A day long conference hosted by the N.O Institute

The problems facing New Orleans are problems facing every city. No city is immune to the loss of social capital and the need for a citizen led response to community crisis. New Orleans Speaks is the inaugural event for the New Orleans Institute on Resilience and Innovation featuring some of the most dynamic grass roots civic leaders in the city. The kick-off event for the Institute is an all day conference on August 30th at the University of New Orleans featuring the stories of recovery leaders from across the city. These leaders come from the community and have stories on their own efforts to rebuild their neighborhoods, their communities, and their lives.

Speakers such as Sandy Rosenthal, Hal Roark, Karen Gadbois, Marshall Truehill Jr., Timolynn Sams, Lucas Diaz, Pam Dashiell, Patricia Jones, Nathan Rothstein, Dana Eness and many more will highlight what they have learned in the wake of three years of social innovation in New Orleans. They have faced incredible odds in places like the Lower 9th Ward and Broadmoor, or with their work with independent businesses and neighborhoods. Their successes and findings will be featured along with video productions, live performances of music and spoken word and demonstration tables of various ongoing community efforts.

The New Orleans Institute on Resilience and Innovation is about harnessing this energy and exporting it to other cities throughout the country who will benefit from the depth and breadth of solutions developed and tested here since Katrina. New Orleans is the social laboratory to learn what we need to know about citizen-led social innovation that is critical in every city. We have learned a tremendous amount about what is important in communities and cities and we have an obligation to share it with other cities who will no doubt face similar circumstances in the future. The New Orleans Institute will provide the vehicle to collect and share the stories of grass roots and citizen led recovery. Come kick off the Institute with the symposium Saturday, August 30th.