Call for Submissions
Public and Nonprofit Division (PNP)
2026 Call for Professional Development Workshop (PDW) Proposals
Division PDW Chair: Kate Albrecht, University of Illinois Chicago
The Public and Nonprofit Division (PNP) invites Professional Development Workshop (PDW) proposals that are inclusive, interactive, and which enhance the skills of public and nonprofit scholars and practitioners.
Please submit your PDW proposals via the AOM Submission Center by the submission deadline of Tuesday, 13 January 2026 at 17:00 ET (UTC-5/GMT-5).
We especially welcome PDW workshops that leverage the unique nature of the Academy of Management meetings to enhance communication between Public and Nonprofit Division researchers and the broader community of management scholars. PDWs provide the opportunity to experiment with new models and ideas for sessions that do not fit within the confines of the regular program. However, if the primary purpose of your proposal is to gather scholars for a discussion, or to present theories, ideas, or concepts, a PDW is probably not the appropriate forum.
PDWs will be held in-person from Friday, 31 July 2026 through Sunday, 2 August 2026. There is limited space on the PDW program, so acceptance of proposals is competitive.
Questions to consider when proposing a PDW:
- Does the workshop offer a high quality and high-level learning experience that has a significant positive impact on the professional development of the participants?
- Does the workshop provide participants with a clear “take away” (e.g. learn new skill; develop a new research plan)?
- Does the workshop have a theme and a group of participants that will draw a strong audience regardless of competing sessions or scheduling restrictions?
- Does the workshop encourage multi-way conversation and interaction among participants from multiple divisions, disciplines, regions, career stages, or demographic backgrounds?
- Is the workshop interactive and inclusive?
Proposal Guidelines
PDW proposals must be a minimum of four (4) pages and must include and be organized in the following order:
- Page 1: Title page which contains:
- the Academy submission system-assigned 5-digit submission number
- title of the workshop (in Title Case)
- name of primary sponsor, and a list of other sponsors who might be interested in the workshop
- up to 250-word abstract of the workshop
- Page 2: One page explanation as to why the workshop should be of interest to the specified sponsor.
- Why is development of this skill, work product, or plan important to PNP members?
- Why do you believe this workshop will draw a strong audience regardless of competing sessions or scheduling restrictions?
- Will it draw participants from outside the division?
- Page 3: One page description of the workshop’s format.
- Cover the structure of the session and efforts that will be made to engage the audience.
- How will the audience engage in interactive activity during this workshop?
- How will it be inclusive?
- Please demonstrate why you believe this approach is pedagogically sound.
- In what ways will the proposed workshop encourage participation from a broad audience (or why is it appropriate to focus on a narrower audience, if applicable)
- How much time is needed and how will it be used?
- Page(s) 4-6: 1-3 page overview of the workshop.
- Clearly define the professional development objective.
- Expand on any areas of interest and format as needed.
- What skill, work product, or actionable plan will participants develop during the workshop?
- Provide short biographies (~125 words) of organizers and presenters.
Page format: Times New Roman 12-point font, Double spaced, 1-inch (2.5 cm) margin all around, 8.5″ × 11″ page setting.