Save the Date!
The 2023 Grand Rapids Neighborhood Summit is happening Saturday, May 20, 2023 and you're invited to attend.
Mark your calendars, follow us on Facebook GRNeighborhoodSummit and stay tuned for registrations and details to come!
What is Summit?
The Grand Rapids Neighborhood Summit is a transformational day-long learning experience centered around Summit’s core values of resident voice and racial equity. Summit brings Grand Rapids residents and stakeholders together to learn, strategize and connect to strengthen neighborhoods and belonging in community, with the overall goal to make Grand Rapids a more equitable place for all to live, work and play.
This year’s theme is Your City, Your Voice: Co-Creating Belonging with Workshops aligning to topics on belonging and inclusion, design work, and community collaboration to address issues affecting our City. This theme was inspired in part by our community’s desire to have our voices heard and work together with political actors to create everlasting change.
Summit features an opening keynote presentation; several workshop options; lunch and lunchtime activities such as a fun photo booth, Zumba, yoga and several thoughtfully curated community resource tables; recognition of Grand Rapids residents for their leadership with Neighborhood Match Fund projects, Anishinaabe opening and closing drum presentation, a Community Celebration to end the day with everyone who makes Summit special – attendees, volunteers, and sponsors featuring free food, music, and new this year a marketplace to support local vendors co-hosted by BIPOC Night Market.
Summit continues to be one of the most diverse learning events in Grand Rapids across race, ethnicity, gender identity, and age, and appreciation for this inclusive space consistently ranks as one of the top themes of event evaluations each year. Summit brings people together from all walks of life, lived experience, 33 neighborhoods and from so many different sectors ranging from corporations to grassroots movements, from early childhood to higher education, from government and business to nonprofits.
To maintain that energy and be safe, we will host approximately 400 in-person attendees. There will not be a fully online option, however, some Workshops may choose to host online activities. Additional 2023 highlights include Spanish Workshops, childcare for zero- to five-year-olds, Kids Summit for six- to 12-year-olds, a Teen Track for kids 13+, and a celebration with the BIPOC Night Market at Clemente Park featuring diverse community vendors, free food, and music.
Grand Rapids Neighborhood Summit Saturday, May 20, 2023
GRCC Leslie E. Tassel M-TEC
BIPOC Night Market immediately following until 7 p.m.
Tentative Schedule for Saturday, May 20, 2023
• 8:00 a.m. Check-In, Community Resource Tables, Breakfast snacks
• 9:00 a.m. Opening Anishinaabe Presentation and Welcome; Overview of Day
• 9:45 a.m. Keynote Presentation
• 10:30 – 11:30 a.m. Workshops
• 11:30 a.m. Lunch, Community Resource Tables & Activities
• 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. Workshops
• 1:45 – 2:45 p.m. Workshops
• 3:00 p.m. Resident Leadership Recognition, Raffles and Closing Remarks
• 3:45 p.m. Closing Anishinaabe Presentation
• 4 p.m. – 7 p.m. Community Celebration featuring BIPOC Night Market
Registration
Stay tuned for the #2023GRSummit registration!
What others are saying about Summit
- “Very diverse! I am hardly ever in such a diverse setting and wish it happened all the time!”
- “I liked that it gave me lots of ideas and resources I can use for my family.”
- “It was awesome…inspirational and informational!”
- “Kids Summit was a great option because it enabled me to attend.”
Learn More
Want to learn more? Watch this video from a previous Summit!