2025 Institute for Success Planning Summer Workshop

Supporting educators and other cross-sector leaders in communities nationwide to build, scale, and sustain personalized, relationship-based initiatives for children and youth.

EdRedesign’s Institute for Success Planning, housed at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, leads a professional Community of Practice to support educators and other cross-sector leaders in local communities as they build, scale, and sustain Success Planning initiatives that support the developmental and educational journey of children and youth, leading to more positive outcomes and transformative change. Success Planning can amplify and accelerate impact when implemented as part of a broader place-based strategy to support children that is coordinated by a cross-sector collaborative entity, such as a Children's Cabinet, place-based partnership, or other community backbone coordinating organization. The Institute currently supports fifteen communities from across the country in its 2025-26 cohort. This year, the Institute is hosting its multi-day Summer Workshop for cohort communities at the Harvard Graduate School of Education in Cambridge, MA, from July 29th to August 1st, 2025.

Please see below for detailed information related to the 2025 Summer Workshop.

Institute for Success Planning Communities Across the Country

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Event Location/Start Date and Time

Cohort 4: The workshop will begin for Cohort 4 (new communities) with breakfast and registration at 8:00 AM ET on Tuesday, July 29th on the garden level of the Gutman Library Conference Center located at 6 Appian Way, Cambridge, MA 02138. The official program will begin at 9:00 AM sharp.
Cohort 3: The workshop will begin for Cohort 3 (returning communities) with breakfast and registration at 8:00 AM ET on Wednesday, July 30th on the garden level of the Gutman Library Conference Center located at 6 Appian Way, Cambridge, MA 02138. The official program will begin at 9:00 AM sharp.
Greeters will be stationed at the front of the Gutman Library to welcome you. The Gutman Library Conference Center is a short 5-minute walk from The Charles Hotel.
If you would like to familiarize yourself with the Harvard campus, you are welcome to explore the Harvard Campus Map. At the top of the webpage, there is a search bar where you can input locations you want to know about.

Special Swag Days

Harvard Swag Shopping Days: You will have the opportunity to visit The Harvard Shop’s table in Gutman Library from 12:15 to 5:00 PM on Wednesday, July 30th and Thursday, July 31st to purchase Harvard swag. The Harvard Shop is a student-run organization, and proceeds help support scholarships and work study positions. All merchandise will be 25% off from what you would pay in any store in Harvard Square. We kindly ask that you visit The Harvard Shop’s table during designated lunch and break times so that we can ensure everyone is present for the scheduled program sessions.
Community Swag Day: Got t-shirts, hats, sweatshirts, or other swag that captures the spirit of your team, organization, or community? Don’t forget to pack them and wear them on Thursday, July 31st, to represent your team, organization, or community. We will also take individual team photos and our Community of Practice group photo on this day.

Things To Do

Cambridge and the greater Boston area are home to many local attractions. The following are links to suggested activities and places to eat in Cambridge and nearby Boston:

Attire

Dress for the event is business casual (but, of course, feel free to wear your community swag on Community Swag Day, Thursday, July 31st). Temperatures in July in Cambridge typically range in the high 80s during the day and cooler at night. All event spaces are air-conditioned. Please feel free to bring a sweater, jacket, or other items for your personal comfort.

Wi-Fi & Technology

During the workshop, each team will complete an electronic workbook that will help capture your team’s initial thoughts and plans and serve as the foundation for the work plan you will create throughout the year (a QR code linking to your community’s folder will be provided). Please plan for at least one member of your team to bring a laptop to access and complete the workbook during the workshop’s team connection and collaboration sessions.
Wireless internet can be accessed on campus. Login information will be provided on your name tags as well as in handouts on each table. Attendees can also review this information on how to access Harvard University Wi-Fi.

Flight Modifications/Cancellations (For Participants with Paid Spots ONLY)

For paid-spot guests, flights were coordinated with and authorized through The Travel Collaborative. If you need to change or cancel your flight following that official authorization, please contact Rosanne McGoldrick at The Travel Collaborative. She can be reached at rmm@travelcoll.com.

