Smart Growth America’s Equity Summit

Save the date for the “2024 Equity Summit: Meeting the Moment.” The Summit gathers housing, transportation, and community development advocates and leaders to learn from one another and identify tools to advance racial equity through smart growth. The dynamic two-day program will be held in person for the first time on March 27-28, 2024, in Washington, DC, at the iconic Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library.

The Equity Summit will uplift strategies to advance racial equity in smart growth amidst growing political uncertainty in 2024 and beyond, as well as a shift away from explicit equity initiatives by elected officials, state agencies, and the private sector.

Why You Should Attend:
Smart growth practitioners must proactively integrate strategies to advance racial equity into their planning, transportation, and land use work, especially at the current moment. Over the last several years there has been increased attention and investment targeted at inequitable planning systems, but to date, these efforts have fallen short of our stated goals. In the face of capacity concerns, surface-level interventions to systemic challenges, and the recent Supreme Court decision effectively ending affirmative action, our movement is at a critical inflection moment.

What to Expect:
The event aims to connect movement leaders, identify key needs within the field, and build a community of mutual support and encouragement among practitioners who may be discouraged by resistance to meaningful progress. At the Equity Summit, we’ll present keynotes, fireside chats, panel discussions, small group sessions, and local organization “field trips.” These activities will allow participants to gain insights into the successes and challenges of racial equity projects in the smart growth space, emphasizing cultural organizing, lived experience integration, and inclusive wealth building.