NetHope Global Summit 2018: A Recap

By Alex Alpert, Director of Membership, NetHope

When I started working at NetHope a few years ago, a member told me that if you put a group of members together in room, you can watch the “magic happen.”  And after attending four Global Summits and too many chapter meetings to count, I can safely say they were correct. This community of innovative and dedicated leaders, committed to solving problems together and doing good in our world, is what makes NetHope truly special.  

Collaboration is at the heart of what NetHope does and there’s no better example of that than the annual NetHope Global Summit. This year we welcomed over 500 attendees and 36 sponsors, representing more than 30 countries to Dublin—our biggest Global Summit ever! Participants dove deep into the theme of Digital Transformation over the five days of the conference, which included 55 breakout sessions, 12 keynotes - and panel plenary discussions, and a final day full of workshops and trainings. If you weren’t able to join us this year I’d like to share some of what I thought were the highlights of the week:

• Being in Dublin! Thank you, Trócaire, Goal, and Concern for welcoming us.
• Thank you to our sponsors for making Summit possible.
• Opening the Summit with what I believe to be “the heart and soul” of NetHope--the Working Groups. Our five Working Groups, their dedicated member leads, the multiple workstreams that support them-all demonstrate the spirit of collaboration that makes NetHope unique.
• Seeing representation from all our Global Chapters including Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America and the Middle East & North Africa. Representatives from the chapters participated in shaping the agenda, participated as keynotes and panelist.
• Welcoming Project Concern International as a new member.
• And these must-see keynotes:

Improving Our Change Initiatives with John Roberts, CEO of myProteus. 

Become an Exponential Organization with Gary Bolles, Chair for the Future of Work at, Singularity University. 

Force Multiplier with Kentaro Toyama, a professor at the University of Michigan and author of Geek Heresy: Rescuing Social Change from the Cult of Technology.

When It’s in Your DNA It’s Just Something You Do with Lauren Woodman, CEO at NetHope

You can view all the resources from the conference including videos of plenaries, agenda, photos, and more by visiting our NetHope Global Summit 2018 Resource Library. Also, since you’re such a photogenic group here are some favorite photos of all of you at the Summit.

Resoundingly, our members and partners are coming to the Global Summit to network, collaborate, and learn; and we are excited to build even more opportunities leading up to the 2019 Summit in San Juan, Puerto Rico, October 21-25.  For the NetHope Emergency Response Team, members and partners that supported the recovery efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, returning to Puerto Rico will be a special opportunity to reflect on the recovery as well as to see future opportunities for collaboration that remain, and to champion the future of this island.

We are looking forward to seeing you there next year. I wish you all a happy and healthy New Year. 

-- Alex