Conference Highlights
In our pursuit to provide attendees with an educational, engaging experience in service innovation, we have some exciting evolutions in Conference programming for 2012. We have created new opportunities for intimate, thought-provoking conversations about national service, social entrepreneurship and hands-on action.
14 tracks and more than 100 workshops to choose from
- Business
- Digital Mobilization
- Economic Development
- Emergency Preparedness and Response
- Environmental Sustainability
- Excellence in Education
- Faith and Neighborhoods
- Health and Wellness
- National Service Programs
- Nonprofit Capacity Building
- Service Innovation
- Veterans and Military Families
- Volunteer Management
- Youth Leadership
Three General Sessions
Opening
The opening plenary presents a unique opportunity to hear from and engage with national leaders in a dynamic forum that will address the role volunteerism plays in our national agenda.
Join Points of Light and invited guests Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, bipartisan leaders, thought leaders and personalities across multiple sectors, as well as celebrities and renowned entertainers.
Join the conversation and demonstrate the importance of service by:
- Building local capacity
- Creating stronger, healthier, more economically sound communities
- Achieving better educational outcomes
- Supporting environmental sustainability
- Preparing for and responding to disasters
- Supporting military families and veterans
Education
The education plenary will provide concise framing of the nation's education crisis and demonstrate ways that individuals and institutions are leveraging the power of people to create better learning environments, improve children's readiness for school, meet attendance challenges and address summer learning loss. Attendees will leave the session inspired and equipped with new ideas and tools that are replicable in local communities.
Join U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, invited speakers General Colin and Alma Powell and others who will share the biggest needs they have identified in their work and the action steps we can take to support a comprehensive strategy that increases graduation rates and improved students' academic performance.
Closing
To wrap up our time together, we will celebrate volunteerism and service and be inspired to extend our reach in 2013 and leave a greater impact.
Three Super Sessions
Aligned with a key issue area, Super Sessions build on the strengths of their renowned speakers and can take the form of a panel, conversation, TEDx-like series of mini-keynotes, film screening or moderated discussion.
Sessions include:
National Service 3.0
American policymakers are considering a proposal that would zero out funding for the Corporation for National and Community Service, eliminating initiatives like AmeriCorps, RSVP, Foster Grandparents, Learn & Service America and the Social Innovation Fund. Whatever the outcome of this debate, this uncertainty creates a unique opportunity to disrupt the status quo and think critically about the role that national service plays in mobilizing community volunteers.
Communities and organizations may realize new, better ways of doing things and create a fresh strategy for the next generation of national service in America. Join a provocative dialogue where revolutionary ideas will be debated to inform the next iteration of national service.
Service and Civics in a Difficult Economy
With journalist Isabel Wilkerson
At a time of global disruption and civic unrest, with economic challenges becoming increasingly difficult for a growing segment of the population — and no easy or costless policy solutions — the role that service and civics play in rebuilding our societies requires re-engineering. There is a growing service movement that blurs the line between the corporate world and the nonprofit sector. Social innovators are creating new hybrid organizations and piloting new ways to help people channel their creativity for economic and social good. Join us for a discussion on how service and civics join together during this difficult economic downturn.
People. Power. Change.
With Craig Newmark of Craigslist and David Armano of Edelman Digital
Central to all progressive service movements is the belief that people do not have to wait for change from the top down — they can be catalysts for change from the bottom up. Historically, many social activists came from working class backgrounds and possessed the courage and skill to organize others, risking great personal sacrifice and danger.
Today, technology is revolutionizing how we channel the collective power of people. It's now easier to bring people together around an issue. The volunteer sector is lean and nimble, able to rapidly deploy people and organizations to take action around an issue. In "People. Power. Change." we will explore the convergence between technology and social movements to create a deeper understanding of how to deploy volunteers to act for the good of communities.
10 Civic Fellows Sessions
Intimate dialogue with sector leaders.
Solution Centers
Experiential discussions in a casual setting with industry experts in the areas of economic stability and financial literacy, early childhood education and service-learning, environmental sustainability and emergency preparedness.
Welcome to Chicago Celebration
Exhibit hall festival where attendees will experience Chicago with mini-service events, sponsor booths, activities, regional bands and famous Chicago cuisine.
Community Service Project
A major project based on the city's service priorities.
Sunday Supper
The event is inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s vision of a "beloved community" where brotherhood is a reality that does not allow poverty, hunger or homelessness to exist.
Invited guests Rev. Otis Moss III from the Trinity United Church of Christ; Eboo Patel, founder and president of the Interfaith Youth Core and other faith leaders will join in dialogue and dinner to talk about the opportunity Dr. King's message represents in our communities and why it is more pertinent today than ever before.
Military Community Blueprint for Change Summit
With approximately 3,000 veterans and military families separating from active duty daily, there exists a gap that can only be filled by more focused planning and volunteer coordination at the community level.
Join General George W. Casey, former chief of staff of the U.S. Army, invited guest Illinois Governor Pat Quinn and others to learn how a network of connected organizations can create solutions and systems that fill service gaps, leverage community assets and increase the coordination and delivery of effective services to better serve with and for veterans, service members and their families.
The workshops and Super Sessions during the 2012 conference will focus on inspiring, equipping and mobilizing 21st century volunteers to give their time, money and voice to create change in their communities.
