About Us

Colorful abstract pattern with streaks of pink, yellow, and orange.

Our History

Abstract digital artwork with horizontal lines in teal, blue, purple, and turquoise colors.

Convening Toward Liberation (CTL) was founded in 2023 by Katie Battis-Troyer and Ryan Kroening. Longtime collaborators, they merged their former event companies—Claim Our Space (Katie) and Events by Lady K (Ryan)—to create something more powerful than either could alone.

As CTL, we join a long lineage of people who’ve used gatherings to shift power and center care. We are proud to carry that legacy forward. From kitchen tables to keynote stages, from freedom schools to ballroom battles, from backyard teach-ins to multi-day conferences, we gather like our people always have. We bring people together across movements to celebrate, to remember, to create, to resist, and to make liberation real.

Our team of professionals believe events should be inclusive spaces.

A stylized yellow crescent moon surrounded by blue and purple clouds on a white background.
Person wearing a pink blazer and black top, sitting on a gray chair with their hands resting on the armrest, smiling at the camera with long earrings and colorful jewelry, against a dark blue background.
A person with long hair, glasses, and a beard, smiling while sitting at a wooden table. They are wearing a bright blue blazer with a colorful pin on the lapel and a black shirt underneath.
A person with glasses and dark hair styled in braids, smiling, wearing a white blouse with a butterfly brooch and a green sweater with a bee pin, against a blue background.
A smiling person with colorful hair, glasses, and earrings, wearing a black blazer over a patterned dress, standing against a dark blue background.
A person with shoulder-length reddish-brown hair, wearing a black shirt, smiling, against a dark teal background.
A person with curly hair wearing a pink satin blouse, smiling, seated against a blue background.

Cassie Zawilski
(she/her)
Inclusive Events Director

Olivia Farley
(she/her)
Inclusive Events Manager

A person with dark hair, wearing pink eyeshadow and a purple shirt with a leaf pattern, sitting against a dark teal background with her hand resting on her neck, looking at the camera.
Illustration showing a cloud computing system with a cloud icon interconnected with a server icon, and data flow arrows between them.

Wainani Paikai
(she/her)
Inclusive Senior Events Manager

Ryan Kroening
(they/them & he/him)
Co-founder

Katie Battis-Troyer
(she/her)
Co-Founder

Becky Saltzman
(she/her)
Hospitality &
Accessibility Director

Sesalli Castillo
(she/they)
 Inclusive Senior Events Manager

Black Abstract Lines
Black Abstract Lines

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