Civic Futures 2026: Reflections on Gathering & Impact
- 7 days ago
- 5 min read
The Civic Futures Summit was our 2nd annual gathering. The 101 speakers and over 400 participants from public, private and nonprofit sectors were a testament to the need to discuss hyper-local issues such as affordable housing, urban planning, homelessness, education, and reentry.
By bringing together leaders from government, business, nonprofits, philanthropy, education, health, housing, and the arts, the Summit catalyzed a collective civic imagination focused on strengthening trust, building relational capital, and deepening community cohesion to guide the future of Charlottesville and the region. This year, we carried that work forward, turning past conversations into concrete action.
HIGHLIGHTS OF 2026
LAUNCHING CVILLE INNOVATES: A Future Forward Coalition
As part of the opening remarks and keynote sessions, Tom Tom and the United Way of Greater Charlottesville launched a new initiative aimed to extend impact through the year. The think tank grew out of conversations and collaborations sparked at the 2025 Summit, with the goal of addressing the region’s most pressing challenges through a multi-sector, coalition-based approach. Learn more about Cville Innovates here.
Officials from Charlottesville, including Mayor Juandiego Wade, joined representatives from Albemarle County, Chapel Hill, and Greenville to continue a conversation with Paul Beyer and United Way of Greater Charlottesville’s Ravi Cooper about peer city innovation and cross-sector collaboration to tackle challenges like housing, economic development, and community engagement. The luncheon highlighted lessons from peer communities and unpacked how regional partnerships can help cities plan more effectively for the future.
KEYNOTE PANELS
How Peer Cities Are Innovating: Think Tanks, Data, & Coalitional Action
The mayor of Greenville joined United Way of Greater Charlottesville’s Ravi Cooper and Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Andrea Copeland for a conversation about what Charlottesville and the surrounding region can learn from peer communities experimenting with innovative approaches.
Placemaking: The Downtown Mall at 50 and the Future of Charlottesville
As Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall approaches its 50th anniversary, community leaders reflected on how this iconic public space has shaped the city’s civic and cultural life through celebration, challenge, and change—and imagined what its next fifty years could hold.
“The City of Charlottesville has a responsibility of focusing on the quality of life for all residents, and the arts is one of those paths. I am proud of our investments to date, our openness to doing more, and our prioritization of supporting the ecosystem with an Arts Council and a Public Art Commission. The Arts are a community equalizer, very much like Parks.” - Sam Sanders, Charlottesville City Manager
Democracy Requires Courage: Why Civics Matter More Than Ever
Presidential Precinct founder Jim Murray joined Toyosi Ogunseye for a conversation about her journey from journalism in Nigeria to the United States and her current role as President & CEO of the Presidential Precinct.
“The summit was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate what makes Charlottesville unique—its people. I enjoyed making new connections with others who share a similar vision of making the world a better place. The optimism reflected in the faces of attendees all throughout the conversations was palpable, and it gave me hope that even in an uncertain world, Charlottesville continues to be a community driven by connection, purpose, and possibility.”
- Toyosi Ogunseye
C-VILLE Weekly Pitch Fest
Throughout the Civic Futures Summit, the editorial team from C-VILLE Weekly hosted an interactive storytelling lab where attendees were invited to pitch ideas for future stories in any section of the newspaper. Between sessions, participants shared the issues, innovations, and voices they believed deserve greater attention across Charlottesville and the region.
Why Isn’t Housing Affordable: The Cost of Community Scarcity
Housing affordability has become one of the defining challenges facing communities across the country, and the Charlottesville region is no exception. This panel explored the complex, urgent, and often controversial questions shaping the future of our community.
Who Builds Civic Futures? The Role of Nonprofits and Philanthropy
Center for Nonprofit Excellence CEO Mariane Doyle led this panel exploring how nonprofits and philanthropy can strengthen civic life, sustain trusted institutions, and help communities meet the challenges and opportunities ahead.
ROUNDTABLES
This year, we piloted a new discussion format that invited attendees into more intimate, conversation-driven sessions. Speakers gathered in a circle for candid, facilitated dialogue, while audience members listened in before joining the conversation with their own questions and reflections near the end of each session.
Cville’s Reentry Ecosystem: Strengths & Struggles
This discussion built on the momentum of the 2024 Reentry Summits and focused on how communities can better support people returning from jail and prison as they navigate successful reentry.
“Charlottesville is resource rich but connectivity poor.” - Martize Tolbert, The Fountain Fund
Faith Communities & Civic Flourishing
This roundtable considered how faith communities continue to shape civic life by fostering connection, supporting community well-being, and helping build stronger, more compassionate communities across lines of difference.
“The Civic Futures Summit reminded me that authentic civic renewal begins not merely through policy, but through relationships rooted in trust, moral courage, and shared human dignity. It was especially encouraging to see faith leaders from diverse traditions engaging one another not as competitors in the public square, but as partners seeking the common good of our communities.” - Shaykh Ibad Wali, Senior Muslim Advisor, One America Movement
Students Unite: The Future Starts with Us
UVA students are shaping the future of campus life by navigating academic, social, and cultural change while building community, leadership, and connection across differences.
"The Student's Unite Roundtables brought together student leaders from across UVA to discuss how they engage on Grounds and with the Charlottesville community. The conversation was insightful and relatable, helping frame both the challenges and opportunities that students face in building relationships and finding community."
- Brock Moore, UVA Student & Tom Tom Fellow
Why Does Charlottesville Have a Housing Crisis?
Eight community leaders representing Charlottesville City Council, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors, philanthropy, real estate, and the nonprofit sector led this roundtable exploring a perennial challenge facing our 50,000-person, ten-square-mile community.
A Multi-Sector Strategy to End Homelessness: From Crisis to Coordination
Immediately following the roundtable, participants circled up once more to plan a series of Community Conversations on homelessness that kicked off on May 14.
Next Gen Civic Leadership
Two public school students and two private school students joined youth advocates and community leaders for a conversation centered on a shared priority: elevating and empowering young people to lead in the public square.
Summit Social
The Summit concluded with time to reflect and relax over drinks and conversation at The Fitzroy. Presenters and attendees were able to mingle and process the day, many before heading to the Festival’s headlining event—Innocence, Justice & Courage with John Grisham & Deirdre Enright.
