Future Search
Expert facilitation for the first two Summits was provided by The Future Search Network, a non-profit agency that supports stakeholders from diverse, and often opposing, viewpoints to untangle complex social, economic, technological, and environmental issues and challenges. A Future Search Network Conference, developed by Marvin Weisbord and Sandra Janoff, is a structured two and a half day meeting, based on a set of principles that maximizes the capacity of meeting participants to engage in cooperative action for the common good. The Network has led numerous conferences for communities, schools, hospitals, and non-profits and has a notable track record in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, India, and North and South America.
Future Search is internationally known for brokering lasting agreements and shared initiatives in highly volatile and polarized settings, around a variety of issues related to poverty, health care access, regional and ethnic conflict, and education. Future Search conferences have led to years of ongoing collaboration, beyond what people expect from a single meeting.
In the US, Future Search has also worked with numerous public health agencies including the Center for Disease Control and INOVA Health Systems, health care providers, health care administrators, and communities across the United States to address issues of health inequality. These projects have included initiatives to reform welfare policy and to reduce infant mortality in disadvantaged regions, to reduce economic, racial, and ethnic disparities in health care, and redesign of the patient care process, policy, and local practice around hospital/community collaboration.