8th Annual Statewide Conference

Thank you for making our 8th Annual Statewide Conference the biggest one yet! More than 160 village members, volunteers, staff, and partners from across California and as far as Washington, DC gathered at the LA County Arboretum to explore this year’s theme: Villages, Resilience and the Power of Community— honoring the strength, adaptability, and enduring spirit of the village movement.

📅 Thursday–Friday, September 17 & 18, 2026
📍 Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden- AYRES HALL
301 North Baldwin Ave, Arcadia, CA 91007

Here is a look back at what we learned together:

Disaster Resilience: Leaders from Kern River Valley Senior Citizens, Inc., Pasadena Village, and Village Santa Cruz County, moderated by Lauren Meister of ENLA, showed how villages become trusted hubs when disaster strikes. Their advice: get connected before the emergency happens.

From Access to Ownership: Dr. Katrina Polk and leaders from the Washington DC Village Collaborative shared their model for moving older adults from neighbor to member to leader, and left us with a question to sit with: Who is not at the table

Keynote: Dr. Michelle Martin of Cal State Fullerton invited us to see resilience as reinvention, built through authenticity, honest reckoning with loss, and the courage to grow.

Renewment: Helen Dennis introduced conversation groups that help women 55+ navigate retirement, a great way for villages to engage younger members. If your village would like to explore bringing Renewment groups to your community, email Carolyn Ross at carolyn@villagemovementcalifornia.org.

Village Voices World Café: Laura Peck guided us through conversations on how villages build resilience together.

The Artful Conversation: The National Conflict Resolution Center gave us practical tools for staying in relationship, even when we disagree.
State of Villages: Carolyn Ross shared where the movement stands today. Our 50 villages across California now touch the lives of more than 10,000 older adults, families, volunteers, and caregivers.

See the photos! Relive the two days in our Facebook photo album.

A heartfelt thank you to our sponsors for making this gathering possible. Special thanks to Pasadena Village and 626 Village for helping host, from the pre-conference reception and Arboretum walk to the warm welcomes and helpful volunteers throughout.

CONFERENCE AGENDA

WEDNESDAY 9/16

4:30 – 6:00 PM PRE-CONFERENCE RECEPTION AT PASADENA VILLAGE

Village Office Community Room, 236 W. Mountain St, #113, Pasadena, CA 91103
Pasadena Village invites conference attendees to attend a pre-conference reception on Wednesday, September 16.

THURSDAY 9/17

10:00 AM PRE-CONFERENCE ARBORETUM WALK

This pre-conference walk is an opportunity for conference attendees to enjoy the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden. Pasadena Village will coordinate. You can request transportation when you register.

12:30 -1:00 PM CONFERENCE CHECK-IN

1:00 – 1:15 PM WELCOME REMARKS

1:15 – 2:45 PM DISASTER RESILIENCE: PREPARING OLDER ADULTS AND BUILDING ORGANIZATIONAL CAPACITY TO RESPOND

Older adults are often disproportionately affected by wildfires, earthquakes, and other natural disasters, facing greater risks from mobility limitations, isolation, and disrupted access to care. Villages are proving to be a vital piece of local disaster response, serving as trusted community hubs that can quickly mobilize neighbors and coordinate support when it matters most.

This panel brings together representatives from villages with direct experience preparing for or activating their villages as rapid response networks: Kern River Valley Senior Citizens, Inc., Pasadena Village, and Village Santa Cruz County. Moderated by Lauren Meister, Director of Operations of Emergency Network Los Angeles (ENLA).

3:00 – 4:30 PM FROM ACCESS TO OWNERSHIP: BUILDING EQUITABLE PATHWAYS INTO THE VILLAGE MOVEMENT

What does it take to build a Village where everyone belongs, not just in theory, but in practice? Washington DC Village Collaborative (DCVC) Executive Director Dr. Katrina Polk and colleagues share a proven equity framework: a three-tiered model that moves older adults from neighbor to member to leader through Ambassador outreach, structured Village incubation, and sustainable membership access strategies.

Drawing on a network that reaches more than 10,000 DC residents annually, including seniors of color, low-income elders, LGBTQ+ older adults, and residents with limited English proficiency, this session offers practical, replicable tools for Villages at every stage. DCVC and VMC share a conviction that multi-racial, multi-cultural membership is a condition to build for, not an aspiration, and the Village Incubator is one of the most powerful tools we have to get there.

