2025 Midwest Regional Sustainability Summit

Contributors: Charlie Gonzalez, Viviana Saldarriaga, & Kelly St Charles

The Midwest’s Premier Sustainability Conference Returns in 2025

The Midwest Regional Sustainability Summit brings together 650 passionate and visionary leaders to share inspiring, forward-thinking, and solution-oriented ideas that propel us toward a healthier, more resilient, sustainable, and equitable future. Join Fortune 500 powerhouses, innovative entrepreneurs, government officials, sustainability directors, academic, non-profit, and community leaders committed to solving some of the region’s toughest environmental problems while creating a positive economic impact!

Our Venue for 2025:

The 12th annual Midwest Regional Sustainability Summit will be held at the LEED certified and newly expanded Sharonville Convention Center (15 miles north of Cincinnati, OH).

2025 Speaker Proposal Deadline: Extended to January 31st!

We invite proposals for 50-minute discussion panels, 50-minute interactive workshops, and 5-minute short talks that explore this year’s theme, across a wide range of focus areas. The submission deadline has been extended to January 31 and there is still time to meet with us to discuss and refine your proposal idea! Learn more about our submission guidelines here.

Other ways to participate: Art Show, Poster Displays, Summit Awards

We are also seeking inspiring visual and performance art, scholarly and practitioner posters that showcase climate solutions and innovative sustainability efforts, and award nominations for individuals and organizations for their impact, innovation, and leadership. The deadline for art, poster, and award submissions is March 1. Learn more.

This Year’s Keynote Speaker: Lyla June Johnston

Dr. Lyla June Johnston (aka Lyla June) is an Indigenous poet, musician, scholar, author, human ecologist and community organizer of Diné (Navajo), Tsétsêhéstâhese (Cheyenne) and European lineages. Her multi-genre presentation style has engaged audiences across the globe towards personal, collective, and ecological healing.

She blends her study of Human Ecology at Stanford, graduate work in Indigenous Pedagogy, and the traditional worldview she grew up with to inform her music, perspectives and solutions. Her doctoral research focused on the ways in which pre-colonial Indigenous Nations shaped large regions of Turtle Island (aka the Americas) to produce abundant food systems for humans and non-humans.
In her profoundly hopeful TED talk, Lyla June outlined a series of timeless human success stories focusing on Native American food and land management techniques and strategies. We’re thrilled to have her as our 2025 keynote speaker!

This Year’s Theme: Sustainable Stories

Stories have the power to reframe the past and shape the future. They connect us, inspire us, and motivate meaningful change. Stories communicate our values, our dreams, and our tangible impact. And they are a vital tool to bridge complex data and personal experiences, align collaborative partners toward shared goals, and create opportunities for transparency and accountability.

Every organization and individual has stories to tell that communicate the impact they have and the vision they aspire to. We use them to market our products and services, to influence decision makers, or to get donors and grants. To effectively convey the power of our actions we must be strategic about the narratives we craft, how we share them, who tells them, and who is listening.

At this year’s Summit, we invite sustainability leaders from across the Midwest to share the stories of their impact and successful partnerships. Join us to make new connections and celebrate climate solutions as we each find our place in the movement to secure a resilient, equitable, and thriving future!

Sponsorship Information

Give your organization prominent brand recognition as a champion of sustainability by becoming a Summit sponsor! We offer a variety of options that enable you to reach a diverse and dynamic coalition of leaders committed to making our region more environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable. Learn more about sponsoring the Summit!

The Midwest Regional Sustainability Summit Is Sponsored By:

Summit Planning Partners