, and equity in the formation of public policy" (NAPA 2018).

Reflecting the increasing polarization of society and the reality that achieving social equity continues to be one of the most vexing challenges facing the world today, the theme of this year's conference is "Achieving Social Equity in Turbulent Times: A Public Administration Grand Challenge.” The three subthemes that constitute the tracks for the conference are:

Track 1: Identifying and changing policies and practices resulting in social inequities in government, non-profit organizations and the private sector.
Social inequities are manifest throughout administrative and policy domains across government, non-profit organizations and the private sector. The extent and causes of these inequities must be identified and ways found to address them. We invite submissions of fully formed panels and individual proposals that explore policies and practices impacting longstanding and emerging social equity issues and describe and assess strategies that have been implemented in all sectors to promote social equity.

Track 2: Measuring and assessing social equity across policy areas.
Challenges to measuring and assessing social equity abound, including definitional ambiguity and varying perspectives as to what constitutes fairness. Both qualitative evaluations and quantitative indicators are needed to measure and assess current conditions and temporal changes in social equity across policy areas.  We invite submissions of fully-formed panels and individual proposals that look at current research, practical tools, and new approaches to measure and assess the achievement of social equity.

Track 3: Social equity challenges and solutions, globally.
Countries around the world are facing challenges related to social inequities that undermine economic growth and development.  We invite submissions of fully-formed panels and individual proposals that explore  social equity within countries across the globe, looking at ways in which socio-economic, political and organizational contexts influence the building of an equitable and just society. Lessons learned from successful actions to mitigate and prevent social inequity can shape social equity in government, nonprofit organizations and in the private sector, worldwide.

Call for Proposals

The abstract should be no longer than 200 words and should clearly state how the proposal fits into the subtheme selected. While we are interested in problem identification, we particularly encourage proposals with an action orientation. We are seeking conference participation from academics, practitioners and students.