A world-renowned group of more than 120 experts will converge on Salt Lake City, along with 500 guests, for the third annual Winter Innovation Summit from Jan. 25 to Jan. 27. The conference is hosted by the Sorenson Impact Center in partnership with Salt Lake County and the Sundance Institute.
“The Winter Innovation Summit has become the preeminent convening in the social impact and innovation space,” said Jeremy Keele, president and CEO of Sorenson Impact. “We welcome the most forward-thinking people working to solve social problems across the globe — from policy leaders, investors and nonprofits to social entrepreneurs, community leaders and academics. The central theme of Sorenson Impact and the event itself is to explore how data, evidence and innovation can be leveraged to solve difficult social problems like homelessness, chronic unemployment, incarceration and poverty.”
Last year, David Wilkinson, then director of the White House Office of Innovation and Civic Participation, lauded the summit as “the largest gathering of leaders committed to using measurable outcomes to change the way government works.”
Speakers at the summit will include former news anchor Soledad O’Brien, who will lead a discussion on social impact and the power of media; U.S. Rep. John Delaney of Maryland, who will speak about innovation in our nation’s capital; Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, who will talk about innovative problem-solving in the beehive state, along with dozens of other giants in the impact investing, social enterprise and government-performance and innovation space.
Many more mainstage speakers and panelists will share their knowledge and expertise on a range of subjects that touch on this year’s theme: innovation for social change. Topics will include finding scalable solutions to social problems, data science for social good, impact investing, social entrepreneurship, social impact bonds/Pay for Success, correction reform, performance management, educational outcomes, measuring meaningful impact and impact investing through a gender lens.
“Salt Lake County is leading the way in the use of data and evidence in local governance to achieve results and hold ourselves accountable to the public for spending scarce tax dollars,” said Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams. “Whenever a homeless teen or an impoverished child participates in a social program that doesn’t succeed, rather than one that does, that represents a human cost. Our Pay for Success initiatives are showing us how to deliver measurably better lives for the people that we serve.”
To register or learn more about the third annual Winter Innovation Summit, explore innovationsummit2017.com. To apply for media credentials, please contact Lisa Cox at lisa.cox@eccles.utah.edu.
