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GCC 2026 Annual Conference: Stay Rooted: Growth, Strength, & Resilience
Sacramento, CA on Monday June 22 - Thursday, June 25, 2026
The GCC annual conference strives to provide an opportunity for members to build communities of support and stay on the cutting edge of the field of career and professional development. This inspiring and forward-looking conference will celebrate the positive impacts our work has on the lives of graduate students, postdocs, and faculty, and campus, employer, and community stakeholders, emphasizing our shared commitment to adapting and evolving within academia's shifting landscape. It offers a unique opportunity to showcase and discuss innovative programs, resources, collaborative relationships, and dynamic data approaches that help us stay responsive to the changing needs of graduate students and postdocs.
Registration is now open!
Learn more:
Conference Theme | Conference Registration, Agenda, & Details | Keynote Speakers | Sponsors & Exhibitors
What makes GCC special?
Conference Social Events | New Professionals Workshop ("Precon") | Post-Conference | GCC Conference first-timer's guide
OUR THEME FOR 2026: Stay Rooted: Growth, Strength, & Resilience
Join fellow GCCers in Sacramento, historically known as the “City of Trees”, to remind us of our community, roots, and values. Together we can withstand much and our grove can cultivate, nurture, and protect our roots which have nourished our members as we look back over nearly four decades. Whether it is time for us to reach to the sky or find new winding directions to reach for the light, our GCC community will stand for our values, our members, and our trainees.
Sacramento long featured the saying, “the City of Trees” on its iconic water tower. It has a long legacy of orienteering, navigation, and arborist history. Trees were planted historically to help provide shade, until they grew so numerous that it became the city with the highest number of trees per capita. This included Cottonwood trees for shade, Eucalyptus to dry swamps, and eventually willows, palms, and fruit trees to line the streets. The Arbor Day Foundation designated it as such in 1978, and our conference hotel will be hosting our members across the street from the Capitol, where members and guests can wander the spacious tree-lined walkways and be surrounded by surprises of the many varieties of trees on display, growing strong.
Conference Registration, Agenda, and Details:
Conference Registration Now Open!
Register for the 2026 GCC Annual Conference
- Late/Onsite Registration Rate: $1,075 (May 29th - June 22nd)
Pre-Conference for new professional and first-time GCC attendees: Tuesday June 16 (Virtual) and Monday, June 22 (In-Person)
Welcome Reception: Monday, June 22 (evening)
Annual Conference: Tuesday - Thursday, June 23-25
Post-Conference Session: Thursday, June 25 (12 - 5 PM PT)
Conference Hotel: Hyatt Regency Sacramento
Full Conference Agenda
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Conference Highlights
Tuesday, June 16th
- 1:00-5:00 PM New Graduate Career Professionals Pre-Conference Workshop (virtual)
Monday, June 22nd
7:00am-5:00 PM New Graduate Career Professionals Pre-Conference Workshop
5:30-6:30 PM New Member Meet & Greet
6:30-8:30 PM The Seedling Social (A Welcome Mixer)
Tuesday, June 23rd
11:00 AM-12:30 PM Keynote address by Dr. Sharon Milgram
12:30-1:40 PM Lunch
3:30-4:15 PM Regional Meetups
4:15-5:45 PM Presentation Showcase
4:15-5:45 PM Education Research Showcase
- 6:00-9:00 PM Sacramento River Cats Game
- 6:30-8:30 PM Branching Out: Sacramento Dine-Arounds
Wednesday, June 24th
9:00-10:30 AM Keynote address by Dr. Ilana Horowitz
11:30-1:00 PM GCC Updates
6:00-9:00 PM "The Canopy Dinner"
Thursday, June 25th
6:30-8:30 PM Crocker Art Museum
12:00-5:00 PM 2026 Post Conference
6:30-8:30 PM Branching Out: Sacramento Dine-Arounds
**schedule is subject to change as needed for conference logistics
Keynote Speakers
Tuesday, June 23rd: Sharon Milgram, Ph.D.
Sharon Milgram is a nationally recognized leader in biomedical research training, workforce development, and organizational culture, with more than 30 years of leadership experience in academia and government. She most recently served as Director of the Office of Intramural Training & Education at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), where she led programs supporting the career development and well-being of intramural fellows. Prior to her NIH role, Sharon was a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. There she led a federally funded research program, founded the Office of Postdoctoral Services, dramatically expanded the Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences graduate program, and served as PI on multiple NIH and NSF training grants.
Sharon founded the Resilient Scientist Series for trainees and a parallel mentor training program for faculty and staff. Collectively these programs have reached tens of thousands of participants while driving a national dialogue about well-being, resilience, mentorship, and civility in research environments. Her work has shaped national approaches to trainee development, research culture, inclusion, and leadership in research groups. Sharon recently retired and lives in the metro-DC area with her wife.
Wednesday, June 24th: Ilana Horwitz, Ph.D.
Dr. Ilana M. Horwitz is an award-winning author and professor of sociology and Jewish studies at Tulane University. Her first book, God, Grades, and Graduation (Oxford University Press), received the American Sociological Association's Distinguished Book Award. Her writing and research have been featured in The New York Times, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and Inside Higher Ed. In her latest book, The Entrepreneurial Scholar (Princeton University Press), Dr. Horwitz reframes what it means to be entrepreneurial in academia as the practice of generating ideas with limited resources while navigating environments of high uncertainty. At this year's GCC conference, she will share how the book equips graduate students and early-career scholars with tools to think creatively about building meaningful careers, both within and beyond academia. She will offer career counselors and advisors a fresh framework for guiding the students they support.
Sponsors & Exhibitors
We are appreciative of our annual conference sponsors!
Become a GCC Annual Conference Sponsor!
There are many benefits to becoming a sponsor of the Graduate Career Consortium. This year, as a sponsor and exhibitor you have the opportunity to advertise not only during our multi-day conference but also have your company advertised on the GCC website and through our member-only listserv. See what are the way you can become a sponsor of the Graduate Career Consortium.Support the GCC Annual Conference? Become a sponsor!