CMCA Conference at a glance

Registration is now open for OCSEA's annual Minority and Community Affairs Committee (CMCA) Conference, which will take place on Saturday March 7, 2025, with a pre-conference social event, contract trainings and early conference check-in on Friday, March 6. The conference will take place at The Embassy Suites, 5800 Rockside Woods Rd., Independence, Ohio 44131.

Evening-before conference registration and events will take place on Friday evening, March 6 starting at 5:30 p.m. through 9:00 p.m. at the hotel. This includes two options: Steward Training (Basic or Advanced) from 6-9 p.m. or the "Boots on the Ground" Reception with line dancing from 7:30-9:00 p.m.

The full CMCA conference will begin Saturday morning at the hotel with breakfast, guest speakers and lunch. The event will include vendor shopping as well. View the official CMCA Conference Call Letter here. The CMCA Conference Call was mailed to all chapter, district council and assembly presidents in January 2026.

The conference theme is "From Grassroots to Greatness,” focusing on labor and political action from the ground up.

Registration

Click HERE for the registration form. The deadline to register for the conference is March 1, 2026.

The CMCA Conference registration fee is $100 per OCSEA member. Breakfast and lunch on Saturday are included in the cost of registration for members attending. Payment must accompany the completed and returned registration form.

RETURN registration forms and payment to:
ATTN: CMCA Conference 2026, Jennifer Walsh
OCSEA, 390 Worthington Rd. Suite A,
Westerville, OH 43082

No refunds will be issued after the March 1, 2026 registration deadline.

Special Requests and Accommodations

Extra Meals

If you need to purchase extra meals for the conference, indicate on the registration form. Payment must be included at the time of registration. The cost of extra meals, including kid meals, are printed on the registration form. Extra meals must be purchased by the March 1 deadline and should be included with your payment. Extra meals purchases WILL NOT be permitted at the conference.

Tentative Agenda

Hotel

All CMCA Conference events will take place at The Embassy Suites Hotel -Independence, 5800 Rockside Woods Rd., Independence, Ohio 44131. The cutoff date for hotel reservations is February 13, 2026. The discounted rate is $124.00 per night.

Room reservations must be made directly through the hotel:

• Website: https://www.hilton.com/en/attend-my-event/ocseamarch2026conference/
• Central Reservations Phone Number: 800-315-1185
  Group Name:  OCSEA 2026
  Group Code:  90Y

Paying by check? If mailing a chapter check to the hotel for overnight rooms, please note "OCSEA CMCA 2025 Conference" in the check memo. Include a list of all names for the overnights and their contact information. The hotel must receive the check ten (10) days in advance and WILL NOT be accepted upon arrival. Hotel reservations must be cancelled by February 27, 2026, for refunds. 

The cut-off date for room reservations is February 13, 2026. Rooms WILL NOT be guaranteed at this special rate after the cut-off date.

Contact

Have questions about the conference? Contact Angela Harrington at aharrington@ocsea.org or 614-508-2247 OR Jennifer Walsh at jwalsh@ocsea.org at 614-865-2605.

Speakers

Ronald Hickman, PhD, 
Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing,
Case Western Reserve University

Dr. Ronald Hickman is the Dean and Ruth M. Anderson Endowed Chair at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University. He is a registered nurse and a board-certified acute care nurse practitioner who has provided care for patients undergoing general and cardiothoracic surgery, and patients in the intensive care unit. As a nurse scientist, Dr. Hickman is nationally known for his pioneering work focused on technology-based solutions to improve chronic disease self-management and end-of-life care.

Dr. Hickman's research and innovative training programs have received prestigious funding from the National Institutes of Health and foundations, and his impact on nursing and health care has been significant. In 2020, he became the second nurse scientist to be named an Emerging Leader in Health Medicine by the National Academy of Medicine. He is an inductee in Sigma Theta Tau’s International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame and holds many of nursing’s top professional honors.

Dr. Hickman’s impact is not constrained to his research and scholarship. He is a sought-after mentor and his dedication to mentoring students has earned him the J. Bruce Jackson, MD Award for excellence in undergraduate mentoring and the John S. Diehkoff Award for excellence in graduate mentoring––two of CWRU’s highest honors.

Patricia Burdock,
Exodus Family Foundation, Inc.

Mrs. Patricia Burdock is the Founder and Director of Exodus Family Foundation Inc., which includes the Learning About Me (LAM) Mentoring Program serving families in the greater Cleveland area.

Patricia retired from the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation after 31 years of service. She was involved and passionate about her union, OCSEA, serving as Chapter 1810 President, Vice President, 2nd Vice President, District 7 delegate and DGC committee member, BWC Assembly board member, PEOPLE Ambassador and an AFSCME Organizer.

After her service with the State of Ohio concluded, she went on to pursue her passion full time, working with young women and families in the Cleveland community in which she grew up. She has experienced the personal rewards and fulfillment of mentorship and serving the communities with a passionate heart by providing and supporting their needs. Her Foundation was born in 2017, providing families with resources to build healthy, strong and successful family units. She and her staff believe the LAM mentoring program will empower young women to realize their God-given potential and provide spiritual, emotional, social, educational and physical growth.

Patricia currently resides in Olmsted Falls, Ohio, with her husband Anthony and her 2-year-old Labradoodle Blaze. She has 3 sons and is the proud grandmother of eight grandchildren.

Brian Pearson,
Executive Secretary,
North Shore AFL-CIO

Brian Pearson is the North Shore AFL-CIO Executive Secretary, having been elected in 2024. He is a native of the Youngstown area. Before joining the North Shore AFL-CIO, he spent eight years as a firefighter/paramedic with the City of Girard, Ohio, where he also served as Secretary-Treasurer and then President of IAFF Local 1220.

Along with his work as a local union leader, Brian served on the Legislative Committee of the Ohio Association of Professional Fire Fighters (OAPFF), where he lobbied at the Ohio Statehouse for pro-worker and pro-firefighters policies. Before that, he was a member and Trustee of AFSCME Local 765. He remains a dues-paying IAFF member and is a member of OPEIU Local 1794.

Brian has a bachelor's degree in American History and holds a Masters of Public Administration from Ohio University. His wife, Samantha, and their two children live in Shaker Heights, Ohio.