Pre-Conference Events
The Family Café is pleased to offer two different pre-conference training events on the day prior to The 28th Annual Family Cafe, Thursday, June 11th at the Hyatt Regency Orlando.
Registering for either Pre-Con Event is easy! You can register for either pre-con when you sign up to attend The 28th Annual Family Cafe. Just visit the registration page, select your number of attendees, and then choose the “Add-on” for the pre-con you want to attend.
Already registered the conference? Just visit the registration page, log in using the same email you used when you first registered, set the Attendee number to zero, and then select the “Add-on” for the pre-con you want to attend.
Learn more about both pre-conference events below!
The 2026 Women’s Summit: Wake Up Joy!
The Women’s Summit offers female caregivers of family members with disabilities tools and resources to help them navigate the caregiving experience in a space that is uniquely designed to foster open conversation, sharing, and connection, so they can avoid burnout, exhaustion, and challenges to their wellness.
Wake Up Joy!
Thursday, June 11, 11:00 AM – 6:00 PM
This year’s Wake Up Joy! Women’s Summit honors the emotional strength, resilience, and devotion of mothers who are caring for children and adult children with disabilities. It also recognizes the cumulative emotional and physical toll of long-term caregiving and the importance of restoring joy, agency, and wellbeing. Through new knowledge, intention-setting, rhythmic experiences, storytelling, music, movement, and the visual arts, participants will explore how emotionally positive states such as joy, hope, and heart and mind coherence support resilience, motivation, and long-term health.
Key features of the program will include Clarifying Intentions and Life Direction; Inner Reflection and Rhythmic Regulation; Letting Go and Claiming A New Chapter; Arts & Medicine: Drumming Our Future Into Being; and Health, Rhythm and Resilience.
This event will be held on Thursday, June 11th at the Hyatt Regency Orlando. Registration is $30, payable by credit card at the time of registration, and lunch is provided.
The 2026 FROM Pre-Con: It’s Time to Deliver!
The FROM Pre-Con offers training and resources to community leaders and their family-, youth-, or self-advocate-run organizations to help them grow their operations and make an impact in their local area.
It’s Time to Deliver!
Learn and Apply the Key Components for Operational Success of Your Family Run Organization
Thursday, June 11, 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM
You want the nuts and bolts regarding how to be successful with your Family-Run Organization? Then this Pre-Conference is for you! Join us for a full day workshop with national non-profit capacity building consultant and family member, John Ferrone, who will take you through the key components necessary for success. Topics will include: Creating and Managing the Budget; Creating a Healthy Culture and Managing Your Staff; Overseeing Programs and Evaluating Them; Forming Relationships in the Community; Pursuing Funding and Sustainability; Transitioning from a Working Board to a Governance Board; and Leadership Succession.
Whether you’re an Executive Director, a Board member managing the Executive Director, of you’re just getting started and want to understand what you need to do to build and operate your organization successfully, then you’ll benefit from attending. During the day you’ll receive critical information to understand the concepts, as well as receive and practice using tools that will empower you to master and apply those concepts. Finally, as always, you’ll benefit from on-the-spot consulting regarding your organization that John delivers during the workshop. Finish the day with the key takeaway of priorities and next steps for your Family Run Organization.
This event will be held on Thursday, June 11th at the Hyatt Regency Orlando. Registration is $30, payable by credit card at the time of registration, and lunch is provided.
Questions? Please feel free to call our office at (850) 224-4670, or email Sarah Fahey, Event Manager.
