Activating the power of community
In 2021 we focused on four programs: (1) Summit Fellows (2) Summit Impact Labs
(3) Summit Community Programming and (4) a special Community Design Series.
Read more about our featured 2021 programs below!
Summit Fellows Program
Supporting a collective of rising global change leaders
About Summit Fellows Program
The 2019 cohort of Summit Fellows helped us reimagine how we might thoughtfully support entrepreneurs. We listened deeply, and learned more about how Summit Fellows like to engage with community members. We piloted new methods and found successful formats for Fellows to make deeper connections and learn more tactical skills.
Meet the Summit Fellows
Here are a few of the talented people who have joined us as Fellows:
Summit Fellows Program
2019 - 2021
The Summit Fellows 2019 Cohort completed a 2-year program designed to foster relationships with Summit’s community of global leaders. Outcomes ranged from seed investments to mentorship to new partnerships. Over the course of the last two years, core program elements included:
● Participation in Summit’s Flagship Event: LA19
● Participation in the Summit Young World Leaders [2]virtual event
● Curated mentorship pairing program
● Shared learning including year-round Masterclasses, "Zummits," and Office Hours [3]
● 1:1 Introductions and ongoing opportunities for connecting with community members around the world
● The Sorenson Impact Curriculum to develop tactical skills in storytelling, fundraising, measurement and evaluation, and building to scale
2021 Program Highlights
Stay tuned for our full program summary report after the final event with this cohort in 2022!
The Future for Fellows Alumni
While we will still have a final touchpoint with all Fellows at an event in 2022, this Summit Fellows cohort formally came to a close in September of 2021 as originally planned. We hope that the Fellowship proves to be just the beginning of the Fellows tenure as Summit Impact community members.
We have launched an Alumni Steering Committee[4] with seven Summit Fellows to help guide our next steps and build a wise foundation for the growth of the community.
Words of our Summit Fellows
In the News
Introducing Summit Impact Labs:
Our Evolved Fellowship Program
A community-powered approach to scaling social good
What are Summit Impact Labs?
Impact Labs gather social change leaders and Summit Impact community members to collaborate year-round. Each lab focuses on a cause-area, is centered around a cohort of 4-6 Summit Fellows, and is designed to achieve specific objectives.With the support of a dedicated council of 6-10 field experts and cross-industry leaders and the extended network of the Summit Impact community, each Lab uses an ecosystem approach to scale social good.
Criminal Justice Lab
Accelerating solutions for criminal justice reform
Building on previous criminal justice programs, the Summit Impact Criminal Justice Lab was launched to accelerate solutions for community safety and criminal justice reform, to create a more free and just society.
Click these binks below to check out our
Criminal Justice Lab Fellows[5] & Leadership Council Members.[6]
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Program Highlights
The central components of our Criminal Justice Lab include:
● Launch Events, Town Halls, and Community Gatherings
● Quarterly Projects that build a team of community members to work with each Fellow
● Monthly Progress Check Ins
● Ongoing Strategic Introductions
Check out below a sample of quarterly projects from the Criminal Justice Lab in 2021–
Mike & Pete: LA Community Engagement
To support Fellows Pete and Mike and the innovative Ecohoods project to provide sustainable housing in LA, Summit Impact hosted a dinner at LA CAN with Summit community members. From rooftop toasts to deep dinner-table discussions to live poetry, it was a beautiful night of connection, learning, and committing to a better future.
Cristine’s Creative Design Sprint
To help Cristine and the Prosecutor's Alliance build a new brand and marketing strategy, Summit Impact hosted a series of facilitated design sessions with community experts.
Special thanks to community facilitator David DeMember, and community participants Jenna Green, Colette Kessler, and Allison Mahoney!
Artie’s Production Engine & Assets
For Artie's film series, "Lessons from a Lifer," Summit Impact worked on a quarterly project of building a central production engine with supportive documents and process.
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The Summit Impact team makes it easy for things to happen
- David DeMember | Summit Impact Mentor
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2021 Community Programming
Investing in the power of community
To foster a thriving impact ecosystem, we create year-round programming focused on connection, shared learning, and activating the network for action.
