Projects

Rockefeller Foundation

Convening to solve the world’s most pressing challenges

The Problem

How many gatherings have you attended where you walk away feeling deflated and unsure if you accomplished your goals? Too often, when organizations come together to collaborate the conditions aren’t ripe for meaningful learning and decision-making. Imagine if every convening were designed as carefully as a wedding: what’s the purpose of this experience and how does each choice reinforce it? How does programming enable relationship-building? How do attendees feel as a result? 

The Work

In partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation and August Public, we support global agencies, like the World Health Organization and UNICEF, and cutting-edge institutions like Helena, to design and execute convenings at the stunning Bellagio Center in Italy. At these convenings, participants answer big questions about society’s stickiest topics, such as climate finance, biosecurity, and global health.

The Learning

We guide leading scholars, scientists, policy-makers and practitioners to design convening agendas and collateral that enable diverse participants to build consensus and mobilize action.

Ask questions

We shepherd organizations through a rigorous planning process, asking them to envision the ideal convening and create the conditions to bring that vision to life. We push leaders to ask: what do we want participants to feel and experience? What does success look like? 

Create an unforgettable experience

Convening at Bellagio is not a typical meeting. With our client’s input, we design experiences that take advantage of the extraordinary Bellagio setting. Participants walk the beautiful grounds, envisioning what the future would look like if their convening were a success. 

Mobilize action

We design convenings with a bias towards action. We help diverse groups come together for four days to align on big ideas and ultimately converge to come up with real decisions and commitments around the topics they care most about.

The Outcome

As a result of our design support, the world’s leading experts on diet and nutrition convened at Bellagio to determine the best metrics and policy approaches for monitoring the quality of people’s diets worldwide. Together, these leaders successfully developed a consensus statement and tactical roadmap that has paved the way for global policy action.