NARSOL banner over Baltimore skyline at sunset: Navigating Safe Harbors Baltimore 2026.

NARSOL’s 18th conference is a wrap

NARSOL’s 18th conference hit the ground running Friday morning, June 26, and didn’t slow down for two and a half days.

With powerball speakers such as Catherine Carpender and Miriam Auckerman, the

Large conference room with round tables and an audience facing a podium on a stage with a projection screen.

deeply moving stories of Amber Vlangas and Shawn Barrera-Leaf, and the brave advocacies of Peter Dross and Grant Hill, the conference attendees met with inspiration and encouragement at every turn.

The workshops enhanced the major presentations, completing and reinforcing what came to be recognized as the unifying theme for this conference: It takes all of us, and together we can!

The Friday night awards banquet was a delight. The meal was  good southern-cooking; the space in which to relax and enjoy the evening and each other was needed and appreciated; speaker Amber Vlangas moved us to tears, and MC Robin Vanderwall kept the program moving, culminating in the presentation of the year’s awards and the drawings for the raffle prizes.

The winners of the NARSOL 2026 awards are:

NARSOL Advocate of the Year: Shawn Barrera-Leaf

Paul E. Shannon Lifetime Achievement Award: Cindy Prizio

Braveheart Award: Grant Hill

Hawthorne Award: Catherine Carpenter

Hawthorne Award: Guy Hamilton-Smith

NARSOL Excellence in Service Award: Craig McAlexander

NARSOL Excellence in Leadership Award: Stephen Herto

Most of all, NARSOL thanks our wonderful attendees without whom there would be no conference. We are appreciative of your loyalty, your advocacy, and your dedication. Thank you!

Sandy Rozek

Written by 

Sandy, a NARSOL board member, is communications director for NARSOL, editor-in-chief of the Digest, and a writer for the Digest and the NARSOL website. Additionally, she participates in updating and managing the website and assisting with a variety of organizational tasks.

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