A sample of some of our favorite community learning sessions from 2021:
● How to Build a Mighty Heart, with three time Nobel Prize Nominee and global conflict resolution expert, Scilla Ellworthy
● Inside UNICEF’s $659m Effort to Distribute 2 Billion Vaccines with Liz Case
● Making History in Mental Health with MAPS and Bessel van der Kolk
● What's Your Story? Community Storytelling with Rebecca Walker & Lily Diamond
● An interactive Ethical Leadership Course Pilot with Cristiana Falcone and Father Phillip Larrey
● A Global Look at Gender Equity, in partnership with the Women's Peace & Humanitarian Fund
Program Highlight: Network Maps
As we begin taking an ecosystems lens to social change, we’ve been working with ecologist and data scientist, Eric Berlow, and an incredible group of partners, to use network mapping tools and explore a central question:
In 2021, we piloted our first ecosystem map
Click bink to read more about the Future of work Network MAP[7]
Future of Work map by organization's area of expertise
*The map presented here is a first version of how a network map can take shape
Future of Work map by organization's location
*The map presented here is a first version of how a network map can take shape
Over the course of a 6 month project, our team has embarked on mapping the funding relationships within the field of the Future of Work, to create increased opportunities for informed navigation, collaboration, and addressing critical gaps.
Our objective is to embrace and encourage an ecosystem approach to the field of Future of Work, by surfacing the multi-causality and complexity as an opportunity to collaborate. We believe that the success of one leads to the success of many, and that this interdependence is an asset, not a problem.
Working with data and complexity scientist, Eric Berlow, we have built an accessible, big picture view of stakeholders in the Future of Work landscape, to support benefactors and beneficiaries alike in maximizing their impact.
The map of the field provides a visual representation of where funding is flowing from multiple dimensions. When using the geographic view, the map utilizes data from LinkedIn based on the organizations’ current locations, and you can filter the map based on the name of the organization, the organization’s type, keywords (as described below) and more.
As we continue with new network mapping projects in 2022, we want to say a special thank you to our key collaborators Eric Berlow, Taryn Jensen, Christine Lai, and Olivia Dell.
Community Design Project
Co-designing to inspire change at scale
About the Project
As we prepared to launch a more official year-round community program, in Q4 of 2021 we invited our network to co-create the future with us.
In a four-part series, we gathered the Summit Impact community for interactive sessions on community values, fostering connection, activating the network, and shared learning.
Series Overview
Our focus in each session
Community Design Project
An extended report
What we learned from four facilitated sessions on the Miro platform
Click the teal arrows on the right to expand the boxes below!
Session #1 Community Values
We began with envisioning a 20 year roadmap of possibilities for Summit Impact, where we surfaced a combination of visionary dreams and pragmatic methods to get there.
Here is a selection of some of our favorite visions:
After envisioning a possible future, we explored the values that have been central to our community to-date and that will guide our efforts to reach our vision for positive change. Below are a few examples of the values that members expressed as most important:
Many of the values were interconnected and built upon each other. In 2022 our team will be working with our board to create a final selection of values for the organization, with a customized group for our community programming.
Session #2 Community & Connection
Since its inception, Summit has been a place for connection and finding community. Through a mix of brainstorming and storytelling in this session, we began to identify and categorize creative elements that support substantive, long term friendships and working relationships. Here are a few favorites from Summit experiences over the years:
And here are a few ideas shared for us to build our more impact-focused community :
More virtual connection points (Zummits)
Increased opportunities for introductions between members
Continued Office Hours with thought leaders
Continued Masterclasses, Workshops & Talks along with more Team-based solving
Impact spaces at Summit Flagship events (when events come back!)
Session #3 Network Navigation & Activation
Here are some examples of the kind of support Summit Impact members are seeking from each other and offering to share with each other:
Session #4 Reflective Learning
When asked which session formats members enjoy the most, there was a clear preference for learning that includes high interactivity with others - such as co-learning and group problem-solving formats.
Preferred Formats
The session also highlighted the importance of extensive diversity, a desire for global formats and experiences that include a sense of self-challenge, wonder, and adventure, and an interest in strengthening accountability and action.
Featured Topics
The openness, complexity, and diversity of our network inspires a myriad of topic interests and learning style preferences.
