Midwest Regional Sustainability Summit
The Midwest Regional Sustainability Summit is the largest sustainability conference in the Midwest, bringing together 650 passionate and visionary leaders to share inspiring, forward-thinking, and solution-oriented ideas that propel us toward a healthier, more resilient, sustainable, and equitable future. Join Fortune 500 powerhouses, innovative entrepreneurs, government officials, sustainability directors, academic leaders, nonprofit professionals, and community advocates committed to solving some of the region’s toughest environmental challenges while creating positive economic impact.
The 13th annual Midwest Regional Sustainability Summit will take place on Friday, June 12, 2026, at the Sharonville Convention Center, just north of Cincinnati, Ohio.
The event features a full day of programming (8:00 am–6:00 pm), including 100 speakers, 45 exhibitors, an art show, live performances, breakfast, lunch, a networking reception, and more.
The Summit is hosted by Green Umbrella, with planning partners including the Ohio Environmental Council, City of Cincinnati, City of Dayton, Xavier University, University of Cincinnati, University of Dayton, Hamilton County ReSource, and Baraza Impact Design Studio.
2026 Theme: Adapt Today, Thrive Tomorrow
Adapt Today, Thrive Tomorrow calls us to put resilience into practice—not only to withstand the shocks of our time, but to evolve and thrive through them. Across the Midwest, communities are grappling with more extreme weather, shifting economic conditions, changing political priorities, and growing social complexity. At the same time, the rapid emergence of AI, the spread of misinformation, and the erosion of shared truths are testing how we lead, collaborate, and make decisions in an increasingly uncertain world.
This year’s Summit asks: How do we adapt today so we can thrive tomorrow? How can we—across sectors and systems—build the agility, creativity, and capacity needed to endure disruption, reduce the impacts driving climate change, and sustain progress over time?
Adapt Today, Thrive Tomorrow is a call to strengthen individual and organizational resilience, cultivate solutions that endure, and work across differences to ignite real change. By adapting with intention and acting with courage and connection, we can move beyond resilience toward a future where the Midwest not only weathers uncertainty—but grows stronger because we rose to meet it.
2026 Keynote Speaker: Dr. Rebecca Carter
Keynote Speaker: Dr Rebecca Carter
Dr. Rebecca Carter brings a global perspective to the Midwest’s most pressing sustainability challenges. She is a leading voice in advancing transformative climate adaptation to build resilient economies and communities—particularly as regions face more extreme weather and shifting environmental conditions.
Rebecca is the former Director of Climate Adaptation and Resilience at the World Resources Institute (WRI) and previously served as a USAID Foreign Service Environment Officer in Indonesia, Uganda, and the Philippines. With a Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Arizona, she brings a deeply human-centered lens to sustainability, helping leaders move beyond incremental change toward more enduring systems that allow communities to adapt and thrive.
The Summit is hosted by Green Umbrella. Planning partners include the Ohio Environmental Council, City of Cincinnati, City of Dayton, Xavier University, University of Cincinnati, University of Dayton, Hamilton County ReSource, and Baraza Impact Design Studio.
Event Links
Tickets: https://go.evvnt.com/3504204-0
Website: https://go.evvnt.com/3504204-2
