WFAA Annual Conferences

October 21 - 23, 2026
Great Wolf Lodge
20500 Old Highway 99 SW
Grand Mound, WA 98579

WFAA CONFERENCE JUSTIFICATION LETTER

The WFAA Conference Planning Committee develops a robust schedule of presentations each year. The annual WFAA Conference provides valuable, up-to-date information vital to managing financial aid programs in Washington. Understanding that many institutions are struggling with budgetary concerns that may limit travel and professional development opportunities, we have created a letter template that can be personalized to help you justify your conference attendance to your institution's leadership.

Click to download the 2026 WFAA Conference Justification Letter

2026 CONFERENCE REGISTRATION FEES

We are pleased to offer affordable conference registration fees this year, as follows: Note: Conference registration fees listed below are only for admission to the conference and do not include or guarantee hotel accommodations. Prices below do not include the annual individual or institutional WFAA membership fees as detailed above for new or renewing members.

Early Bird - Current WFAA Members (including members who have institutional pricing): $235 per attendee
Current WFAA Members (including members who have institutional pricing): $260 per attendee
Early Bird - Current WFAA Members - Selected to Present a Breakout Session: $160 per speaker
Early Bird - Non-Members Not Seeking WFAA Membership: $280 per attendee
Non-Members Not Seeking WFAA Membership: $305 per attendee
Early Bird - 2026-27 Sponsor/Vendor Members: $835 for first attendee, $235 per additional attendee(s) - includes one $235 individual conference registration fee plus $600 vendor table fee.
2026-27 Sponsor/ Vendor Non-Members: $860 for the first attendee, $260 per additional attendee(s) - includes one $260 individual conference registration fee plus $600 vendor table fee.

2026 CONFERENCE REGISTRATION

Conference registration is open, register now!

Early-bird registration closes September 30, 2026. Registration closes October 14, 2026.

HOTEL BOOKING INFORMATION

Make the most out of your conference experience by staying on-site at Great Wolf Lodge.

Room Rate is $128/ night. Reserve your room today using WFAA's reservation code: 2610WFAA.

We recommend booking online at Great Wolf Lodge. Partial payment is required at time of booking.

Room booking includes water park passes, unlimited water park access, access to kids activities and unlimited WIFI resort wide.

Want to extend your stay and bring your family? A limited number of family rooms are available at the conference rate for Friday night. Be sure to reserve early to take advantage of this family-friendly opportunity.

CONFERENCE AGENDA

WFAA 2026 Tentative Agenda
October 21, 2026
9:00 - 11:00 am	FAC Business Meeting with CTC's (Community and Technical Colleges only)	Fallen Timbers
9:00 - 12:00 pm	Sponsor Setup	Chehalis Pre-Function
10:00 - 12:30 pm	Registration Table Open	Chehalis Pre-Function
11:00 - 12:00 pm	Newcomers Session with WFAA Executive Council	Chehalis Salon D/E
12:00 - 12:15 pm	Welcome from Incoming President	Chehalis ABC
12:15 - 2:00 pm	Welcome Luncheon	Chehalis ABC
1:00 - 2:00 pm	Keynote Speaker: Tyler Monk, The Underdog Mentality®	Chehalis ABC
2:00 - 2:15 pm	2026-2027 Student Scholarship Announcement by Lorena Saucedo	Chehalis ABC
2:15 - 2:30 pm	Transition
2:30 - 3:30 pm	True Colors - Building Emotionally Intelligent Teams by Dawn Cypriano-McAferty	Chehalis Salon F
2:30 - 3:30 pm	All About the WASFA Redesign by Leslie Gonzalez and Victor Fernandez	Chehalis Salon D/E
2:30 - 3:30 pm	Empower Your Students’ Futures: Navigating Parent PLUS and Private Education Loans with Confidence by Jeff Lackey	Fallen Timbers
3:30 - 4 pm	Sponsor Visit and Break	Chehalis Ballroom ABC
4 pm - 5 pm	Rise of the Pack: Every Step Counts with SAP by Jennifer Fetters	Chehalis Salon D/E
4 pm - 5 pm	Leading the Pack: Driving Change and Student Success Through Innovation by Victoria Hill and Ray Nault	Chehalis Salon F
4 pm - 5 pm	WSAC’s Behavioral Health Conditional Scholarship / Pipeline to Professional Mental Health Careers by Isabel Hernandez	Fallen Timbers
	Dinner on own

