As the world celebrates extraordinary achievements at the pinnacle of global mega-sporting and cultural events this year, we gather to reflect on the conditions that allow people to move, create, express, and belong in everyday life. Through sports and the arts, play helps shape the shared spaces where connection, participation, and community take root.

Join keynote speaker, Janelle Joseph, an award-winning storyteller and scholar, as she considers what our cities and institutions might look like if access to these forms of participation were recognized as essential to human dignity and collective well-being, and nurtured accordingly. What might shift if we treated play, culture, and creativity as foundational essentials? What new possibilities for connection, meaning, and belonging could emerge?

There will be a panel discussion following this talk. Stay tuned for details.