What is the Equity Summit?

The Equity Summit—SGA’s largest event of the year—is a virtual gathering of thought leaders and practitioners who work to ensure that racial equity is a key priority in any smart growth approach.

By prioritizing equity, smart growth practitioners can dismantle the systems and policies that produce or exacerbate existing racial inequities, create new tools to serve communities, and uplift the ideas and insights from new voices and leaders working to build thriving communities.

The Equity Summit 2023

It is more important than ever that equity is at the forefront of any smart growth approach. With the passage of the trillion-dollar bipartisan infrastructure deal and the largest-ever investment in the fight against climate change through the Inflation Reduction Act, there is substantial funding and a real opportunity to address past wrongs and ensure that changes to the built environment benefit everyone.

Across three days, the 2023 Equity Summit will examine these opportunities and discuss how to ensure equity is at the forefront of every decision through the lens of three themes:

Day 1 | Equitable Community Development:
Empowering communities by dismantling exclusionary zoning, supporting wealth-building among historically disenfranchised communities, and prioritizing attainable housing.

Day 2 | Reconnecting Communities:
Rethinking transportation to support and repair communities that continue to be harmed by divisive infrastructure and car-dependent design.

Day 3 | Equitable Decarbonization:
Ensuring that the benefits and costs of cutting emissions in the transportation and building sectors are equitably distributed across society.

Each day of the Equity Summit will focus on one of these important themes with expert- and practitioner-led keynotes, panels, and discussions, highlighted by the event’s overarching summit keynote from Joy Bailey Bryant.