Highlighter presents
Advocate to Advocate
Five conversations about the parts of advocacy nobody trained you for. Free, monthly, and led by Carly Hughes of Behind Behaviors and sponsored by Highlighter.
Starts Tuesday, September 8 at 11:30 AM ET.
Advocates need support too.
You know IDEA. You know what a defensible evaluation looks like and when a district is stalling. Nobody taught you how to tell a parent that what they want and what the district will actually agree to are two different things, and how to say it in a way that keeps them with you. Nobody taught you what to do when the intake system you built for six families falls apart at fifteen.
Advocate to Advocate is five monthly conversations about that half of the job, hosted by Carly Hughes of Behind Behaviors, an advocacy and consulting practice in Maryland that serves families across the country. Each session she opens up one piece of how she runs it, then opens the floor. The advocates doing this work well are not doing it alone.
Dates and topics
September 8, 2026: Finding Your Identity as an Advocate
What kind of advocate are you, what do you charge for it, and how do you say that number out loud without your voice changing. The identity question sitting underneath every business decision you make.
October 6, 2026: Establishing Client Priorities and Managing Expectations
The conversation where you tell a parent no. Separating what a family wants from what a district will actually agree to, and delivering that in a way that keeps the family with you.
November 3, 2026: Building Systems That Scale
The system that worked at six families and broke at fifteen. Organizing your practice, managing records, tracking clients, and the tools that hold up when your caseload doubles.
December 1, 2026: The Client Journey, From Inquiry to Ongoing Support
What happens between the first email and the first meeting. Intake, onboarding, scope, and the handoffs where good practices quietly lose people.
January 5, 2027: Navigating Challenging Team Dynamics
When the hard part is not the district. Difficult IEP teams, difficult colleagues, and the moments the room turns and you still have a job to do.
Your Host
Carly Hughes
.webp)
Carly Hughes is a special education consultant, advocate, educator, and founder of Behind Behaviors Educational Consulting, where she supports families navigating complex special education needs and leads a team of educational consultants and advocates.
With a background in special education and behavior intervention across elementary, middle, and high school settings, Carly brings both an educator’s perspective and the real-world experience of building and running an advocacy practice.
She is especially passionate about the practice of advocacy—the skills that extend beyond knowing special education law. Her approach emphasizes critical thinking, thoughtful communication, professional boundaries, sustainable systems, and helping families become informed and empowered participants in the IEP process.
Carly believes that advocacy is contextual: there is rarely one script, strategy, or “right” approach for every situation. Through Advocate 2 Advocate, she hopes to create a space where new and experienced advocates can learn from one another, challenge their thinking, and continue strengthening their practice.
FAQ
What does it cost?
Nothing. Registration is free. Highlighter covers the cost of running the series.
Do I have to attend all five?
No. Register once and pick the sessions you want. Every session is recorded and the recording goes to everyone who registered, whether or not you made it live.
Who is this for?
Practicing special education advocates, whether you took your first client last month or your two hundredth last week. Newer advocates get the map. Experienced advocates get a room full of people who already understand the problem.
What actually happens in a session?
Sessions run Tuesdays at 11:30 AM ET for about an hour on Google Meet, and you will get the link by email beforehand. Carly opens with fifteen or twenty minutes on the topic, then it turns into a conversation. Bring a real question.