Our flagship Unlikely Allies (UA) festival may only happen once a year, but work on the 2016-2017 Future of Cities theme is ongoing around the world. From September 26-30, 2016, 15 North American Impact Hubs with a combined reach of over 120,000 will unite for Co-Creating the Future of Our Cities, a week-long #UA2016 spinoff event-series focusing on topics of local impact.The series will take place just after SOCAP, using momentum from the world’s largest conference on social enterprise and impact investing to drive innovative city solutions back at Impact Hubs Austin, Baltimore, Berkeley, Boston, Boulder, Los Angeles, Minneapolis-St.Paul, New York City, Oakland, Ottawa, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Seattle, and Washington DC.

WHY FUTURE OF CITIES?

Over half of the world’s current population lives in cities, and the UN expects the proportion to climb to 66% by 2050. Today, we have the opportunity to create models that will empower the cultural, creative, and intellectual capital of city populations to address our greatest social, economic, and environmental challenges. Impact Hubs act as locally-rooted globally-connected centers for change, where the investors, artists, foundations, entrepreneurs, and intrapreneurs working out of them can discuss these issues and advance ideas for action.

WHY NORTH AMERICA?

Co-Creating the Future of Our Cities was born from Impact Hub North America cohort meetings at #UA2016 and the Global Community Retreat in an effort to demonstrate the combined impact of the region. Potential for replication throughout other parts of the global network exists in the future.

COUNT ME IN!

The event series is open to the public, featuring a variety of formats and topics including: fishbowl conversations around sustainable business, expert panels on economic mobility, and happy hours with drivers of change. Click on the following city near you to view local itineraries and registration: Baltimore, Berkeley, Boston, Boulder, Los Angeles, Minneapolis-St.Paul, Oakland, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Seattle, Washington DC. For more information—or event details at Impact Hubs Austin, New York City, or Ottawa—email Megan McFadden at [email protected].

Join in! The future of our cities depends on it.