For registration and sponsorship information, please visit our Summit page.
Van Jones, Media Personality and Social Entrepreneur
Jones is widely known as a U.S. media personality, an entrepreneur and a world-class change maker. Outside of his roles as a CNN contributor and host of Amazon Music Podcast, Uncommon Ground, Jones has a rare track record in the modern era of bringing people together to do hard things — in areas as diverse as clean energy solutions, criminal justice reform and racial inclusion in the tech sector. In 2007, Van was the primary champion of the Green Jobs Act, signed into law by George W. Bush. In 2009, he worked in the Obama White House as the Special Advisor for Green Jobs. In 2018, he helped pass the FIRST STEP Act – which the New York Times calls the most substantial breakthrough in criminal justice in a generation. In 2021, Jones was one of the first two recipients of Jeff Bezos’ Courage & Civility Award. Over the past 25 years, Van has founded and led many successful social enterprises, including REFORM Alliance, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Color of Change, Green For All and the Dream.Org. A world-class communicator of world-class ideas, Van is also a CNN host, an Emmy Award-winning producer and a 3X New York Times best-selling author.
Cobb is renowned globally as a true new-paradigm thinker and innovator in place-based economic development and visionary leadership in building lasting and sustainable communities. Listen to her story as told on 60 Minutes, Fogo Island: Bringing new life to a remote Canadian fishing community.
Zita Cobb, Founder and CEO of Shorefast
An eighth-generation Fogo Islander, Cobb is the Founder and CEO of Shorefast and Innkeeper of the award-winning Fogo Island Inn — built on the principles of respect for nature and culture on the largest offshore island of Newfoundland and Labrador. Following a successful career in high-tech, Zita returned to Fogo Island and established Shorefast to support the struggling economy. With an enduring commitment to Fogo Island, Shorefast is expanding its mission through its pan-Canadian Community Economies initiative to strengthen place-based economic development within the global economy.
“While impact investing has held out the promise for a brighter future, our challenges are massive, and our goals still need to be met. To accomplish this, we need a paradigm shift in how we think, lead, innovate and invest,” said Sorenson Impact Foundation Founder and impact investing pioneer Jim Sorenson. “The 2023 Sorenson Impact Summit brings together global leaders in the impact investing ecosystem to connect, share, and learn how to level up their approaches to drive impact and returns, at scale.”
This year’s programming will delve into two high-level themes: Investing for the future through innovation, economic development and scale and achieving social and environmental justice through capital markets.
Stephen Gyllenhaal, Veteran Film and Television Producer
As part of the event, Gyllenhaal will screen his newest film focused on the challenges facing philanthropies and how a new radical way of giving is needed. Gyllenhaal has been directing and producing tv and film for over 40 years. He currently serves on the Social Impact Advisory Board of the San Diego International Film Festival and is the director of the upcoming documentary, Uncharitable, based on the ground-breaking book by Dan Pallotta.
“Summit guests will enjoy a small, thoughtfully curated event with opportunities for relationship building and knowledge sharing to drive meaningful change in their communities,” said Sorenson Impact Center CEO Geoff Davis. “With global change in overdrive, the time is now for a shift in how we think, lead, innovate and invest. The summit provides an amazing opportunity for these meaningful conversations to happen.”