Meeting of the Minds brings together urban sustainability and technology leaders to share knowledge and build lasting alliances.

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We foster person-to-person and city-to-city learning by spotlighting projects and practitioners working on urban solutions in these 8 focus areas:

Resources

ENVIRONMENT

Climate change, natural disaster

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ECONOMY

Business, jobs, finance

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TECHNOLOGY

Innovation, connectivity, IoT

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GOVERNANCE

Urban policy, justice, services

Society

SOCIETY

Health, culture, education

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RESOURCES

Energy, water, food systems

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INFRASTRUCTURE

Built environment, urban planning

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MOBILITY

Public transit, shared mobility

We connect people and ideas through knowledge sharing and networking building programs, including:

Webinars

60-minute virtual sessions with 1-3 cross-sectoral presenters, moderated by Jessie Feller Hahn. Average registration in 2020 is 700+ registrants with an 80% approval rating. Meeting of the Minds webinars have met monthly since 2013, making this one of the longest running digital event programs in the industry, supported by years of staff experience and audience data.

Thought Leadership Videos
A new format for 2020, thought leaders participate in a 30-min interview with Jessie Feller Hahn, which is then edited down to a 5-10 minute video and shared on social media (LinkedIn is the primary channel). Past videos have received thousands of views. This is a perfect format for leaders and brands looking for engagement and exposure on LinkedIn and Twitter and an effective way to share thought leadership regarding the current policy, technology and emerging trends in real-time.
Digital Publishing
Begun in 2012, the Meeting of the Minds digital publishing platform has published over 1,000 articles by over 600 urban practitioners from all over the world. MeetingoftheMinds.org and the Meeting of the Minds Newsletter is a go-to resource for VIPs and change-makers working on the future of sustainable, resilient, equitable and smart cities. Articles are published once a week and sent individually to our 30,000+ newsletter subscribers.
Executive Cohort
New for 2020, the Executive Cohort program is a 6-week networking accelerator for urban practitioners. This invite-only program matches 10 leaders from the public, private, non-profit, philanthropic, and academic sectors for once-a-week small group discussions designed to share knowledge and build authentic new relationships. Recent participants have included CEOs of techstart-ups, senior executives from Fortune 500’s, Chief Resilience Officers of major US cities, Mayoral candidates, Secretary-level public administrators, executive directors of advocacy organizations, foundations, and many more.
Lunch Breaks
Popular in 2020, Lunch Breaks bring together 8-12 invited VIPs to discuss their work, share best practices, and meet peers working on the future of cities. Events take place mid-afternoon during the work week and last 60 minutes.
Meeting of the Minds Connect

Launched in 2021, Meeting of the Minds Connect is a private social network for participants of Meeting of the Minds programs. It is a groups-based platform with participants added to affinity and activity groups, and encouraged to discuss, engage, and interact with other members of their group.

Our Network

SECTOR

  • Private 33% 33%
  • Public 24% 24%
  • Non-profit 20% 20%
  • Academic 12% 12%
  • Start-up 9% 9%
  • Philanthropy 2% 2%

GEOGRAPHY

%

Based in US

SENIORITY

  • Founder/CEO 30% 30%
  • Senior Level 52% 52%
  • Junior Level 15% 15%
  • Entry Level 3% 3%

PREFERRED FORMAT

  • Reading articles online 41% 41%
  • Workshops 22% 22%
  • Webinars 22% 22%
  • Conferences 14% 14%

Network Interest Topics

Staff

Jessie Feller Hahn

Executive Director

Jessie Feller Hahn is the Executive Director of Meeting of the Minds. Since 2010, she has built and managed the development of Meeting of the Minds into an international leadership platform for city-to-city learning. Jessie’s focus is identifying global urban sustainability, innovation, and technology best practices; developing platforms for city leaders to exchange best practices; spotlighting innovators; and building alliances and partnerships between the private sector, public sector, non-profit and philanthropic sectors.

Previously, Jessie launched and ran the Regional Energy Policy Program at Regional Plan Association in New York City. She has written numerous articles which have been featured in NPR, Urban Age Magazine, The Record, RPA’s Spotlight on the Region, The Hartford Courant, among others. Previous to RPA, Jessie worked as a cluster specialist at Economic Competitiveness Group, as a Sustainability Fellow at the Portland Development Commission, and started her career at SMWM (now Perkins + Will) in their urban design studio.

Jessie holds a BA from Vassar College in Urban Studies and Hispanic Studies (Phi Beta Kappa) and a Masters in Environment and Development Studies (honors) from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Dave Hahn

Director of Digital Strategy

Dave is a communications professional with 20 years experience delivering high value marketing campaigns for non-profits and start-ups. He joined Meeting of the Minds in 2012 to build, launch, and run the organization’s digital platform, which includes the popular Meeting of the Minds Webinar series and peer-to-peer publishing platform at MeetingoftheMinds.org. 

Dave received a BA in German from Indiana University (With Distinction).

Advisory Council

Kimberly Aceves-Iñiguez, Founder & Executive Director, RYSE Center
Roger Millar, Secretary of Transportation, State of Washington
Mike Ohm, Attorney, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner
Jen Hawse, Partnership Manager, Island Press
Leslie Smith, National Director, Gender Equality in Tech (GET Cities), SecondMuse Foundation
James Aloisi, Lecturer of Transportation Policy and Planning, Department of Urban Studies & Planning, MIT
Emily Yates, Smart City Director, City of Philadelphia
Erin Cooke, Sustainability & Environmental Policy Director, SFO
Jacob Greig, VP, Americas, Liftango
Micah Kotch, Managing Director, URBAN-X
Richard Mitchell, Former Director of Planning for City of Richmond, and Independent Consultant
Clinton Moloney, Managing Director, Sustainability Solutions, ENGIE Impact
Jennifer Sanders, Executive Director, Dallas Innovation Alliance
Laura Schewel, CEO, Streetlight Data
Monica Tibbits-Nutt, AICP, LEED AP BD C, Executive Director, 128 Business Council
Shin-pei Tsay, Global Head of Cities and Transportation Policy, Uber Technologies Inc.

Board of Directors

Gordon Feller

Co-founder, Board Co-president
Meeting of the Minds

Scott Mauvais

Director, AI and Global Partnerships
Microsoft Philanthropies

Steph Stoppenhagen

Director of Strategy & Innovation, Connected Communities
Black & Veatch

Melanie Nutter

Principal
Nutter Consulting

Jessie Feller Hahn

Executive Director, Board Co-president
Meeting of the Minds

Dave Hahn

Director of Digital Strategy
Meeting of the Minds

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