Step beyond workforce gaps to explore how networks, trust, and local systems expand access to opportunity.

Workforce development isn’t just about placement—it’s about belonging, access, and navigating a shifting economy. In this session, we’ll explore how opportunity emerges when systems are designed to reflect the realities of the people they serve. Rather than focus on short-term fixes, we’ll hear from regional leaders who are weaving together education, business, and community to build more adaptive and connected opportunity ecosystems. Participants will consider how relationships, not just programs, create durable pathways to economic mobility.

Parking Information

The session will be held at 1801 Main Street, Houston, TX 77002. Parking is available in the attached garage, with the entrance located on Fannin Street. Parking will be complimentary for all exits after 6:00 pm. We recommend arriving 5-10 minutes early to allow time for parking and check-in.

An intro workshop for those facing transition, considering a pivot, or curious about what life could be.

What if your next chapter could be your most aligned, resilient, and whole?

Design Your Life is a reflective and interactive mini-workshop for senior fellows who are anticipating or navigating change—professionally or personally—and are ready to begin aligning their time, energy, and purpose.

Especially for those who are:

• Entering or navigating retirement

• Experiencing a life transition

• Hungry for more meaning and fulfillment

Participants will leave with:

• The basics of a roadmap for the season ahead.

• Renewed confidence in the face of change.

• A renewed sense of story, resilience, and possibility.

Note: Those interested in continuing the journey will be invited to participate in an ongoing community of practice scheduled for early 2026.

Space is limited — register soon to confirm your spot.

Discover funding approaches that strengthen trust, deepen community connections, and create momentum for Houston’s future.

This opening session of the Bridge Houston series brings nonprofit, philanthropic and board leaders together to reimagine how we resource our region’s’s future. We’ll examine fresh approaches to funding that go beyond filling shortfalls, focusing instead on cultivating trust, fostering openness, and strengthening connections across sectors. Participants will engage in dialogue with peers from diverse fields to explore how Houston can align its financial strategies with its community’s assets and aspirations. By the end of the session, you’ll leave with new perspectives, actionable ideas, and relationships that can help transform how funding flows to the places and people that need it most.

Our conversation will balance practical insight with cross-sector discussion, offering a space to think creatively while staying grounded in Houston’s realities. Whether you’re a funder, nonprofit leader, civic partner, or business executive, this is an opportunity to contribute to a vision of a stronger, more connected funding ecosystem for our city.

Why This Matters

Racism damages health, weakens civic trust, and fractures communities. The Center's facilitated dialogues build shared language and listening skills, helping people examine racial conditioning, heal harm, and take collaborative action across lines of difference.

Art drives social change and builds resilience through creative expression.

At a time of division and violence, ICAN Peacework provides pathways for youth to develop leadership through nonviolence, emotional wellness, and community-centered justice. Their work builds resilience and healing through storytelling, conflict resolution, and restorative circles—equipping future generations with the tools to shape more compassionate, inclusive communities.

Local ecosystems like coastal marshes, pine savannahs, and prairie meadows provide critical services—from flood resilience to climate mitigation. Houston Wilderness supports large‑scale planting, green infrastructure, and planning frameworks—empowering underserved communities and building climate‑smart infrastructure regionall

Grants offered through HAA provide essential funding that fuels Houston’s creative economy. These resources ensure equitable access to the arts and help preserve and uplift diverse cultural traditions. They also contribute to stronger community connections, economic development, and public access to meaningful cultural experiences.

Engagement Level:
Empowered, Activated, Informed

Why It Matters:

• Expands housing access

• Models bipartisan civic engagement

• Prevents affordability crises

Key Programs:

• Zoning policy reform

• Legislative coalitions

• Public education campaigns

Almeda Plaza Civic Club reflects the heart of grassroots civic participation. By fostering local agency, organizing residents, and interfacing directly with city systems, the club embodies Change Lab’s commitment to community voice, civic literacy, and cross-sector collaboration. Their work at the hyperlocal level strengthens the civic fabric and builds the trust, accountability, and public participation needed for broader systems change. As a consistent, decades-long presence in Houston’s civic life, they are a natural partner in advancing place-based, people-powered change.

Fuckup Nights is a global movement born in Mexico that now spans over 300 cities worldwide — including Houston. At each gathering, local leaders, entrepreneurs, activists, and artists take the stage to candidly share their biggest professional failure.

Instead of avoiding the topic, these sessions normalize learning from mistakes, spark honest conversations, and foster a culture of vulnerability, innovation, and community support.

The Connect Highstar apartment complex brings together families of varied income levels, along with commercial and retail space.