Why: Build the skills, knowledge, and relationships we will need to collaboratively envision and cultivate a healthier, more equitable, and regenerative future for our region.  

Where: Rochester Convention Center

When: Friday, April 4 - Saturday, April 5, 2025

Who: Representatives of organizations (Friday) and Concerned citizens (Saturday)

Day One – Friday 4/4 | 12:30pm - 5pm
12:30 Registration/Networking
1:00 Welcome and Opening Remarks
1:25 Speed Networking
1:40 Panel discussion: “How can organizations contribute to co-creating a better future for our region?”
2:10 Garth Fagan performance & interactive experience
2:30 Panel discussion: “Why and how should we pursue a collective impact approach?”
3:00 Topic-specific table discussions
3:50 Closing Remarks
4:00 Networking/Happy Hour
5:00 End

Saturday 4/20 | 8:30am - 4pm
8:30 Registration/Networking
9:00 Welcome and Opening Remarks
9:15 Keynote + Q&A w/Kit Miller (Director Emeritus, MK Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence and author, Culture Shift: Nonviolence at Work)
10:00 Big Questions Blitz
10:50 Break
11:00 Breakout Sessions #1
11:50 Lunch
12:45 Breakout Sessions #2
1:35 Break
1:45 Breakout Sessions #3
2:35 Better Futures Fair
4:00 End

Breakout Sessions

#1

  • Think Like an Organizer (panel discussion)

  • Intro to Nonviolent Communication

  • Lobbying 101

  • Caring for Land (panel discussion)

  • Intro to Systems Thinking

  • Processing Our Predicament: An Intro to Climate Psychology

#2

  • Base-Building, Member Recruitment, and Leadership Development

  • Interactive communications workshop pt. 1

  • NYS Climate Policies and Politics (panel discussion)

  • Caring for Air (panel discussion)

  • Intro to Regenerative Economics

  • Honoring Our Pain for the World: A Shared Experience

#3

  • Campaign Planning and Power Mapping

  • Interactive communications workshop pt. 2

  • Zoning and Land Use: Why it Matters and How to Make Change (panel discussion)

  • Caring for Water (panel discussion)

  • Educating the Next Generation of Climate Stewards (panel discussion)

  • Cultivating Hope, Courage, and Vision

Breakout Sessions #1

Breakout Sessions #2

Breakout Sessions #3

Program Advisory Committee

Rachel Betts - Greater Rochester Health Foundation
Monica Brown - Greater Rochester Health Foundation
Sheila Carpenter - Connected Communities
Dina Faticone - Common Ground Health
Dr. Gerry Gacioch - Rochester Regional Health
Dr. Sandy Jee - URMC / Finger Lakes Children's Environmental Health Center
Annette Jimenez Gleason - RACF
Aqua Porter - RMAPI
Mary Zelazny - Finger Lakes Community Health