Last week, a diverse group of leaders, advocates, and practitioners working across sectors gathered in Chicago for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s inaugural Every Child Thrives Festival. The foundation, led by president and CEO La June Montgomery Tabron, is one of the largest philanthropic institutions in the United States and is dedicated to ensuring that all children have an equitable and promising future—a focus reflected by the festival’s stated mission of bringing together people to spark bold ideas and inspire meaningful change.
The three-day festival kicked off at the newly-opened Obama Presidential Center on Tuesday, June 23, with a jam-packed day of conversation and insight. In the morning, TIME editorial director Lucy Feldman moderated a conversation on the power of storytelling with Dorothea Gillim, executive producer and creative director of PBS member station GBH Kids; Ailen Arreaza, executive director of ParentsTogether; Bridgit Antoinette Evans, chief executive officer of Pop Culture Collaborative; and Uly Morazan, a content creator and comedian.
At the same time, TIME executive editorial director Cate Matthews sat down with Maisie Brown, Nicole Li, and Syda Segovia Taylor—grassroots activists from Mississippi, Tennessee, and Illinois, respectively—to discuss multigenerational organizing. And TIME for Kids Editor in Chief Andrea Delbanco led a conversation about how Americans can overcome division to build opportunity for kids and families. “The answer to division is not compromise; it’s capacity,” said Nat Kendall-Taylor, one of three panelists and CEO of FrameWorks Institute, a think tank that studies people’s perspectives on social issues. “It’s really thinking about the skills we need to have conversations across differences.”
That afternoon, two TIME100 Talks took place before a highly-engaged audience. First, Delbanco moderated a conversation about youth mental health with 17-year-old Sarah Shelke, who leads Mind4Youth, a yout
