IMPACT GUILD FORUM
A 2.5-day convening designed for connection, collaboration, and momentum.
Save the Date for 2026!
The 2026 Impact Guild Forum will be held from November 11-13, 2026 in Beverly Hills, CA. Stay tuned for additional details.
Overview
The Impact Guild Forum is our flagship annual gathering, held each November in Los Angeles.
Over two and a half days, members and invited leaders from across media, arts, entertainment, and social impact come together to build relationships, exchange ideas, and advance work in a shared environment.
Designed intentionally as an “unconference,” the Forum prioritizes participation over presentation—creating space for meaningful dialogue, collaboration, and connection across disciplines.
A Different Kind of Convening
The Forum is structured to move beyond traditional conference dynamics.
Rather than a series of panels and passive audiences, the experience is designed to:
- Foster genuine relationships
- Surface ideas across sectors
- Create opportunities for collaboration
- Support conversations that continue well beyond the event itself
It is a space where practitioners engage directly with one another—bringing their work, questions, and perspectives into the room.
Programming
The Forum blends multiple formats to support both structure and spontaneity:
Mainstage. Keynote conversations and featured sessions that bring shared focus to the full group.
Breakouts. Smaller, interactive sessions designed for dialogue, problem-solving, and exchange.
Social Programming. Curated moments that create space for informal connection and relationship-building.
Artistic Interludes. Creative flashes woven throughout the experience, reflecting the Guild’s commitment to storytelling across forms.
Who Attends
The Forum brings together a cross-section of the Guild’s network, alongside invited leaders working at the forefront of storytelling and social change.
Participants include creators, executives, strategists, funders, and researchers representing a wide range of disciplines and perspectives.
A Shared Experience
Each year, the Forum is shaped by the people in the room.
Conversations are candid, participation is active, and the experience is intentionally designed to build trust—creating the conditions for collaboration to emerge.
Many attendees describe the Forum as the most meaningful and generative gathering they attend each year.
Featured Voices
Past Forums have included keynote conversations and sessions with leaders across media, philanthropy, and cultural institutions.
Recent highlights include a keynote with John Palfrey, President of the MacArthur Foundation.
Beverly Hills, CA | November 13-14, 2025
The premier gathering for media, arts, and entertainment for impact
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Where ideas turned into collaborations—and collaboration turned into action
The Impact Guild Forum is not a traditional conference. It’s a 2.5-day unconference designed to accelerate relationships, spark collaboration, and move work forward.
In 2025, leaders across media, arts, entertainment, philanthropy, and strategy came together in Los Angeles for a highly interactive experience blending mainstage conversations, hands-on workshops, and structured collaboration.
Designed for participation, not passive listening
- Structured matchmaking and collaboration sessions from the start
- Small-group workshops and design sprints—not panels-for-panels’ sake
- Real-time idea development across issue areas and disciplines
- Built-in space for reflection, connection, and follow-through
From the first lunch session to the final reception, attendees weren’t just networking—they were building together.
The future of storytelling—and who gets to shape it
Across two days, the Forum tackled some of the most urgent questions facing media and society:
- AI & the Creative Economy. From Netflix’s AI guidelines to copyright and ownership of the future
- Narrative Power & Democracy. Storytelling for America’s 250th and rebuilding social cohesion
- The Collapse—and Rebuild—of Media Systems. Creator economies, consolidation, and new infrastructure
- Measuring Narrative Change. Using AI and data to understand what actually works
- The Future of Philanthropy. Featuring MacArthur Foundation President John Palfrey
- Media, Influence & Politic. A candid conversation with Rick Wilson (The Lincoln Project) on podcasts and persuasion
- Civics, Culture & Education. With Ben Sheehan, unpacking the disappearance of civic literacy
Not just conversations—working sessions
The Forum’s workshop model brought attendees into the work:
- Affinity Group Labs across
- Climate storytelling
- Responsible AI
- LGBTQ equality
- Immigration
- Democracy
- Collaborative design sprints on:
- Gender equity
- Racial justice
- Mental health
- Media literacy
- Reproductive rights
- Interactive sessions on:
- Building a new creative economy
- Ethical AI standards for creators
- World-building hopeful futures (with Alan Gershenfeld & Jared Ruga)
- Bridging polarization through storytelling
These weren’t theoretical discussions—they were active working groups generating ideas, frameworks, and partnerships in real time.
A Network in Motion
The Forum is where the Guild becomes real.
- Creators met funders
- Strategists met storytellers
- Executives met operators they wouldn’t normally encounter
And those conversations didn’t end when the sessions did—they carried forward into projects, partnerships, and ongoing collaboration.
Not Just Work
Because relationships matter:
- Opening matchmaking lunch
- Evening receptions and performances
- Informal moments that build trust and connection
The result: a space that feels less like a conference—and more like a community in motion.
Join Us in 2026
If you’re looking for:
- Collaborators, not just contacts
- Real conversations, not just panels
- Momentum, not just inspiration
The Impact Guild Forum is where it happens.
November 11-13, 2026 | Beverly Hills, California
