The Rockefeller Foundation Convening Design Guide

Convenings have enormous potential to drive impact. For decades, global leaders have come together at the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Center, using convening as a tool to map the landscape of emerging fields, to forge new alliances, to discover breakthrough pathways to impact, and to accelerate collective action in addressing the world's toughest challenges. Yet, many convenings never achieve their full potential. We've all attended a gathering where participants were distracted or disengaged. Where we didn't connect meaningfully with the content. Where there was a missing crackle of energy between the participants. Our philosophy is that intentional design can bridge that gap. The Convening Guide is a resource created to help organizers sharpen the purpose of their gatherings and craft an intentional participant experience, factors that enable a convening to achieve its full potential and more importantly, create a greater chance of achieving lasting impact.