Learn more about Summit 2026 by registering for our webinar on February 19 at 12 PM PT.
Dear friends,
We speak often about the fact that our ancestors paid the price for us to be here, and that honoring them does not mean reverence alone. It means being audacious enough to take on the work that is being asked of our generation. We are watching people rise to that call in cities across the nation. We are holding grief and heaviness alongside love and awe — and with them, an important reminder. This is the antidote to the tension surfaced in our 2025 survey: while more people reported wanting a democracy that includes us all and a nation that cares for all, belief was eroding — in our institutions, and even in the power of We the People — that we can make that future real. Both now and throughout history, at moments when grief and resolve coexisted, groups stepped forward to do what institutions could not yet do. They named what was missing. They moved the country toward its highest ideals. They gave structure to hope. To ground this reflection, we turned to materials prepared by staff at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard Kennedy School. The following examples draw from those materials and trace moments that have shaped the nation’s trajectory: At Seneca Falls in 1848, roughly 300 people gathered to establish a framework that reshaped women’s rights organizing for generations. The convention issued the Declaration of Sentiments, which provided a template for claims-making, while also establishing a precedent for national women’s rights conventions. In 1962, roughly 60 students convened in Port Huron, Michigan, to name a new political generation and articulate a different democratic ideal. The Port Huron Statement shaped movements for participatory democracy, as well as democratic theory, for decades. Between 1974 and 1980, a group of 10 to 20 Black women met regularly in Boston as part of the Combahee River Collective. They published The Combahee River Collective Statement in 1977, articulating a foundational analysis: that systems of oppression are interlocking, and that Black women’s liberation requires addressing all simultaneously. That analysis reshaped movements, scholarship, and understandings of intersectionality for decades to come. In 1991, more than 650 delegates gathered in Washington, D.C., at the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit. The Principles of Environmental Justice that emerged functioned as a foundational text for a new movement — linking environmental protection to human rights, self-determination, labor, health, and democracy — and continue to guide work around the world.
Understanding that every generation is called to leave its mark, we asked what ours should be. Our answer is to design our upcoming Summit as its own catalytic moment where people can come together to advance the deep, foundational changes required for a nation that finally governs for all. Together, we will reshape history.
We invite you to join us for a webinar on Thursday, February 19, at 12 PM PT, to learn more about the opportunity that the Summit is being curated to create, and how it will support the work that this generation is being called to.
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Learn more about Summit 2026 by registering for our webinar on February 19 at 12 PM PT.
Dear friends,
We speak often about the fact that our ancestors paid the price for us to be here, and that honoring them does not mean reverence alone. It means being audacious enough to take on the work that is being asked of our generation. We are watching people rise to that call in cities across the nation. We are holding grief and heaviness alongside love and awe — and with them, an important reminder. This is the antidote to the tension surfaced in our 2025 survey: while more people reported wanting a democracy that includes us all and a nation that cares for all, belief was eroding — in our institutions, and even in the power of We the People — that we can make that future real. Both now and throughout history, at moments when grief and resolve coexisted, groups stepped forward to do what institutions could not yet do. They named what was missing. They moved the country toward its highest ideals. They gave structure to hope. To ground this reflection, we turned to materials prepared by staff at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard Kennedy School. The following examples draw from those materials and trace moments that have shaped the nation’s trajectory: At Seneca Falls in 1848, roughly 300 people gathered to establish a framework that reshaped women’s rights organizing for generations. The convention issued the Declaration of Sentiments, which provided a template for claims-making, while also establishing a precedent for national women’s rights conventions. In 1962, roughly 60 students convened in Port Huron, Michigan, to name a new political generation and articulate a different democratic ideal. The Port Huron Statement shaped movements for participatory democracy, as well as democratic theory, for decades. Between 1974 and 1980, a group of 10 to 20 Black women met regularly in Boston as part of the Combahee River Collective. They published The Combahee River Collective Statement in 1977, articulating a foundational analysis: that systems of oppression are interlocking, and that Black women’s liberation requires addressing all simultaneously. That analysis reshaped movements, scholarship, and understandings of intersectionality for decades to come. In 1991, more than 650 delegates gathered in Washington, D.C., at the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit. The Principles of Environmental Justice that emerged functioned as a foundational text for a new movement — linking environmental protection to human rights, self-determination, labor, health, and democracy — and continue to guide work around the world.
Understanding that every generation is called to leave its mark, we asked what ours should be. Our answer is to design our upcoming Summit as its own catalytic moment where people can come together to advance the deep, foundational changes required for a nation that finally governs for all. Together, we will reshape history.
We invite you to join us for a webinar on Thursday, February 19, at 12 PM PT, to learn more about the opportunity that the Summit is being curated to create, and how it will support the work that this generation is being called to.
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Today, we honor all those who came before us, and we honor each of you who are answering this moment to claim responsibility for our communities and what comes next. No matter the headwinds, we will continue to compel this nation to become everything it can be for all. Like those who came before us, we know a different possibility can be enacted. With love for all, and a steely resolve, we will collectively continue to advance the unfinished business of this nation — until it sees, serves, and honors all. In solidarity, Michael and Ashleigh |
Today, we honor all those who came before us, and we honor each of you who are answering this moment to claim responsibility for our communities and what comes next. No matter the headwinds, we will continue to compel this nation to become everything it can be for all. Like those who came before us, we know a different possibility can be enacted. With love for all, and a steely resolve, we will collectively continue to advance the unfinished business of this nation — until it sees, serves, and honors all. In solidarity, Michael and Ashleigh |
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| Register for Summit 2026August 24-28, 2026 I Washington D.C. Area
In case you missed it, we extended the early bird discount for registration. We encourage you to register as soon as possible, as individual registration discounts are only available through March 31.
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Register for Summit 2026August 24-28, 2026 I Washington D.C. Area
In case you missed it, we extended the early bird discount for registration. We encourage you to register as soon as possible, as individual registration discounts are only available through March 31.
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