In November, ERASE Racism held two "Long Island Leaders of Tomorrow" Conferences. The Suffolk conference was held on November 8, 2019 at St. Joseph's College in Patchogue, New York. Over 80 junior-high and high school students throughout Suffolk County attended the day-long event. The Nassau conference, which was held at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock on November 15, 2019, was attended by over 125 junior-high and high school students. At both conferences, students tackled issues of racial equity and justice in their communities. The conferences were devoted to educating students on racism, and giving students a voice to express themselves, so that they could begin the process of initiating change.

In the morning plenaries, students learned about our nation's deep-rooted history of structural racism, and its continual impact on communities right here on Long Island. Current ERASE Racism Student Task Force members led panel discussions, where they spoke about the myriad of opportunities they've had to advocate for racial equity and inclusive learning through their participation in the Student Task Force. Our Student Task Force also conducted a Q & A sessions, where they were able to field questions about their experiences as Task Force members, and have open and honest dialogue about how to effect change in their schools.

Students spent the afternoons in a series of intensive workshops dedicated to addressing issues of racial equity in their own schools. In the cross-district workshops, they joined forces with students from different districts to learn more about the common issues they all shared, as well as various issues unique to each school. After much discussion, they developed strategic action plans to help guide them in implementing the improvements they wanted to see. Many students spoke about the lack of integration and teacher diversity in their schools, and the need for a culturally-responsive curriculum that empowers all students starting at a young age. To address this, they offered a number of well thought-out plans, including attending school board meetings, administering micro-aggression training to school staff, drafting petitions to superintendents for more culturally-responsive education, establishing a monthly Cultural Awareness Day, developing cross-district political and social action clubs, and more. Students then took these ideas back to their district groups, and participated in a power mapping workshop, dedicated to ascertaining who specifically in their community has the power to effect change, and how to gain access to those individuals.

The events culminated with a Gallery Walk, where students were able to view each group's action plan, so that they could return to their schools equipped with the tools necessary to ensure that their voices are heard.