October 22, 2026
	Breakfast on Own
8:00 - 8:30 am	Networking and Sponsor Visit	Chehalis Ballroom ABC
8:30 - 9:30 am	WSAC Policy Update Presented by Marla Skelley	Chehalis Ballroom ABC
9:30 am - 10 am	WASFAA Update by WASFAA President Shellee Kilbride	Chehalis Ballroom ABC
10:00 - 10:45 am	Sponsor Visit and Break	Chehalis Ballroom ABC
10:45 - 11:45 am	WA Grant for Apprenticeship at CTC’s by Remy Plate, Stephanie Casino, and Elizabeth Moon	Fallen Timbers
10:45 - 11:45 am	Ghostbusters: No One Busts Alone by Melanie Ruiz and Michael Taing	Chehalis Salon D/E
10:45 - 11:45 am	The Incomplete Character Sheet: LinkedIn, Personal Brand, and Your Next Opportunity by Chantelle Isaacs	Chehalis Salon F
11:45 - 1:00 pm	Lunch & Networking	Chehalis Ballroom ABC
12:30 - 1:00 pm	Charity Spotlight: TOGETHER! Speakers Vanessa Hurst, Executive Director and Domenique Getchman, Development & Communications Manager	Chehalis Ballroom ABC
1:00 - 1:15 pm	Transition
1:15 - 2:15 pm	Effective Team Building: Using NASFAA Tools and Resources to Build Your Pack by Molly Walsh	Chehalis Salon D/E
1:15 - 2:15 pm	Empowering the Pack: Practical Strategies for Financial Aid Access and Student Success by Christina Winestead	Chehalis Salon F
1:15 - 2:15 pm	Building Student Resilience Through Psychologically Attuned Financial Aid Communication by Chantel Fields	Fallen Timbers
2:15 - 2:45 pm	Sponsor Visit and Break	Chehalis Ballroom ABC
2:45 - 3:45 pm	On the Bridge: Steering Social Media with Intention by Rosemary Martinez-Kepford	Chehalis Salon F
2:45 - 3:45 pm	OB3 Changes and SOR Calculations by Karen Martin-Brown	Chehalis Salon D/E
2:45 - 3:45 pm	SAVE Your Pack: Demystifying Non-Citizen Eligibility for Financial Aid by Erin West	Fallen Timbers
3:45 - 4:00 pm	Transition
4:00 - 5:00 pm	Making Financial Aid Student Friendly: Building a New Funding Navigation Program from Scratch by Ramon Jimenez, Moriah Shistle, Tsetsen Annurad, and Sean Coveny	Fallen Timbers
4:00 - 5:00 pm	Navigating Federal Loan Program changes for Graduate/Professional Programs by Lynette Splinter and Jennifer Young	Chehalis Salon F
4:00 - 5:00 pm	Leading with Excellence: Advancing Equity in Institutional SAP Policies and Procedures by Lorena Saucedo and Monserrat Vargas, WASFAA IDEEA	Chehalis Salon D/E
5:30 - 7:30 pm	President's Reception with Awards Ceremony and Silent Auction	Chehalis Pre-Function/Chehalis Ballroom

October 23, 2026
8:00 - 9:00 am	Breakfast and Networking	Chehalis Ballroom ABC
9:00 - 9:30 am	WFAA Business Meeting	Chehalis Ballroom ABC
9:30 - 10:30 am	Rise of the Pack: Around the Fire and Into the Future with Becky Thompson, Molly Walsh, and Melanie Ruiz	Chehalis Ballroom ABC
10:30 - 10:45 am	Break and Transition
10:45 - 11:45 am	NASFAA Inside the Beltway Update by Nalia Medina, NASFAA Associate Director of Government Relations	Chehalis Ballroom ABC
11:45 - 12 pm	Goodbyes

** This agenda is subject to change based on presenter availability.

SESSION DESCRIPTIONS

Full session descriptions can be found here.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Tyler Monk, The Underdog Mentality®

Tyler is bringing a talk built for this exact moment: Renewed for the Work: Resilience, Purpose, and the Power to Keep Showing Up. A first-generation college graduate and the founder of The Underdog Mentality, Tyler builds everything around one belief: an unwavering belief in self, despite the circumstances, conditions, and critics.

His keynote is about reconnecting to why we do this in the first place.

Expect to walk away thinking about:

Pushing through obstacles without losing sight of your purpose
Building resilience during seasons of change and uncertainty
Renewing your mindset so you can keep showing up for students
Reconnecting to the human impact behind the aid we award
Choosing perseverance, perspective, and possibility, even when the system feels heavy

If you've ever needed a reminder that the work matters and that you matter in it, this is your session.

CHARITY SPOTLIGHT

TOGETHER!

This year we're proud to rally behind TOGETHER!, a South Sound nonprofit that's been igniting change since 1989. Their mission hits close to home: advancing the health, education, and well-being of all students and families in Thurston County.

If you've ever wondered what happens upstream from your financial aid office, this is it. TOGETHER! meets kids and families where they are, with:

Club House, free before, after school, and summer programming, plus basic needs support like food, housing, and clothing
Community Schools, wraparound support (including homelessness prevention and rapid rehousing) that keeps students enrolled and on track
Host Homes, safe short-term housing for students facing housing instability, before it becomes chronic
Expanding Your Horizons, a STEAM conference that gets kids dreaming about what's possible

These are the students who become our students. Backing TOGETHER! means backing the whole journey, long before a FAFSA or WASFA ever gets filed.