The Connection

Access National Bank has offered exclusive support to sponsor the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia’s new Innovation Breakfast Series. These events are designed to introduce new ideas about the issues facing the Northern Virginia and the role that innovation and philanthropy can play in addressing them. The next event will be held on Sept. 15, 2016 at Tegna Headquarters: Lessons Learned on Innovative Philanthropy and Economic Growth. Registration details and more information is available at www.cfnova.org/innovationbreakfast.

Registrations for each breakfast event are available through the Community Foundation’s website for $30 each at http://www.cfnova.org/news-events/upcoming-events.

The 2016-2017 Innovation Breakfast Series events are as follows:

Fall Innovation Breakfast:

• Sept. 15, 2016, 8 – 9 a.m. Networking and Continental Breakfast; 9 – 10:30 a.m. Program. TEGNA Headquarters, 7950 Jones Branch Drive, McLean.

Program: Lessons Learned on Innovative Philanthropy and Economic Growth. Twelve years ago an alliance of four community foundations dedicated to advancing economic growth and equitable access to opportunity for the people of Northeast Ohio started a movement that literally reinvented the economy of their entire region. What lessons can Northern Virginia learn from them, and what assets can we apply to help build a more diverse and inclusive economy for our own region?

Speaker: Brian Frederick, President and CEO, Community Foundation for Lorrain County, and Chairman, the Fund for our Economic Future.

• New Year Innovation Breakfast: Jan. 17, 2017, 8 – 9 a.m. Networking and Continental Breakfast; 9 – 10:30 a.m. Program. TEGNA Headquarters, 7950 Jones Branch Drive, McLean. Program: Building an Innovation District in Northern Virginia. Inspired by the Brookings study on innovation districts, a group of local civic, social, and philanthropic leaders are meeting to build an innovation district right here in Northern Virginia. What will that take and what does this mean for the economy of Northern Virginia?

Speakers: Bruce Katz, Centennial Scholar at The Brookings Institution and leader of the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Initiative on Innovation and Placemaking and Rachael Stott, Co-Founder and Director, Refraction, Reston.

• Chairman’s Breakfast, May 11, 2017, 8 – 9 am Networking and Continental Breakfast; 9 – 10:30 a.m. Program. Location: TBA.

Program: Community Wealth Building – A New, Inclusive Systems Approach to Economic Development. Economic development professionals are partnering with community foundations, anchor institutions, and businesses all across the U.S. to develop a new model of economic growth that is rooted in community. It’s called “Community Wealth Building,” and its goal is to create inclusive, sustainable, and equitable models of economic success. Where have Community Wealth Building strategies taken root, and how can we in Northern Virginia apply those strategies and help scale them? Speakers: Ted Howard, President and Co-Founder, The Democracy Collaborative and Yanique Redwood, President and CEO, Consumer Health Foundation.

“We are very excited to present programs with nationally renowned speakers to help bring new, innovative ideas from across the country to our region about how we can together meet critical needs while driving economic success,” said Eileen Ellsworth, President of the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia. “We are so grateful to Access National Bank for supporting this initiative and recognizing the potential these programs have to change lives in our community.”

Find more information at www.cfnova.org.