A Growing Season: SSDN’s 2026 Annual Meeting

As another Annual Meeting comes to a close, one word comes to mind: growth.

This meeting saw a record number of attendees (230+), sponsors (26) and sponsorship dollars ($100k+), and scholarship awardees (19). 

We also grew in firsts, as in:

• Our first Sustainability Showcase, an afternoon of fellowship and learning featuring partners and sponsors alike.
• Free professional headshot offerings
• An emerging and seasoned professionals dinner hosted by the City of Orlando. 
• Our first ever Champion-level $10,000+ sponsor VoLo Foundation!
• Having an official composting sponsor and composting all of our food through Renuable! 2,000+ lbs was composted during the event.

But with that growth also came a sense of calm, comradery, and learning that our members have come to expect from our Annual Meeting events such as:

• Plenaries exploring communications, self reflection, and more;
• A warm welcome from the City of Tampa and Tampa Mayor Jane Castor;
• Peer Learning Circles where members exchanged practical strategies on topics such as fleet transition to EV, energy codes, communications, procurement, dealing with disasters, and more;
• Networking and collaboration opportunities that sparked new ideas and partnerships; and
• Tours across Tampa that brought local sustainability, resilience, and historic preservation efforts to life.

And who could forget:

• That delicious homegrown lunch at Meacham Urban Farms.
• The best game of rock paper scissors ever.
• Our Unconference sessions based on community size and concerns.
• Connecting with each other.

We look forward to hearing how our members are taking what they’ve learned from each other and putting those ideas into action for our residents and communities. See you in 2027 in Birmingham, Alabama!!

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