Past Summits

ANNUAL SUMMIT

Thank you for a wonderful 2023 Summit!

See all the Summit photos here.

View the 2023 Summit recordings here (YouTube)

We all need connection to other people. The recent public health crisis and our growing divisiveness have made it harder to support and maintain these connections. But it is possible to create buildings, communities, and transportation systems that make connections easier.

We invite you to come share strategies and inspire actions that support human connection for your community and to Maine.

The Venue. Join us in Waterville, our host community for the next three years. The Summit will be held at the beautiful Waterville Opera House and in the adjacent Paul J. Schupf Art Center. Local walking tours and the location of the post-Summit reception will be announced soon.

City Experience Walking Tours

Riverwalk Tour led by Peter Garrett, Founder, Kennebec Messalonskee Trail System and local Rotarian. This tour will feature open and green spaces that are meant to connect people to Waterville’s natural resources and will include the Head of Falls, 2-Cent bridge, Scott Park.

Downtown Tour led by Garvan Donegan, Director of Planning, Innovation, & Economic Development: This tour will highlight new spaces and describe plans for future development in downtown Waterville that encourage people to gather and connect.

Art & Cultural Tour led by Shannon Haines, Executive Director, Waterville Creates: This tour will highlight downtown Waterville and Colby College’s investment in designing creative and cultural spaces for people to gather and will feature Downtown Waterville Art’s Walk and the Paul J. Schupf Art Center

Community and Student Spaces Tour led by Tammy Rabideau, Executive Director, Waterville Library: Public libraries are critical spaces for convening and frequently stand alone in many communities as a gathering place. College dormitories allow for social exchange in a casual setting. Visit the Waterville Library and the Alfond Commons student dormitory for Colby College to see how the spaces are designed and used to connect the community and students.

2023 KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

DOWNLOAD A PDF OF OUR SUMMIT PROGRAM HERE

Jeremy Nobel, M.D., MPH, is the founder and president of The Foundation for Art & Healing, whose signature initiative, Project UnLonely, addressing the personal and public health challenges of loneliness and social isolation, has gained national visibility. Nobel is a primary-care physician, public health practitioner, and award-winning poet with faculty appointments at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Harvard Medical School. Each Summit registrant will receive a copy of Nobel’s book, author of Project UnLonely: Healing Our Crisis of Disconnection.

Jane Lafleur is principal of Jane Lafleur Consultants, the founder of The Community Institute, and a Community Heart & Soul coach working with small cities and towns across the US. Jane Lafleur Consultants provides community development, planning, citizen engagement and civic leadership training and educational programs throughout Maine and the US. Her work includes community facilitation, town planning, walkability and place-making training and audits and other community assessments, as well as coaching Community Heart & Soul teams through the two-year community development process. Before retiring in the beginning of 2023, she was the Senior Director of Market Development at Community Heart & Soul, a resident-driven process that engages the entire population of a town in identifying what they love most about their community, what future they want for it, and how to achieve it. Previously, she served for 13 years as the Executive Director of Friends of Midcoast Maine, a regional smart growth organization. Lafleur was named Professional Planner of the Year by the Maine Association of Planners and the Northern New England Chapter of APA. She graduated from the University of Maine and holds a master’s degree in City and Regional Planning from Harvard University.

DOWNLOAD OUR 2023 ANNUAL REPORT