5:00 – 6:30 PM WELCOME RECEPTION AT DOUBLETREE BY HILTON HOTEL MONROVIA – PASADENA AREA

7:00 PM DINE & DISH DINNERS
Join your fellow conference attendees to discuss various topics at nearby restaurants; this is an optional activity where guests pay for their own meals.

FRIDAY 9/18

8:30 – 9:00 AM LIGHT BREAKFAST & CHECK-IN

9:00 – 9:30 AM WELCOME REMARKS

9:30 – 10:45 AM KEYNOTE PRESENTATION “REBUILDING: RESILIENCE AS REINVENTION IN LATER LIFE” — MICHELLE MARTIN

Michelle Martin, PhD, MSW, Associate Professor, Department of Social Work at California State University, Fullerton (CSUF), opens the second day of the conference with a keynote on resilience as something we actively build, not just something we survive. Drawing on her research in social work, peace studies, and global policy, along with decades of practice in child welfare and victim advocacy, Dr. Martin explores how people navigate major life transitions, from retirement to loss to caregiving to reinvention, and come out the other side with a clearer sense of who they are.

Her work challenges us to see resilience not as quiet endurance, but as authenticity, honest reckoning with loss, and the courage to step away from roles we have outgrown. Dr. Martin’s keynote invites villages to consider how we build the kind of belonging that gives people room to change, adapt, and grow at every stage of life, and how that belonging is the foundation resilient communities are built on.

10:45 – 11:45 AM RENEWMENT FOR VILLAGES — HELEN DENNIS

Renewment (retirement + renewal) supports women 55 and older through structured conversation groups, offered in person and virtually, as they navigate the transition from work to retirement and beyond. For villages, partnering with Renewment offers a built-in way to reach and engage younger members in the 55+ range, a population that can be difficult to reach, helping villages grow membership in this group.

Presented by Helen Dennis, a nationally recognized expert on the non-financial side of retirement who has worked with more than 25,000 employees across corporations and universities. She co-founded Project Renewment and co-authored the Los Angeles Times bestseller of the same name and writes the syndicated column Successful Aging for over 1.2 million readers weekly.

11:45 – 12:45 PM LUNCH

12:45 – 2:15 PM VILLAGE VOICES WORLD CAFÉ: VILLAGES, RESILIENCE, AND THE POWER OF COMMUNITY

This year, we gather around the theme of Resiliency, honoring the strength, adaptability, and enduring spirit of the village movement across California. Building on insights from our speakers and panels, participants will rotate through facilitated conversations exploring how villages build resilience, to co-create actionable strategies for advancing social care in California’s aging communities. Led by Laura Peck, Village Movement California, Board member.

2:30 – 4:00 PM THE ARTFUL CONVERSATION: NAVIGATING CONFLICT, STAYING IN RELATIONSHIP

Presented by the National Conflict Resolution Center (NCRC), this interactive workshop explores how conflict, left unaddressed, can become a barrier to belonging, both in our personal lives and within our villages. Whether it shows up between members, volunteers, staff, or board, unresolved tension can quietly pull people apart from the very community meant to support them.

This session offers practical tools for de-escalation and reflective listening so you can stay in relationship even when you disagree. Attendees will leave with real skills they can use right away: how to communicate in a way that lowers tension, how to share their own perspective without it turning into confrontation, and how to work through hard conversations without losing the relationship.

4:00 – 4:30 PM STATE OF VILLAGES: RESILIENCE AND THE POWER OF COMMUNITY

Join Carolyn Ross, Village Movement California’s Executive Director for a closing look at where the village movement stands today and where it is headed next. This session will cover:

A picture of where California villages stand today, and how our state compares to the national village movement

An update on the Village Incubator and a welcome to new villages joining the network

Introduction of new programs for our member villages

A call to action on how we can demonstrate our collective impact and carry the movement forward

SATURDAY 9/19

10:00 AM – 12:30 PM DRIVING TOUR OF ALTADENA

This post-conference driving tour is an opportunity for conference attendees to experience the progress toward rebuilding in Altadena post-Eaton Fire.

THANKS TO OUR CONFERENCE SPONSORS!

Interested in supporting this year’s event? Partner with VMC by sponsoring our 8th Annual Statewide Conference and its opening reception — a meaningful opportunity to align your organization with a statewide movement transforming how California ages.