Format

This year we’re going virtual. But this won’t be a webinar or a Zoom call. We’ll host an immersive, international experience, streamed live and with real-time audience Q&A over 4 days.

We’ll feature 16 speakers, 4 film screenings, 4 panels, and 3 workshops.

In addition, we’ll have an in-person VIP Speakers Meet & Greet before the first day of the conference, and end with a Closing Reception.

Our Audience

When you support The Amish Heritage Foundation as a sponsor or promotional partner, you gain access to:

1) A unique and gifted audience that is emerging onto the world stage: insular- and fundamentalist-raised individuals from not only the Amish population, but also from the ultra-Orthodox Jewish, Muslim, Jehovah’s Witness, Mormon, Mennonite, evangelical/born-again, and home-schooled populations

2) Legal and health professionals, policymakers, social workers, and educators who want to advocate for underserved, underrepresented, and educationally deprived or disadvantaged populations and help make education a federal Constitutional right for all US citizens

We aim to make each sponsor’s investment in our 4-day conference worthwhile.

We’ll work with you to construct a package that’s aligned with your particular interests.

Whether you’re most eager to receive tickets to the conference, advertising space, public recognition, in-person Speakers Meet & Greet reception, or other benefits, we’ll work with you to design a package that fits your priorities.

Experts, educators, writers, researchers, and journalists who can talk about the legal, educational, religious, or political aspects of 50 years of the Wisconsin v. Yoder case

or

the intersection of religion and education, specifically in terms of the ways in which the rights of individuals (children and/or adults) in insular and fundamentalist religious communities are being compromised or violated as a result of the higher status given to religious rights

Health professionals including social workers, medical, mental, and dental to share the challenges they encounter serving an educationally deprived population (e.g., Amish, Ultra Orthodox Jewish, Jehovah’s Witness, Muslim, etc.)

Panelists to be part of the following:

1) Nontraditional or First Generation College Students panel to share their educational experience (if you were discouraged or prohibited from going to high school or college, faced challenges from having been home-schooled, or attended a parochial or religious school).

This panel is open to anyone (not restricted to women and LGBTQIA+).

2) Personal Stories panel to either share your journey transitioning out of an insular or fundamentalist group or the challenges of straddling two worlds (partly inside, partly outside). If you’re concerned about protecting your identity, you can participate via audio only and we can distort the audio.

This panel is open to anyone (not restricted to women and LGBTQIA+).

4) Myths About the Amish in Pop Culture panel to discuss rumspringa and other fictions passed off as truth in reality TV, documentaries, books, and works by self-proclaimed academic experts such as Donald Kraybill, et al. If you’re a creative (e.g., writer, researcher, film/tv producer, actor, editor, casting, crew, etc.), who was or is part of Amish-themed projects, we want you on this panel to have a real, raw, honest discussion about how the portrayal of Amish society in pop culture is helping or hurting Amish women and children. And most of all, how the entertainment industry could pivot to generating consistent messaging/stories that advocate for the protections of Amish women, children, and LGBTQIA+.

This panel is open to anyone (not restricted to women and LGBTQIA+).

3) Education & Women’s Equality panel to discuss the status of women in your community of origin and how that affects (or not) the level of education you receive. The discussion will include sharing your vision for giving women equal status in your culture, the challenges you face to change the status quo, and what the general public can do to help support members from your community who want to further their education.

Workshops aimed toward providing tools, resources, and community to individuals from insular or fundamentalist religious backgrounds, so they have safer alternatives when transitioning or considering making the leap into mainstream society.

What Past Attendees Say: