This is a linkpost for https://newsletter.rootsofprogress.org/p/announcing-progress-conference-2026

Announcing the third annual Progress Conference! The pace of technological change feels faster this year, and the progress movement is growing too. Gathering people together helps build community and establish a movement’s identity. We want this annual event to continue to connect and inspire people, catalyze new projects, and share ideas.

Thanks to everyone who made Progress Conference 2025 great: over 350 people attended, the event sold out in June, and there were hundreds of interested people on the waitlist. Several attendees again said it was the best conference they had ever attended. We shared our reflections here, including a list of write-ups from writers like Santi Ruiz, Ruy Teixeira, Ryan Puzycki, and more.

We are excited to build on that momentum for 2026:

Hosted by: the Roots of Progress Institute, together with Abundance Institute, Foresight Institute, Foundation for American Innovation, Human Progress, the Institute for Humane Studies, IFP, and Works in Progress.

When: October 8–11, 2026.

Where: Berkeley, CA, again at the Lighthaven campus that got great reviews the last two years.

Speakers: Keynote speakers include Dmitri Dolgov (Co-CEO, Waymo), Tyler Cowen (Mercatus Center), Stephen Winchell (Director, DARPA), John Martinis (Qolab; Nobel Laureate in Physics), and Michael Kremer (University of Chicago; Nobel Laureate in Economics). 20+ additional speakers will share ideas across three tracks: Human Talent & Potential, AI & Robotics, and Security & Resilience. Full speaker list so far here.

Attendees: We expect ~400 leaders across tech, policy, and culture; builders, founders, policymakers, storytellers, writers, and students. This is an invitation-only event, but anyone can apply for an invitation. Complete the open application by May 31st.

Program: Similar to 2025, the main two-day conference will happen all day on Friday and Saturday. Participants will attend talks on topics ranging from AI and robotics to housing construction to psychology and philosophy of builders, organize and run unconference sessions, mingle in the garden, and more. Thursday and Sunday are add-on days, with optional gatherings for interest groups and other activities like factory tours to Bay Area startups.

Children under 12 years old are welcome—must be accompanied by a parent at all times (except during childcare). We also plan to have on-site childcare available on Friday and Saturday with progress-themed programming.

Sponsors: Special thanks to our early sponsors Coefficient Giving, Astera Institute, Jane Street, Ken Broad, Works in Progress, Halcyon Futures, Inclusive Abundance, LENS, MNX, Archbridge Institute, The Good Science Project, the Institute for Humane Studies, Circulate Planning & Policy, and the Foundation for Economic Education. Sponsorships make events like this one possible. We have more sponsorships available; view sponsorship opportunities here.

Our mission is to establish a new philosophy of progress for the 21st century, and to build a culture of progress. Now is a critical time for our culture: Technological change is happening. We can try to fight it, we can let it happen, or we can channel the path of technology consciously and deliberately towards human flourishing. It is ours to choose, as individuals and organizations.