This year’s Prosperity Starts With Place™ National Conference brought together more than 700 Neighborhoodists™ from across the country to explore the power of strengthening communities during a moment of profound challenge and possibility. Under the theme, Lift Every Voice, residents, practitioners, funders, advocates, and national thought leaders gathered to share ideas, confront hard truths, and reimagine what becomes possible when residents are trusted to lead.
We are deeply grateful to our host, Lift JAX, led by President and CEO, Travis Williams, and the residents and leaders of Jacksonville’s Historic Eastside for welcoming us so generously into their community. Throughout the week, attendees experienced firsthand the energy, history, creativity, innovation, and momentum shaping the Eastside and the transformational work underway alongside residents. We are also thankful to our conference sponsors, partners, speakers, moderators, and the many community leaders whose insight and generosity made this gathering possible.
Throughout the week, conversations stretched far beyond conference stages. They unfolded during neighborhood tours and a block party in Jacksonville’s Historic Eastside, over shared meals, inside workshops, and in moments of reflection between sessions. Together, attendees explored how neighborhoods shape everything from economic mobility and child wellbeing to civic participation, belonging, and long-term prosperity.
There was a consistent thread woven throughout the conference: transformation happens through trusting relationships. It happens when residents are centered as leaders and visionaries. It happens when organizations work across sectors instead of in silos. It happens when people remain committed to long-term investment in neighborhoods, even when real, sustainable progress takes time.
Jacksonville served as a fitting backdrop for these conversations. As the home of Lift JAX and the birthplace of Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing, the city grounded this year’s gathering in both history and hope. Attendees experienced how resident-centered transformation is taking shape in the Historic Eastside through investments in housing, education, wellness, economic mobility, and community connection.
This year’s conference challenged all of us to think bigger about what neighborhoods can become and what it will take to get there. The conversations were honest. The urgency was real. But so was the optimism. What emerged was not simply a collection of ideas, but a shared conviction: when communities lift every voice, transformation happens.
At this year’s Prosperity Starts With Place™ conference, we were proud to welcome three new organizations into the Purpose Built Communities Network: East Savannah United in Savannah, Georgia; Northside Neighbors in Tulsa, Oklahoma; and RISE Northwest in Dayton, Ohio.
While each community’s story is unique, all three organizations share a deep commitment to resident-centered transformation and long-term investment in the neighborhoods they serve.
Their invitation into the Network reflects years of dedicated work, strong local leadership, and a demonstrated commitment to implementing the holistic, research-backed Purpose Built Communities model to create lasting impact for children, families, and neighborhoods.
From block parties and mentorship programs in East Savannah to resident-led planning efforts in North Tulsa and new pathways to homeownership in Northwest Dayton, these organizations are building momentum in ways that are deeply rooted in community voice, trust, and belonging.
