"Providence and Beyond is unlike most memberships I have been a part of. It is fast paced but thoughtful, action oriented but reflective, and includes a healthy balance of voices and models from inside and outside this great city. As a kind of collective professional development process, I as a member, am learning and being exposed to a diversity of ways of creating meaningful places. But what is key is that I am experiencing this re-imagining alongside other community leaders in Rhode Island and the region. I keep attending these events because it is so important for me to have this as a shared experience with the exciting set of professional colleagues Providence & Beyond and this initiative have attracted. Something important will come of this, and I am inspired to be involved in this critical discourse that starts with presentations and finds itself evolving in the cafes, e-mails, and dinners of my life".
Seth Goldenberg
RI School of Design
“Providence and Beyond is a roadway for the future for visionaries and realists. All of us need to be there.”
Natalie Carter
Blackstone Valley Tourism Council
“The Providence & Beyond experience is liberating and engaging. Where else would you find such provocative keynoters, and then have the opportunity to dissect their presentations in café conversations with some of the most progressive minds in the state and region? I've come into contact with people I would have never met otherwise and whose company I now thoroughly enjoy. Providence & Beyond should be congratulated for assembling such a throng. It's well worth the investment in a Charter Membership. I take something home with me after every session”.
Bruce Vild
RI Division of Planning
"The first thing I realized upon seeing the group gathered for Providence & Beyond was 'This is going to be Powerful'. With the energy of the people collected, things will happen. I am very excited about the opportunity of being part of this group and what we will accomplish." Margaux Morisseau
NeighborWorks® Blackstone River Valley
“My experience is that Providence & Beyond is an effective catalyst that brings a diverse group of engaged action-oriented people together to align creatively and act toward an exciting positive future for Providence, the region and beyond”. “The ideas that come from this process have wide applications in all urban areas and should be seeded throughout the world”.
Peter Smith
Boston Society of Architects
"Providence and Beyond has provided me with a great opportunity to meet and then learn about how innovative thinkers and doers are making this world a more interesting and sustainable place. This experience also provides me with a chance to discuss ideas and perspectives with other leaders. I have been able to talk with people I would have never met, even though we are working on similar issues, just from different angles. These new relationships and ideas have strengthened my work projects to make them more inspiring and diverse." "Providence and Beyond is fun and an event in which I look forward to becoming more involved."
Jennifer McCann
University of Rhode Island Coastal Resources Center
Rhode Island Sea Grant
"Providence and Beyond inspires me to expand my thinking by exposing me to new ideas both similar and different to my own and I appreciate the privilege to be able to add my perspective to the dialog. Participating in Providence and Beyond, hearing from speakers who are taking risks, charting new ground and thinking big, challenges me to transfer some of these ideas into my own work, and to ask the question how I can best contribute to Providence's sustainable future."
Ina Anderson
Prarie Avenue Neighborhood Revitalization
"Providence & Beyond provides an important opportunity for community leaders to come together around issues and techniques that have been successful in other places. A great learning environment, provocative, respectful; and the chance to gather together off line to discuss the ways and means to improve our communities now and for the future."
Buff Chace
Cornish Associates LLC
“Imagine if you could get together with 50 to 60 of the most powerful and progressive thinkers in the region and engage in conversations about the economy, environment, land development and social and cultural conditions. Then imagine some of the world’s most creative minds join in the conversation and bring the global context to the discussion. This is Providence and Beyond. The great thing about it is that the experience doesn’t stop at the door. It evolves into opportunities, actions and projects that, I believe, will have major impacts on the future of the region.”
Fred Presley, AICP
former Director of Planning and Economic Development, Town of Smithfield
"The brain food that Providence & Beyond dishes out keeps me feeling focused, inspired, and connected. The energy I take back with me infuses my life and my work. It nourishes me in a profound way."
Sally Struever
Portland Maine
While Providence is a leader in many ways, Providence & Beyond provides a necessary opportunity for our community to learn how others around the country are creating functional, life-affirming places to live. I learn something new and important every time."
Cliff Wood
City of Providence Council, and Cornish Associates LLC
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