Jacksonville is a city of remarkable people, organisations, and communities, each working to improve the lives of others in different ways. Across the city, leaders are tackling complex challenges with commitment, expertise and innovation. The Jacksonville Breakthrough Initiative has been created to provide something different: a trusted space where people from across sectors can come together, build relationships, share perspectives, and explore new possibilities.
Rather than beginning with predetermined solutions, the initiative begins with listening. We believe that the knowledge, experience, and commitment needed to create meaningful progress already exists within Jacksonville. Our role is to create the conditions where those insights can be shared, connections strengthened and opportunities for collaboration discovered.
Why now?
Many of the issues facing communities today do not sit within a single organisation or system. Public safety, health, education, employment, housing, economic opportunity, and community wellbeing are deeply connected. No single organisation can address these challenges alone. The Jacksonville Breakthrough Initiative offers an opportunity to bring together people who may not normally have the chance to work alongside one another, creating conversations that help uncover new ways of thinking and acting together.
Why Jacksonville?
After spending time listening to people across Jacksonville, one thing has become clear: there is no shortage of passion, expertise, or commitment. Across every sector, people are already working hard to improve lives and strengthen communities. While there is a tremendous amount of good work happening across the city, there are opportunities to step outside organisational boundaries, build relationships across sectors, and think collectively about the future.
The Jacksonville Breakthrough Initiative has been created to provide that space.
The Jacksonville Breakthrough Summit
The inaugural Jacksonville Breakthrough Summit will take place on 27–28 October 2026 at the Jessie Ball duPont Center in downtown Jacksonville. Over two days, leaders and changemakers from across the city will build relationships, share perspectives, explore opportunities for collaboration, and consider what might be possible for Jacksonville's future.
The Summit is committed to creating an environment that is respectful of different viewpoints, politically neutral, grounded in curiosity rather than certainty, informed by evidence and lived experience, and focused on collaboration rather than division. Lasting progress begins by bringing people together to ask better questions, listen deeply, and discover what becomes possible when all parts of society work together.
If you're working in this space - or believe you have a role to play - we'd love to hear from you.
