March 16th, 2020 Update - 2020 GRCA Conference Cancellation

To our beloved GRCA Community,

In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the GRCA Board and Staff have made the difficult decision to cancel the 2020 Conference in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. We are sending out this communication to our Membership immediately following our Board Meeting.

• Full refunds will be available for those who have already paid to attend. Mel Hsu, Logistics Coordinator, will follow up separately with those individuals and organizations within the next two weeks.

• The Board plans to hold the Annual Member Meeting (AMM) virtually and has postponed this meeting to Saturday, May 16th. Full details and AMM documents will be shared by no later than April 16th.

This decision to cancel the conference weighs heavy on our hearts: We acknowledge the energy it took for each of you that fundraised, applied for grants, arranged childcare, applied for a visa, took time off of work, bought a plane ticket, budgeted organizational funds, and made your plans in order to be with us in Des Moines this year. We also want to honor and uplift the labor of every person who has contributed to making this conference possible. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

We are planning to release another communication with more detailed information soon as we work to share more virtual resources and build greater lines of online communication. We are determined to balance our disappointments with resilience. We will do everything in our power to continue being lighthouses to one another through the night.

With love, gratitude, and solidarity,

The GRCA Conference Organizers