Keep America Beautiful Summit 2027
Join us as a speaker

The 2027 Keep America Beautiful Summit, taking place February 14–17 in Savannah, Georgia, will bring together approximately 500 affiliate leaders, community and corporate partners, government leaders, and changemakers committed to creating cleaner, greener, and more beautiful communities.

Centered around the theme Power of Love, this year’s Summit will explore how love for our communities, our environment, and the people and partners who make change possible can be transformed into meaningful action and measurable impact.

We are seeking engaging, practical, and forward-thinking speakers who can inspire attendees while giving them ideas, tools, and approaches they can put to work in their own communities. Strong sessions will move beyond simply sharing a successful program and help participants understand what worked, what was learned, and how they can apply or adapt those lessons themselves.

Content Areas

Proposals should align with one or more of the six content pillars guiding the 2027 Keep America Beautiful Summit. Together, these areas explore how we can turn our love for our communities, our environment, and one another into meaningful action and lasting impact.

• Love Our Communities — Strengthening community pride and connection through beautification, civic engagement, volunteerism, placemaking, and programs that bring people together and inspire action.
• Love Our Environment — Advancing solutions for cleaner, greener communities through litter prevention, recycling and waste reduction, clean waterways, trees and green spaces, and environmental stewardship.
• Love Through Partnership — Building stronger collaborations across businesses, government, nonprofits, funders, community organizations, and volunteers to expand reach, leverage resources, and increase collective impact.
• Love Through Innovation — Exploring new ideas, technologies, tools, and approaches that can make our work smarter, more effective, and more impactful. Topics may include AI and emerging technology, new program models, data and measurement, creative communications, and innovative solutions to longstanding community challenges.
• Love the Next Generation — Engaging and empowering young people as leaders, problem-solvers, volunteers, and advocates for their communities. Sessions may explore youth engagement, education, intergenerational collaboration, leadership development, and new approaches for reaching and inspiring the next generation.
• Love Our Future — Looking ahead at the trends, challenges, and opportunities that will shape our communities and our work. This pillar invites forward-looking conversations about sustainability, resilience, evolving community needs, organizational leadership, and what it will take to create lasting impact for generations to come.

We especially welcome proposals that connect multiple pillars, introduce fresh perspectives, challenge conventional thinking, and offer ideas that can be adapted by communities and organizations of different sizes.

Regardless of content area, strong proposals should help attendees answer: What can I learn from this, and what can I take home and put into action?

Mainstage Sessions: Inspire & Challenge

Mainstage sessions are designed for the full Summit audience and should address ideas and challenges with broad relevance across the Keep America Beautiful network and our partners.

We are looking for compelling speakers, conversations, and stories that:

• Introduce a big idea, emerging issue, or new way of thinking.
• Inspire and energize a diverse national audience.
• Challenge attendees to think differently about their work or communities.
• Connect clearly to the Power of Love theme and the broader work of Keep America Beautiful.
• Create a memorable shared experience that can spark conversation throughout the Summit.

Mainstage proposals should be appropriate for a broad audience rather than focused primarily on the details of a single program, organization, or community.

Breakout Sessions: Teach & Equip

Breakout sessions provide an opportunity to go deeper and get practical. These sessions should help attendees develop skills, solve problems, learn from real-world examples, and take useful ideas back to their communities.

Strong breakout sessions will:

• Provide specific strategies, tools, frameworks, or resources.
• Share lessons learned—including challenges and what speakers would do differently.
• Include examples that can be adapted by communities and organizations of different sizes.
• Encourage participation, discussion, or hands-on learning when appropriate.
• Give attendees clear takeaways they can put into action.

We especially welcome breakout proposals that bring together multiple perspectives or partners and demonstrate how collaboration contributed to results.

Special Focus: Waterways Convening

The 2027 Summit will include a special Waterways Convening, bringing together our attendees, practitioners, researchers, community leaders, government, industry, and other partners working at the intersection of litter prevention, waterways, and community-based environmental action.

We are seeking speakers and participants who can contribute new research, proven approaches, innovative solutions, and diverse perspectives on preventing litter and plastics from reaching our waterways and addressing pollution within communities and watersheds.

Potential topics may include upstream litter prevention, marine and freshwater debris, plastics, behavior change, community-based solutions, data and measurement, policy and infrastructure, research-to-practice, and cross-sector collaboration.

