AID Convening

The inaugural AID Convening in 2020 was created to strengthen the capacity, resilience, and connection of frontline service providers supporting survivors, especially immigrant and refugee survivor communities, all across Northwest Arkansas.

Hosted by AID and Catholic Immigration Services of Springdale, the convening responded to a growing need for shared understanding, coordinated action, and emotional sustainability amid an increasingly changing--and challenging--national immigration climate.

Save The Date

Attendees focused on a presentation in a warmly lit conference room, with a decorative wreath in the background.

Woman in red coat and glasses sits at a table, engaged in conversation at a social gathering.

Group of people sitting around a table at a cozy indoor gathering with drinks and decorations.

Group of people chatting at a cozy indoor holiday gathering near a decorated Christmas tree.

People serving themselves food at a buffet table during a social gathering or event.

Growing Together,
Year by Year.

What started as a response to a growing need has become an annual tradition of shared learning and mutual support. Here's how the convening has evolved since its founding.

Resilience Setting
Staying connected and rooted as we navigate rapid changing tides.
2025
Regional Readiness
Preparing our regional organizations for collective and coordinated preparation and preparedness.
2024
Building Belonging
Restoring a sense of belonging and connection post pandemic, with a focus on building welcoming. and regionality.
2023
Inaugural Gathering
Establishing a network of support and stability with frontline service providers to build capacity and trust.
2020

Cozy indoor event with wooden decor, chandeliers, and attendees seated in a warmly lit, festive atmosphere.

2026 AID Convening

Resilience Through Change

Keynote: Karen Tumlin, Justice Action Center

We are hearing from our community and also experiencing ourselves: change has now become the condition for our work, not the exception.

Change is coming at us at an incredible pace; through policies, regulations, pressures and it is all landing faster than any of us can fully prepare for. As the ground shifts, and shifts again, we must stay steady if we are to continue doing the work of community building and care taking.

For six years, our convenings have followed the contours of the moment and we have tried to build networks and connections through it all, whether that was through the isolation of Covid or the challenge of reopening our doors afterwards. Last year we gathered to stay rooted in the work when things felt relentless and this year, we are inviting all of us into a space of resilience.

To be clear: resilience is not endurance; resilience is about staying flexible enough to move; to bend, to regroup, and keep finding our foundation together.

Our community is truly resilient because we are adaptive and ournetworks and convenings have proven that over the past six years.

Our 2026 Convening will remind us that we are looking to outlast the changes; we are learning how to become stronger and more grounded in our connections and our partnerships even more than before.

To speak to the power of resilience we are honored to (re) host Karen Tumlin from the Justice Action Center as a keynote speaker and guest.

We invite you to please save the date for the AID 2026 Convening and return here for registration details in August 2026.