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Next GCDD Council Meeting: October 22-23, 2026 (Savannah)

Conference Support Funds

GCDD Conference Support Fund Ends

As the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) begins its new five-year strategic plan, we are saying goodbye to the Conference Support Fund. This fund was part of our last strategic plan, which ended on September 30, 2026. Our new plan began on October 1, 2026, and focuses on different priorities. As of October 1, 2026, GCDD no longer accepts applications for conference support funds. GCDD will continue to sponsor a small number of conferences that it selects. We are deeply thankful for everything this fund has helped make possible.

For many years, the Conference Support Fund helped organizations across Georgia hold conferences, meetings, and workshops for the developmental disability community. These events covered education, training, public policy, and advocacy. The fund paid for accessibility tools at events and for scholarships that helped people with developmental disabilities and their families attend.
During our last five-year strategic plan, the fund gave $32,300 through 16 grants to nine organizations across Georgia. These events helped people with developmental disabilities and their families learn, connect, and speak up for themselves and their communities.

We are grateful to every organization that partnered with us. Thank you for opening your doors wider and making sure more people could take part.

Organizations supported during our 2022–2027 strategic plan include:

  • Spectrum Autism Support Group: 2024 and 2025 Starshine Conferences, plus earlier support in 2022 and 2023
  • Georgia Budget & Policy Institute
  • Autism Improvised Conference
  • Synergies Works' 1st and 2nd Annual EDDIE Awards
  • Hamilton Children’s Institute’s North Georgia Autism Conference and the 10th Annual Northwest Georgia Autism Conference
  • University of Georgia Research Foundation’s Georgia Disability History Symposium (2025 and 2026) and the Georgia NDEAM Celebration
  • Georgia State University’s Georgia Association for Positive Behavior Support (GAPBS) Conference
  • Participant Directed Advocates of Georgia’s Leading Change: The Participant Directed Advocacy Forum
  • Georgia’s Developmental Disability Network’s Embracing Possibility: Georgia’s Disability Justice Journey Exhibit at the Harriet Tubman Museum

GCDD remains committed to full inclusion and accessibility for people with developmental disabilities. To learn about other ways to work with GCDD, visit gcdd.org or contact .