2018 One Region Forward Idea Summit

The 2018 One Region Forward Idea Summit will celebrate the work of our fourth class of Champions for Change. This year, we're excited to honor the bright ideas and inspired leadership of 23 community champions working on 16 projects designed to move our region forward. The summit as a whole will focus on the concept of “regenerative development,” or the process of cultivating the capacity and capability in people, communities, and other natural systems to renew, evolve, and thrive.

Among the Champions’ projects are an education program that will help establish financial literacy for low-income individuals in Lockport; a community kitchen, garden, and healthy food education program that will nourish neighbors in Broadway/Fillmore; a “Communitree Rooted” citizen forestry initiative to support healthy trees and neighborhoods in the City of Tonawanda; and initiatives to support artists and cultural organizations working on the front line of environmental justice.  These and a dozen other diverse projects forward the “Five Big Idea” areas of the Buffalo Niagara Region’s first sustainability plan.

The community champions are supported by 22 student leaders from 8 different fields of study at the University at Buffalo, and 6 outstanding mentors recognized for their leadership in the Buffalo Niagara region.

The morning will kick off with an open house where guests will mingle in newly renovated historic Hayes Hall and explore the work initiated by the 2018 Champions for Change. The formal program will begin at 9:15 am, with an update on One Region Forward, the Citizens Planning School, and the 2018 Champions for Change community innovation lab and its emphasis on regenerative development.

Following this overview, Champions for Change will give three-minute presentations about their community-based initiatives to advance well-being in our region. Champions will entertain questions and feedback from other civic entrepreneurs, community leaders, and the general audience. Networking and conversation will follow.

The 2018 Champions for Change community innovation lab is hosted by the University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning, UB Blackstone LaunchPad, and It Takes A Village Action Organization. Project teams are also supported by six outstanding mentors recognized for their leadership in our region: Dave Bauer, Hadar Borden, Eve Holberg, Da'Von McCune, Beverly Newkirk, and Gail Wells. Additionally, Andrew Delmonte of the Small Business Development Center at SUNY Buffalo State has provided teams with guidance on social enterprise development and business plans.