Events and convenings can play a powerful role in boosting upward mobility in a community. They offer opportunities to mobilize key stakeholders, align around priorities, share data on community conditions, and more.

That’s why several members of the Urban Institute’s Mobility Action Learning Network have hosted events that bring together the many people and organizations involved in local upward mobility efforts. To learn more about these convenings, we spoke with six people who planned and executed events in four communities that participated in the Mobility Action Learning Network: 

Santa Barbara County, California

• Population: 444,500
• Event title: Upward Mobility Summit: A Conference to Address Poverty in Santa Barbara County
• Event type: Public day-long event hosted in two locations in the county with simultaneous broadcasts
• Number of attendees: 300+

Palm Beach County, Florida

• Population: 1,582,055
• Event title: Securing Our Future: Economic Mobility Summit
• Event type: Public day-long event
• Number of attendees: 400

City of Alexandria, Virginia

• Population: 159,102
• Event title: Building Blocks of Mobility: Current Conditions and Our Role in Shaping Pathways to Stability and Upward Mobility
• Event type: Private half-day event
• Number of attendees: 70

City of Dallas, Texas

• Population: 1,326,087
• Event title: Drivers of Opportunity Symposium
• Event type: Public half-day event
• Number of attendees: 160

We asked interviewees what motivated them to plan the event, what they saw as the event’s core purpose, how they planned for it, who was invited, and what the key successes and challenges of planning and executing the event were. Their insights and experiences provide lessons for other communities looking to host an upward mobility–focused event, which we summarize below. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Form should follow function. Interviewees suggested that the format of an event and the people invited should serve the goals you are trying to achieve based on where your community is in a particular moment. For example, if the purpose of your event is to build a new coalition capable of advancing upward mobility work locally, then your invitees should include the people needed to do the work, and your sessions might include time for brainstorming, goal setting, and coalition building.

Build a cross-sector planning team. In three of the four communities, events were planned by cross-sector teams of organizers that included the local government, a local community foundation or United Way, residents, and people working across the pillars of the Upward Mobility Framework. Our interviewees shared that this was essential as it demonstrated to attendees that the event was not just the goal of any one organization but that there was broad buy-in for it and the work that would follow. 

Use the event to model the tone and role that the event host will take in the long-term work. At an upward mobility event all eyes are on the host, as attendees observe what words they use in their speeches, who they have selected to speak (and who they haven’t), what agenda or actions they are recommending, and what tone they are using. These events are important opportunities for the hosting organization to model how it intends to lead or collaborate with others in the long-term execution of the work. 

Plan early for what you want to happen after the event. We’ve all been to exciting events where we leave feeling reinvigorated and ready to take action but then get swept up in our daily work and never follow up on the things we wanted to do. To avoid this scenario, interviewees suggested planning early for what you want to happen after the event, and what, if anything, you want attendees to do.

Anticipate and plan for political challenges that can hold up work. Even with careful planning about how to continue the work after the event is over, challenges can arise which prevent forward momentum. In two of the four communities, local elections and leadership changes following the events stymied some of the follow-up activities that event organizers had planned. Interviewees suggested a few helpful tips for dealing with these challenges, including engaging local elected officials early and often so they’re kept up to speed on the work and how they can get involved.