Meeting of the Minds brings together urban sustainability and technology leaders to share knowledge and build lasting alliances.
ENVIRONMENT
Climate change, natural disaster
ECONOMY
Business, jobs, finance
TECHNOLOGY
Innovation, connectivity, IoT
GOVERNANCE
Urban policy, justice, services
SOCIETY
Health, culture, education
RESOURCES
Energy, water, food systems
INFRASTRUCTURE
Built environment, urban planning
MOBILITY
Public transit, shared mobility
We connect people and ideas through digital and in-person events and resources, including:
Meeting of the Minds Annual Summit
Each fall, the Meeting of the Minds Annual Summit brings together 400 opinion-shapers, policy-makers, leading thinkers and innovator from around the world for two and a half days of intensive exchange in thought leadership and cross-sector alliance building. Gathered together, they have a unique opportunity to think critically, ask questions, share tools, identify new best practices, and build lasting partnerships — which make smarter and more sustainable cities possible.
The next Meeting of the Minds Annual Summit will be in Phoenix, AZ from February 19-21, 2020. Find more information at this link.
Roundtables and Workshops
Meeting of the Minds organizes roundtable discussions and workshops throughout the year with the purpose of convening thought leaders from diverse sectors and geographies to identify and debate breakthrough innovations, build partnerships and continue a dynamic dialogue throughout the year. These events range in size from 40-400 attendees. Some are in partnership with other organizations.
Print Magazine
The Annual is a once-a-year publication from Meeting of the Minds that features the best thought leadership pieces from the MeetingoftheMinds.org blog. Printed copies are distributed at our annual event, and digital copies are available for download at MeetingoftheMinds.org/the-annual.
Webinars
Meeting of the Minds produces monthly webinars with key urban influencers who share their work, vision and strategies for sustainable and innovative cities. Thousands of people attend these webinars each year. Webinars are ranked by our email subscribers as our most popular format in a recent survey.
In each webinar, a short presentation is followed by an interactive Q&A session with the audience. For a list of past, and upcoming, webinars, visit our Webinars page.
Publishing
The Meeting of the Minds Peer-to-Peer Publishing Platform is a large library, full of urban practitioners’ projects, and their predictions about the future of cities. The website inhabits a unique space — not a company blog, and not a media outlet — that allows urban sustainability professionals to connect with others interested in the topic, and to tell their stories with their own words. Since its launch in 2012, over 500 people have written 1,000+ articles that share their visions for smart, resilient cities.
Our website is the communal bulletin board to which change-makers and innovators pin their thoughts for the benefit of the rest of the community. Individuals interested in publishing are encouraged to follow the writing guidelines and submit their pieces to the Meeting of the Minds staff for review.
Event Archives
MeetingoftheMinds.org includes 10 years of organizational and event archives. Among the most important collections are past summits, webinars, videos and event photos.
For video archives, visit our YouTube Channel.
SECTOR
- Private 33%
- Public 24%
- Non-profit 20%
- Academic 12%
- Start-up 9%
- Philanthropy 2%
GEOGRAPHY
%
Based in US
SENIORITY
- Founder/CEO 30%
- Senior Level 52%
- Junior Level 15%
- Entry Level 3%
PREFERRED FORMAT
- Reading articles online 41%
- Workshops 22%
- Webinars 22%
- Conferences 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. Feel free to schedule a call with Dave to discuss how your organization can participate in the Meeting of the Minds digital platform.
Dave received a BA in German from Indiana University (With Distinction).
Caroline Firman
Program Manager
Caroline joined Meeting of the Minds as Executive Assistant in January 2014 and transitioned to Program Manager in November 2014. As Program Manager, Caroline is responsible for managing operations for the annual conference, assisting with fundraising and social media, and general administrative responsibilities.
Previously, Caroline worked for six years in a variety of roles at the Association of California Symphony Orchestras (ACSO). During her time at ACSO, Caroline helped to plan and implement five Annual Conferences, played a significant role in expanding ACSO’s social media presence as well as an integral part in the redesign of ACSO’s website in 2012.
Caroline holds her BA in Music from UC Davis and a Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Arts Education from California State University Sacramento.
Hannah Greinetz
Managing Editor
Hannah joined Meeting of the Minds as a freelance writer in 2014, and became the Managing Editor of the Meeting of the Minds website in 2017. She works on outreach, editing, and publishing for the Meeting of the Minds digital platform.
When not editing, Hannah works as a consultant to businesses, non-profits and city governments. She manages projects that approach urban sustainability through regulatory change, funding and financing efficiency upgrades, startup strategy, and the implementation of smart city technologies. Hannah started her career in the scrap metal recycling industry and has spent time managing grants and business affairs for a variety of non-profits, from mental health services to affordable housing solutions.
Hannah holds a BA in Anthropology from UC Santa Cruz and an MBA in Sustainable Management from Presidio Graduate School.
Kate O’Brien
Senior Writer
Kate O’Brien writes the Global Mobility Research article series and Behavior Change article series.
When not interviewing and writing about the work of mobility researchers and behavior change agents around the world, Kate leads a collaborative consulting practice focused on coaching, capacity building, and facilitation for teams navigating and driving change.
Kate holds a BA in Human Development and Social Relations from Kalamazoo College, and an MA in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning from Tufts University. She lives and works in Portland, Maine.
Board of Directors
Gordon Feller
Co-founder, Board Co-president
Meeting of the Minds
Scott Mauvais
Director
Cities at Microsoft
Steph Stoppenhagen
Business Development Director, 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