For More Information: Community Summits, www.gilsteil.com/communitysummits
Purpose:
To help communities and large organizations invested in a complex issue quickly find the common ground necessary to support action.
Outcomes:
• Alignment of the broad community around a specific course of action
• The mobilization of energy for implementation
• The enlistment of individuals and organizations in follow-up
When to Use:
• When community alignment and participation around a course of action is required for the success of a change initiative
When Not to Use:
• When all critical decisions have been made, and there is a desire to present the appearance of participation
Number of Participants:
• 64–2,048
Types of Participants:
• All stakeholders, internal and external, necessary to achieve action around the central issue
Typical Duration:
• Plan: 2–4 weeks
• Solicit participants: 10–12 weeks
• Summit meeting: 2–3 days
• Follow-up: 6 months
Brief Example:
United Way of Rhode Island used summits involving a microcosm of the state to build support for change from a dispersed funding model to a concentrated impact project model.
Historical Context:
Created in 2003 by Gil Steil and Mal Watlington. Emery’s Open Systems Theory and Search Conference,
Weisbord and Janoff’s Future Search, Dannemiller’s Whole Scale Change, and Harrison Owen’s Open
Space.
 Community Summits |
