2026 Community Gathering: Poetry, Place, Possibility

This annual gathering of community features a powerful keynote and conversation with Ada Limón, award-winning author and the 24th Poet Laureate of the United States. Limon’s poetry reminds us that storytelling and shared language can be tools of hope and resilience, nourishing our collective ability to care for our world and for each other. Join us for an evening of connection, creativity, and possibility in service of the place we call home.

SPECIAL FEATURES THIS YEAR:

• There will be an interactive creative station hosted by Sawtooth School for Visual Art where attendees can make a special takeaway piece inspired by Ada Limón’s poetry.
• The evening program will begin with a newly commissioned poem reading by local poet and writer, Jacinta V. White.
• We are partnering with Bookmarks to sell copies of Ada Limón’s books.
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REGISTRATION

INDIVIDUAL TICKETS ($25)

Register now to purchase individual tickets. If cost is a barrier, you may request a complimentary ticket.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Ada Limón is the author of seven books of poetry, including Startlement: New & Selected Poems; The Hurting Kind, which was a finalist for the Griffin Prize; The Carrying, which won the National Books Critics Circle Award and was a finalist for the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award; and Bright Dead Things, which was named a finalist for the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Kingsley Tufts Award.

Limón is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and was named a 2024 Time Magazine Woman of the Year. She is the author of two picture books, In Praise of Mystery as well as And, Too, The Fox, and was the editor of the anthology You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World. Her closing talk as the U.S. Poet Laureate, Against Breaking, will be available in book form from Scribner in April 2026.
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ABOUT THIS EVENT

What began as a low-key afternoon event in 1992 launched a tradition that continues today: the Foundation's annual Community Gathering. Held in early May each year, the much-anticipated, often sold-out event brings together hundreds of corporate, government, education, and nonprofit leaders, as well as interested individuals and community members.

Since its inception, annual attendance has grown to more than 1,000 guests who fill the Benton Convention Center to network and visit, learn more about the Foundation, and take away new insights from thought-provoking keynote speakers. Past gatherings have focused on diverse topics such as social capital building, economic mobility, racial equity, unconscious bias, and local food systems.

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‍2026 Community Meeting Sponsors

The Winston-Salem Foundation thanks the following sponsors for their generous support of the 2026 Community Meeting.

Community Investors

Goodwill Industries of Northwest North Carolina, Inc.
John and Mary Louise Burress
Wells Fargo Bank

Community Builders

Arbor Acres United Methodist Retirement Community
Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts
United Way of Forsyth County

Community Supporters