Ideas 2023

Innovation & insight meets conversation. Curated talks and workshops with global thinkers and doers.

We're changing our Ideas Series! There will be 3 days of summits, each having 5 events related to the topic of that day.
DAY 1: Climate & Transportation Summit  •  DAY 2: Tech & Democracy Summit  •  Day 3: Social Equity & Activism Summit

Columbia Digital Storytelling: Blockchain Fairy Tales PART 1

Tech & Democracy Summit

Columbia University School of the Arts’ Digital Storytelling Lab (DSL) is a pioneering next-generation media lab that creatively integrates the arts, humanities and technology to tackle some of the world’s impossible problems.

Columbia Digital Storytelling: Blockchain Fairy Tales PART 2

Tech & Democracy Summit

Join us for Part 2 of Blockchain Fairy Tales: Now that your imagination is ignited and challenged, transform inspiration into activation. We invite you to explore the magical elements inherent in decentralization–the ability to co-create and co-author with Artificial Intelligence, to collaborate more effectively, and to create a shared vision of our futures.

Democracy and the Struggle for the Right to Vote

Tech & Democracy Summit

Join author and award-winning journalist Ari Berman and award-winning scholar, educator, and author, Khalilah Brown-Dean, for a discussion on the history and contemporary relevance of voting rights.

Driving Connections

Social Equity & Activism Summit

WORKSHOP: How do we drive connections towards a more just world? By unpacking our own narratives, we can understand equitable barriers and use our story to drive connections and motivate community action. In this workshop with Mike Keo, we will learn and discuss how effective storytelling can become the gateway to local change.

Ebb and Flow: Water and Migration

Climate & Transportation Summit

The fight to save the planet begins with the drive to safeguard our towns. Learn how to do that in this discussion with climate change experts Bruni Pizarro and James O’Donnell.

El Futuro es Ahora: Activism and Influences in the Arts

Social Equity & Activism Summit

Join us for a Behind the Actor's Studio-style interview with powerhouse practitioners in social change and cultural equity! Grantmakers in the Arts President Eddie Torres will be joined by Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre Founder and Artistic Director Rosalba Rolón in a session that will engage personal narrative to il

Greater New Haven Clean Cities Coalition

Climate & Transportation Summit

WORKSHOP: New Haven is home to one of only 100 Clean Cities around the country that brings together public and private stakeholders to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by cutting the use of petroleum in transportation.

Housing Insecurity Resource Fair

Social Equity & Activism Summit

Spend time with the people and organizations dedicated to supporting the unhoused and addressing housing insecurity. Educate yourself on the resources for support and advocacy on this critical social issue.

Keynote: Amelia Winger-Bearskin

Climate & Transportation Summit

Amelia Winger-Bearskin will showcase her art and science storytelling work and demonstrate how new technologies can help preserve and engage with ancestral knowledge. Attendees will discover how innovative formats can engage future generations. Additionally, Amelia will discuss how her collaborations with scientists have enriched her artistic practice.

Keynote: Baratunde Thurston

Tech & Democracy Summit

Talk about your consummate mutli-hyphenate! He’s the New York Times best-selling author of “How to Be Black.” An Emmy-nominated storyteller. Host of the PBS television series America Outdoors and the podcast How to Citizen with Baratunde. One of the greatest TED talkers of all time.

Talk to Me About Water

Climate & Transportation Summit

WORKSHOP: Join a talented group of data scientists, water scientists, AI researchers, and artists for an engaging workshop called “Talk to Me About Water.” Through music, games, and conversations, the workshop aims to encourage conversations about the global water crisis in a meaningful and playful way. You'll have the opportunity to learn from experts in t

The Art of Artificial Intelligence

Fellows Ideas Event

Listen in on a discussion between Brennan Buck, senior critic at the Yale School of Architecture and Ira Revels, founder of Black Tech Futures, on the pros and cons of using AI across artistic disciplines. Moderated by Rania Das.

The Future of Automobiles

Climate & Transportation Summit

Are flying cars, self-driving vehicles, and biomass-mobiles really in our future? Learn just how far — and how soon — technology will transport us into the future with this podcaster, author and frequent contributor to the New York Times, Smithsonian Magazine and NPR.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Artificial Intelligence

Tech & Democracy Summit

Artificial intelligence has been both idolized and demonized. Some have welcomed it into their businesses. Others fear it will destroy our lives. This lively presentation will help you take a fresh, informed, balanced look at how AI is impacting our lives now...and what we can do to ensure it will continue to be a force for good in the future. Speakers include Dr.

Understanding Housing Insecurity

Social Equity & Activism Summit

A world without housing insecurity. A realistic goal? Only if we better understand the inter-related array of steps that can lead to its elimination.

Voices of Social Equity

Social Equity & Activism Summit

How we tell the stories about ourselves, traumatic or otherwise, can be used to categorize us in ways that are not always equitable. Are marginalized groups expected to share traumatic experiences when dealing with institutions of power?

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