Hotel

Cohort members traveling from out of town for the workshop can enjoy hotel accommodations at The Charles Hotel located at 1 Bennett Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 at no cost for the duration of the event. Cohort 4 (New Communities) will check in on Monday, July 28th and check out on Thursday, July 31st. Cohort 3 (Returning Communities) will check in on Tuesday, July 29th and check out on Friday, August 1st, unless you are staying for additional days at your own expense. EdRedesign will not cover any costs for participant hotel stays outside of the designated days above. All guests will receive their hotel reservation confirmation email directly from The Charles Hotel. Please be sure to double check that the details and dates of your stay are correct, especially if you requested modifications.
Important Notes: If you wish to modify your hotel stay dates, please reach out to our hotel contact Melissa Rose (MelissaRose@charleshotel.com). Additional nights or guests, as well as any incidental expenses and no-show fees, will be your responsibility.
While room and tax are covered, please note that a $50 per day incidental hold will be placed on your card at check-in. The total hold amount will be immediately authorized based on the number of nights in your reservation. If no incidental charges are incurred, the hotel will release the hold upon checkout. If you would like to have a card on file prior to your arrival, please contact Mellissa Rose for instructions. The on-file payment method can be used during check out for any extra or incidental expenses not covered by EdRedesign.

Transportation & Parking

Ground Transportation: All guests are responsible for arranging their own ground transportation and covering the costs to and from the event. There are several rideshare options available from the Boston Logan International Airport to the hotel and/or event location. The Gutman Library Conference Center is a short 5-minute walk from The Charles Hotel.
Parking: The Gutman Library Conference Center is a short 5-minute walk from The Charles Hotel. For participants driving to and from Cambridge each day for the event, validated parking is available at University Place Garage, 45 University Road. If there is a sign that the garage is full, inform the parking attendant that you are part of the EdRedesign parking block, and they will let you in. The garage is a 5-minute walk to the Gutman Library Conference Center. Please see a member of the EdRedesign staff to obtain a validation ticket before you return to your car at the end of the day. We regret that we are unable to reimburse out-of-pocket expenses: you must use the designated garage and validation ticket to have your parking covered.

Please be aware of the following process for the validated onsite parking:

You will get a regular white parking ticket when you enter the garage.
When you arrive for registration at Gutman Library Conference Center, request a parking voucher for each day you will attend the workshop
When you leave the garage at the end of each day, insert the white ticket and then insert the parking voucher as payment.
If you have any difficulty using the parking voucher, please see the parking attendant at the garage. All the vouchers have been pre-paid and will cover your full parking cost for the day.

Meals

Breakfast, lunch, beverages, and snacks will be provided each day. Guests should make their own plans for dinner each night. There will be a Cocktail Reception with heavy hors d’oeuvres and drinks on Wednesday, July 30th from 5:15-7:15 PM at NuBar Restaurant located at the Sheraton Commander Hotel at 16 Garden Street in Cambridge. This is a 5-minute walk from Gutman Library.

Photography & Video Recording

Summer workshop sessions may be photographed and filmed, and photographs and video may be made publicly available online (a media/photo waiver was included in your event registration).

View High-Level Agenda and Detailed Agenda

A list of speakers and their biographies is coming soon. Please check back.

View Participant List

Pre-Work & Pre-Reading

Cohort 4 (Tuesday, July 29th-Thursday, July 31st) (New Communities)

Please complete the following required readings by Tuesday, July 29th: NYC Spotlight and Poughkeepsie Spotlight. The NYC Spotlight will be highlighted during a session on Wednesday, July 30th, and the Poughkeepsie Spotlight will be highlighted during a session on Thursday, July 31st.

Cohort 3 (Wednesday, July 30th-Friday, August 1st) (Returning Communities)

Please complete your team’s Community Stories of Impact pre-work assignment saved in the Google drive by Monday, July 28th, no later than 5:00 PM ET. In addition, please read the NYC Spotlight and Poughkeepsie Spotlight by Tuesday, July 29th: The NYC Spotlight will be highlighted during a session on Wednesday, July 30th and the Poughkeepsie Spotlight will be highlighted during a session on Thursday, July 31st.

All pre-work and pre-read assignments were previously sent by email to all participants during the week on Wednesday, July 15th. Please feel free to reach out to Chris Shelton at cshelton@gse.harvard.edu or Michelle Sedaca at michelle_sedaca@gse.harvard.edu with any questions.

Session Materials

Summer 2025 Workshop slides will be uploaded post-event.

We developed a social media kit to help amplify the Success Planning efforts of the 2025-26 cohort. We encourage you to use the kit and customize the suggested language to fit the needs and context of your local community. This year, we are using the social media hashtag: #SuccessPlanningWorkshop2025

We also developed a press kit to support your outreach to your local media and drive awareness and buy-in for your local Success Planning initiative.