Applicants with relevant expertise are encouraged to indicate their interest in participating in the convening, whether through a presentation, facilitated discussion, panel, or other collaborative format.

Above all, we want attendees to leave the 2027 Summit inspired by what is possible and equipped with something they can use when they return home.

Ready to dive in? This is where we'd love to learn more about you! We ask that each speaker submit their own information. Please refrain from submitting on behalf of others.

Applications must be completed and submitted in the KAB Affiliate Hub by NOON ET on Monday, October 19, 2026. Please reach out to April Wennerstrom, Senior Director, Operations at awennerstrom@kab.org with any questions.

What format best fits the style of your session?

The 2027 Summit will feature a mix of mainstage experiences designed to inspire and challenge and breakout experiences designed to teach, equip, and engage. Select the format that best reflects how you would like to engage Summit attendees. Keep America Beautiful may recommend a different format based on the proposal, audience, and overall Summit program.

Mainstage: Inspire & Challenge

• Keynote — A compelling presentation built around a big idea, emerging issue, powerful story, or new way of thinking with broad relevance to the Keep America Beautiful community. Keynotes should inspire, challenge, and leave the audience with a clear message or call to action.
• Fireside Chat — A conversational mainstage experience featuring two people exploring an important idea, issue, experience, or emerging trend. Fireside chats should reveal insights and perspectives through authentic conversation and storytelling rather than formal presentations.
• Panel Discussion — A moderated conversation bringing together diverse perspectives on a significant issue, opportunity, or trend relevant to our communities and environment. Panels should emphasize dialogue, differing perspectives, and actionable insights rather than a series of individual presentations. Panels are generally limited to three panelists plus a moderator.

Breakouts: Teach, Equip & Engage

• Interactive Workshop — A hands-on learning experience where participants develop a skill, explore a challenge, or apply a tool, framework, or strategy in real time. Workshops should emphasize participation and leave attendees with practical resources or approaches they can use in their own organizations and communities.
• Forum Breakout — A facilitated conversation designed to explore a specific challenge, opportunity, or emerging issue. Rather than a traditional presentation, the facilitator introduces the topic and guides participants in sharing experiences, exploring solutions, and learning from one another.
• Proven Practice — A concise, practical presentation highlighting a successful approach, innovation, partnership, or solution that others can learn from and adapt. Presenters should go beyond describing what they did to share what worked, what they learned, and what others could replicate or adapt in their own communities.

Proven Practices will be presented in both mainstage sessions, the waterways convening and a forum breakout. Each presenter will receive approximately 5–10 minutes and use no more than 5 slides. Proven Practices are a fan favorite of the Summit!

General Description

Please provide a clear and concise overview of your proposed session. This should help our selection committee understand what you plan to present, the topic or issue you will explore, and the approach you will take.

The strongest proposals are specific and focused. Your description should:

• Provide relevant context or background for the topic.
• Clearly identify the primary topic, issue, opportunity, or challenge the session will address.
• Describe the content you plan to cover and, when relevant, the examples, experiences, research, or perspectives you will bring to the session.
• Reflect the session format you are proposing (e.g., keynote, panel, workshop, forum, or Proven Practice).

Please note: If selected, your description may be adapted for Summit registration and promotional materials. Please proofread your submission for clarity and accuracy.

What will attendees take away from your session?

We want every Summit session to create meaningful value for attendees—whether by introducing a new idea, teaching a practical approach, sharing a compelling example, or starting an important conversation.

In 2–3 sentences, tell us what you want attendees to walk away thinking about, talking about, or ready to put into action as a result of your session.

Consider:

• What will attendees learn or be able to apply?
• What new idea, example, or perspective will they see or hear?
• What important question or challenge will your session encourage them to discuss or think differently about?
• Why does this matter to the Keep America Beautiful network and the communities we serve?
• Is there anything in your proposal that leverages the 2025 National Litter Study?

You do not need to address every question. Focus on the takeaway that is most important for your proposed session.

I confirm that the first draft of my presentation will be no later than January 18, 2027 and the final draft by February 1, 2027.

I will make myself available for an hour-long "Dry Run," practice run – to be scheduled based on me and the conference director's availability – at least four weeks prior to the National Conference. If additional "Dry Run" practices are needed, we will accommodate the needs of the speakers.