2026 Future of Black Communities Summit

The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, America’s Black think tank, hosted the 2026 Future of Black Communities Summit on July 16, 2026, from 8:15 a.m. until 2 p.m. in Washington, DC, at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill (400 New Jersey Ave NW, Washington, DC 20001).

Each year, the Summit brings together policymakers, researchers, advocates, and community leaders to examine the challenges and opportunities defining the future of Black communities — and to build toward solutions that last.

The agenda with speaker bios can be found here. The full list of speakers is below.

• Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE)
• Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)
• Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC)
• Dedrick Asante-Muhammad, President, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
• Monica Mitchell, Chief of Staff, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
• Paul Thornell, Principal, Mehlman Castagnetti Rosen & Thomas, and Board Chair, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
• Chanelle Hardy, Head of Public Policy Stakeholder Engagement, Google
• Rey Ramsey, President and CEO, Nathan Cummings Foundation
• Michele Jawando, CEO, Omidyar Network
• Otis Rolley, President and CEO, Baltimore Development Corporation and Board Member, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
• Navin Girishankar, President, Economic Security and Technology Department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies
• Dr. Nicol Turner Lee, Senior Fellow in Governance Studies and the director of the Center for Technology Innovation at Brookings
• Erica Green, White House Correspondent, The New York Times
• Dedrick Asante-Muhammad, President, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
• Monica Mitchell, Chief of Staff, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
• Danielle (Davis) Canty, Senior Advisor and Technology Policy Director, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
• Dr. LaToya Parker, Senior Researcher, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
• Cantrell Dumas, Senior Researcher, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
• Paul Thornell, Board Chair, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies

Watch the programming below.

See photos from the event below.