The Community Foundation hosts an annual Shape of the Region Conference each spring. Since its inception in 2018, the event has evolved into a platform that helps organize our collective efforts to co-create a more inclusive, sustainable, and equitable region. Featuring some of Northern Virginia’s liveliest, most incisive thought leaders, the event also showcases national speakers and broader perspectives on our common challenges and themes.
See information about each of our conferences to date below.
2026 Shape of the Region Conference
Innovation and Leadership for Northern Virginia
Tuesday, March 24, 2026
Valo Park Auditorium 7950 Jones Branch Drive, McLean, VA 22102 $99 Registration Fee – Includes Breakfast. **Register by 1/24 for the EARLY BIRD rate of $89. REGISTER TODAY
2025 Shape of the Region Conference: Our Children
Creating Safe, Supportive Futures for Northern Virginia’s Youth
2024 Shape of the Region: Social Healing
On Friday, February 9 2024, the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia hosted its 2024 Shape of the Region Conference in collaboration with 19 regional partners, which highlighted a key problem facing our region, and the whole country today: Americans’ belief that most people can be trusted declined 47 percent from 1984 through 2022, according to the General Social Survey. Only a quarter of Americans say that most people can be trusted as of 2022.
As keynote speaker David Brooks says, “America is fractured and living a quiet crisis of disconnection. We have lost our trust in each other and our institutions. Divided, we face uncertainty, social turmoil, and political gridlock. Yet, within every community lies an answer.” In Northern Virginia, our Insight Region® Senior Director Denise Bellows discussed the trends in national and local data, showing that all indicators of the Virginia Trust Index are down over the past several years. Only around a third of Northern Virginians consider their neighbors “trustworthy.” You can read the presentation here.
Questions?
Questions?
