Briefing Book
Click here to view/download the 2026 Leaders Summit Briefing Book.
By The Communications Network
On April 8–9, 2026, 65 Circles and LOCAL leaders gathered in New York City for The Communications Network's first-ever Leaders Summit.
Hearing from experts at Unify America, IDEO.org, and the Rockefeller Foundation's Connected Leaders Platform, the lessons that came out centered around why most of what we call communications isn't working, the four ingredients of community, the tension between stewarding a community and distributing ownership of it, why an event is a communications strategy, how to get better at listening, and the case for starting with a goal, not a problem.
Six insights worth chewing on, five low-lift experiments to try before your next gathering, and three questions the room didn't resolve — and probably shouldn't.
We're proud to make these lessons available to all.
Explore the Briefing Book:
These conversations are worth continuing. From Insights to Action: A Practice Guide gives you five Summit learnings as self-paced reflections and facilitated session guides — ready to use on your own or with your team:
Why most communications don't work
The four ingredients of community
Distributing ownership without losing the community
Designing your next event as a communications strategy
Listening as a practice
Let us know how it goes in Slack.