So Goes the Nation Summit
Presented by KM Strategies Group (KMSG), in partnership with The Etolia Fund.
The South and Appalachia show where the country is headed.
As the South goes, so goes the nation.Line attributed to W.E.B. Du Bois
The So Goes the Nation Summit takes its name from that line. The region has long been a testing ground for struggles over economic opportunity, civil rights, democracy, public health, environmental justice, and community power, and for the movements, institutions, and leaders developing responses with relevance far beyond their own communities.
KMSG and The Etolia Fund are creating the summit to bring greater attention, investment, and connection to the people doing that work. The gathering will convene leaders from philanthropy, nonprofits, sustainable and socially responsible businesses, higher education, and community-based work to exchange ideas, build relationships, and consider what the rest of the country can learn from what is already taking shape here.
Communities across the region confront some of the country’s most consequential social, economic, civic, and environmental challenges, often with fewer philanthropic resources, less national visibility, and less access to the networks that shape investment and influence. The same region is home to leaders, institutions, organizers, entrepreneurs, researchers, and community builders whose approaches travel well beyond their own states. The summit is a platform for that expertise, bringing people who are too often separated by sector, geography, or access into direct conversation.
It is meant to strengthen the connective infrastructure around social impact in the region: relationships among funders and frontline organizations, universities and communities, mission-driven businesses and civic leaders, established institutions and emerging voices. Programming will examine what is being built, where resources and attention remain insufficient, and what becomes possible when regional knowledge has greater access to capital, visibility, partnership, and decision-making power. The goal is a gathering grounded in the region itself, with ideas and relationships capable of traveling much further.
One inaugural summit. One host institution.
KMSG, in partnership with The Etolia Fund, invites proposals from colleges and universities interested in serving as host for the inaugural summit. It will bring together leaders and emerging voices across philanthropy, nonprofit and community-based organizations, sustainable and socially responsible business, civic life, higher education, and community engagement.
The gathering draws inspiration from convenings such as the Skoll World Forum, Sidebar, and TEDx while operating at a deliberately smaller, regional scale. Programming will prioritize substantive conversation, practical exchange, cross-sector relationship building, and greater visibility for people and ideas rooted in the South and Appalachia.
KMSG and The Etolia Fund expect to provide one grant of between $7,500 and $15,000, based on the selected institution’s proposed budget, venue, production capacity, institutional contributions, and overall plan.
Geographic focus
Priority goes to institutions located in or serving communities across the U.S. South and Appalachia. The proposed venue must sit within approximately 90 minutes by car of a major commercial airport, to support speakers and attendees traveling from across the region and nationally.
What the event must provide.
The host will stage the summit between January 18 and March 26, 2027. University-owned facilities or external venues managed through the institution both qualify, provided every requirement is met within the project budget.
- Capacity for at least 100 and up to 250 attendees
- Up to six hours of dedicated programming time within a dedicated space, or collection of spaces
- A primary stage or presentation space
- At least two breakout rooms for up to 50 people each; ideally up to four
- