Hosted by Northspan’s Welcoming Community program, the annual Equity Summit is a yearly opportunity to engage around themes related to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion and forge a more inclusive future in northeast Minnesota.
All are welcome to register to attend and benefit from opportunities to:
- Engage with inspiring examples of local leaders sharing tools for integrating inclusion into your workplace, local government, community, business, nonprofit, and life!
- Elevate organizations who are making intentional efforts to support community vitality through inclusive community practices.
- Ideate new paths forward to supporting inclusion and belonging to enhance economic and social prosperity in our region.
Each year, we gather with community leaders in business, education, workforce and economic development, government, health care, philanthropy, and many other sectors to hear from a keynote speaker and participate in a range of activities with formats like:
- Breakout sessions and experiential workshops: Local groups host interactive workshops and share practical tools for individuals to bring back to their communities and organizations.
- Lyceums: Part of a tradition going back 150 years in America, this facilitated dialog takes small groups through conversations with a thought starter, and concludes with a toast and a commission.
- Surveys and group sharing/presentations.
- Resource tables from sponsor organizations and presenters.
- Buffet-style networking lunch.
Lunch is included along with refreshments and snacks! Together, we will get inspired, generate ideas for actionable change, find solutions to challenges related to inclusion and belonging, and connect with networks to help facilitate that change.
In 2024, the theme of the fourth annual Equity Summit was “Inclusion in Action.”
This year’s summit took place on October 1 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Iron Trail Motors Event Center in Virginia, Minnesota. We saw record attendance with approximately 121 participants! The Equity Summit doubled in size from year two to year three—we had around 180 attendees in 2023.
Check out coverage and resources from past years:
Third Annual Equity Summit | 2023 | Agenda | Resources
Second Annual Equity Summit | 2022 | Agenda | Resources
First Annual Equity Summit | 2021 | Virtual | Recording
You can learn more and get involved with Northspan’s Welcoming Community program or contact Northspan Consultant and Welcoming Community Program Manager Amber Lewis for more information at alewis@northspan.org or (218) 481-7737.