Your Stories
Every story holds the potential to spark transformative change.
2026 Lightning Talk Program: Call for Abstracts
This year’s summit will include a series of live lightning-talk presentations where data storytellers and community leaders can share their work. We invite you to submit an abstract or project to be considered for the session on October 22 or 23, 2026.
Logistics
Selected lightning talks will be presented during the summit in Boston, MA on October 22 or 23, 2026. Abstracts may be submitted as written abstracts, samples of work, or short audio or video recordings describing a project.
Submissions are reviewed on a rolling basis through Friday, July 31, 2026 at 11:59pm ET.
If accepted, you will be notified by email no later than Friday, August 28, 2026 at 5:00pm ET.
Categories
This year’s theme is Cross-Pollinating Solutions: Moving our Radical Dreams Forward.
We welcome abstracts in one or both of these categories:
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Community Leadership Stories: Experiences of leadership and community-driven action to reimagine, strengthen, and restore healthcare, public health, education, legal, social, food, and other systems that promote children’s wellbeing and prevent trauma.
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Data Storytelling Projects: Research, community narratives, or advocacy initiatives that use data to tell a story about advancing equity and wellbeing.
Guidance for Presenters
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Community Leadership Stories are encouraged to incorporate visual aids such as photographs, maps, or infographics, though they are not required.
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Data Storytelling Projects may include traditional research presentations, multimedia narratives, or community advocacy initiatives, and may incorporate diverse forms of data.
Vital Village Networks is committed to supporting you. We offer technical assistance and optional 1:1 office hours for tailored support with abstract preparation, project development, and lightning talk presentations. Please contact us at summit@vitalvillage.org for questions or requests.
Summit Registration
All presenters must register to attend the summit. Summit registration ends September 30, 2026.
Important Deadlines
Abstract Submission
All abstracts must be submitted by Friday, July 31, 2026 in order to be considered. However, we strongly encourage you to submit your abstract before the end of June 2026.
The abstract guidelines and submission form can be found on the following pages.
Acceptance Notification
Abstracts will be reviewed & accepted on a rolling basis until Friday, July 31, 2026 (11:59pm ET).
You will be notified of your acceptance via email no later than Friday, August 28, 2026 (5:00 pm ET).
Final Lightning Talk Upload
If you are using slides for your presentation, we ask that you please share a copy of the final presentation materials as a backup by Friday October 2, 2026.