Franklin Street Policy Salons

Our cornerstone activity is an intimate roundtable dinner or cocktail hour with policy-minded practitioners from across sectors. In a perfect storm of wine and wonkery we engage in a rigorous, issue-driven discussion on the concerns of the day. Asking the right question is as important as mapping out the potential solution—esteemed company and good food light the way. The salon is an opportunity for participants to gain a multi-sector perspective, foster connections, and expand their knowledge.

Workshops, Forums, and Spotlights

With our trademark combination of connection, exposition, and interaction, these events feature experts and practitioners who embrace opportunities and challenges in developing markets that require cross-sector collaboration to achieve maximum impact. Participants share their experiences and lessons learned, workshop challenges, or civilly spar across the aisle on a current issue. Our gatherings are a way for Franklin Street participants to connect, partner, and learn from perspectives outside their usual professional circle.

Policy Scrums

In these challenge-driven workshops, featured experts present to the group a real, issue-based challenge they face in their work. Over the course of a single evening, participants scrum to problem-solve the challenge, drawing from their diverse sector expertise to expose creative and nuanced solutions. The result is a set of actionable, integrated options for speakers to incorporate into their strategy. Speakers and scrummers alike leave the experience with a new solution, new idea, or new connection.

Advisory Services

We advise mission-driven entrepreneurs on strategies for responsible engagement in both developed and frontier markets. By applying systems thinking and human-centered design, we help clients to identify opportunities, address challenges, and design actionable strategies to increase social impact. Leveraging our network of vanguard thinkers and doers across the security, business, and development sectors, we identify opportunities for cross-sector partners to work together to achieve mutually aligned outcomes.