Cal-ISBOA is all about connection: connection with a vibrant community of independent school business professionals who understand the shared challenges of conducting our unique work in our unique state and who commit to creating shared solutions, strategies, and supports for that work and each other. This commitment to connection and community is the focus all-day, everyday for the Cal-ISBOA Board, committees and staff, and we trust in the resources we deliver to members to strengthen these connections through in-person events, webinars, roundtables, and other virtual activities throughout the year.

Right: Attendees chat during the Facilities Workshop.

The Annual Conference and Workshops are a special moment in our yearly cycle at Cal-ISBOA. It's one of the few times our members can gather together to share in-person learning and face-to-face camaraderie, bringing this ever-present but abstract community network into tangible, visible focus. The relationships that are always with us, but not always active in our day-to-day, come back to life with hugs or handshakes exchanged, serendipitous conversations in the buffet line, and the shared experience of listening to a transformative keynote speaker.

Below: Attendees share a toast.

Each year, as we invite participants to give feedback on Cal-ISBOA’s annual events, we hear many preferences, recommendations, compliments, and new ideas through formal and informal channels. Talking with many of you over the past month, we are struck time and again by how deeply attendees value connecting and being able to gather with fellow California indy school business leaders.

We hope you’ve been hearing (and sharing) these positive reflections too! Not surprisingly, the results of our event evaluations mirror the anecdotal feedback we have received, underlining the central importance of being together: “connection with colleagues” was identified consistently as a single most valuable thing respondents got from their experience, and for two out of three events, this was also the highest occurring answer among respondents.

At our annual in-person events, we step away from our schools, out of our Zoom boxes, and into the unique shared space of our community, to get to know each other better as whole people and become better embedded and enmeshed in our helpful network of industry professionals. We reinforce the sense of community and belonging that fuels reciprocally beneficial relationships and exchange among our members through the year and into the future. Together, we are the infrastructure of that abstract community network that supports us all and our shared professional growth throughout the year when we’re spread across the state serving our more than 280 member schools.

Thank you for connecting with us and with each other throughout the year, and thank you for joining us at the 2025 Signature Spring Events in Berkeley! The magic of Cal-ISBOA lies in its members and in the connections they forge with one another, and we are grateful that YOU are part of that magic.