About The Summit
“Hope is a discipline. It’s less about ‘how you feel,’ and more about the practice of making a decision every day.”
— Mariame Kaba
Cross-Pollinating Solutions: Moving our Radical Dreams Forward
October 22-23, 2026 | Revere Hotel Boston Common
Welcome to the 13th National Community Leadership Summit (NCLS), hosted by Vital Village Networks.
For thirteen years, this summit has been a gathering place for leaders and advocates from across the country who are dedicated to transforming systems so that children and families have equitable access to the resources they need to thrive.
This year’s summit invites us into a different kind of work. The work of carrying what we’ve learned across boundaries, into new fields. The strategies you’ve refined through years of community organizing, the care models you’ve built in your clinic or school or kitchen, the data your community owns and is using to advance justice. These belong to a larger ecosystem. They travel. They take root in new places. They make us collectively stronger.
Through keynote discussions, cross-sector panels, sector-focused breakout sessions, workshops, and our new Community Spotlight showcase, attendees will deepen connections with community leaders, policymakers, educators, healers, researchers, and funders. Together, we’ll tend what is fragile, persist in what is right, and rise toward the futures we are already dreaming into being.
Traveling From Out of Town?
Rooms will be available at a Vital Village Networks discounted rate for the conference. We ask that you book by September 25, 2026. After this date, the rooms will be available to the general public and may not be available or available at an increased rate.
If calling the hotel to make a reservation, please reference the conference’s group name:
Vital Village Networks National Community Leadership Summit Room Block
For your convenience, be sure to reserve your space by September 25, 2026!
What's New This Year
Returning attendees will notice a few evolutions for 2026:
Relational Health is emphasized across our four learning tracks, reflecting the centrality of relationships, attachment, and dyadic care to community wellbeing.
Continuing Education credits, first offered in 2025, return for 2026. These include CME, CEU, CERPs, and professional development points for educators.
Three words shape how we are gathering this year:
Tend: To tend is to care with consistency. The daily, unglamorous work of showing up for one another, for ourselves, for our families, for the people in our networks who are tired.
Persist: To persist is to remain. In a moment when so much is asking us to retreat, to turn inward, to give up, persistence becomes its own kind of power.
Rise: To rise is to lift. Not alone, and not only ourselves. We rise together. Our communities have always known how to imagine the world we deserve. The summit is one of the places we practice it.
If you missed last year's summit, check out 2025 summit highlights. You can also visit our social media channels like Instagram and LinkedIn to view some of last year’s content.
Getting There
Revere Hotel Boston Common
200 Stuart St., Boston, MA 02116
(617) 482 1800 | (617) 451 2750
Public Transit
Map your MBTA route here.
Parking
Hourly Paid Public Parking is available in the Laz Parking Garage connected to the venue (200 Stuart St., Boston, MA 02116)
Book your parking ahead of the event here.
Getting to Boston
Boston, MA is serviced by Logan International Airport (Airport Code: BOS) and South Station (AMTRAK train station).
You can map your MBTA route here.
From Boston Logan International Airport (BOS)
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Driving directions from BOS
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Public transit directions from BOS
From Amtrak Stations
The Revere Hotel Boston Common is approximately 20 minutes from South Station and from North Station.
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Public transit directions from South Station
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Public transit directions from North Station
About Vital Village Networks
Vital Village is a network of residents and organizations dedicated to maximizing child, family, and community well-being. Our network is a place based, community engagement network that organizes unified investment from residents, community organizations, and institutions to create sustainable community change regarding child protection and promoting healthy and social and emotional early childhood development. Find out more at www.vitalvillage.org.
BELONG
Join with other passionate leaders and changemakers from around the country dedicated to supporting children and families.
ENGAGE
Immerse yourself in an inspiring community through the summit’s captivating speakers and interactive workshops.
LEARN
Gain new perspectives and innovative practices from leaders across diverse sectors and backgrounds, and motivate others by sharing your work and wisdom.
TRANSFORM
Apply your new connections, perspectives, and skills to advance and fortify our movements for just, equitable communities that allow children and families to thrive.
If you have questions, contact us at summit@vitalvillage.org.