The Future of Florida Summit is one of the Graham Center’s signature initiatives. Modeled after the National Campaign Conference, sponsored by Harvard’s Institute of Politics, the summit invites students from all Florida institutions of higher education to a weekend in Gainesville for learning about challenges faced by other and exploring how they might contribute to solutions.
Attendees are among Florida’s brightest and most politically engaged students from colleges and universities across the state. The summit aims to: establish a tradition of statewide intercollegiate political activism; inspire students to champion solutions to difficult challenges; and promote the free and open exchange of ideas.
The conference is open to all undergraduate and graduate students at any Florida institution of higher education. Attendees are selected based on an application process, and approximately 60 students are invited each year.
Participants meet and interact with knowledgeable panelists (faculty, legislators, journalists, business leaders, and lobbyists) who have expertise on the issue under consideration. Past speakers have included Former Florida Gov. and U.S. Sen Bob Graham, former Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth, Law Dean Emeritus and former speaker of the Florida House Jon Mills, and Secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection Noah Valenstein .
More details can be found at the program’s website, fofsummit.bobgrahamcenter.ufl.edu. Send questions and comments by email to Summit leaders at Future of Florida Summit.
2024 Future of Florida Summit: Artificial Intelligence
Join us March 1-3, 2024 for the 10th anniversary of the Future of Florida Summit. The theme for the 2024 FOF Summit is Artificial Intelligence Policy and includes four breakout topics – AI in education, healthcare, agriculture, and law. Learn more.
2023 Future of Florida Summit: K-12 Public Education in Florida
Sixty scholars from across Florida attended the 2023 Summit, held Feb. 10-12, 2023 on the University of Florida campus. Attendees attended an online public policy prep class the week prior to meeting in-person for the Summit. To open the Summit, Dr. Norin Dollard delivered the keynote speech on the current state of education policy in Florida. Saturday consisted of four panels of experts analyzing teacher retention, curriculum, testing evaluation, and school choice, with a lunchtime presentation on the school-to-prison pipeline from Katherine Perriel of the Florida ACLU. Students later divided into 10 groups and presented policy proposals to address problems. The winning proposal focused on Florida’s teacher shortage. Learn more.
2022 Future of Florida Summit: Economic Policy
The theme of the 2022 Summit is Maximizing Fresh Insights Into Florida Economic Policy. It took place Feb. 11-13, 2022, at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. Sixty scholars were selected to attend.
Past Summits
Previous year’s topics have included:
- Health Care Policy
- Criminal Justice Reform
- Technology and Public Policy
- Online Voter Registration
- Advocacy and Institutions
- Challenges Facing Higher Education
- The Florida Constitution Revision Commission