2025 ACSA Lead With Pride Summit

Over the last decade of LGBTQ+ activism within the Castro Valley Unified School District—through GSAs, alliances, educational programming, marches, community events, school murals, and more—students have remained not only the powerhouse of the movement, but the primary beneficiary of the changes brought about. Through a sustained and concerted effort; teachers, staff, families, and community members have assumed the roles of essential stakeholders in this district-based activism, and together they have provided and will continue to provide the building blocks necessary for the creation of a safer and more supportive environment—not just on campus, but throughout the wider Castro Valley community. This presentation will provide a summary and tour of Castro Valley Unified School District’s “LGBTQ+ Thrive Guide,” a written toolkit detailing the history of Castro Valley and its many LGBTQ+ initiatives with the intent to offer other school districts seeking to better support their LGBTQ+ community a framework for action and ideas to pull inspiration from. The guide is rich in resources, case studies, best practices, advice, examples, explanations, and templates to better support every stakeholder at every step of the work.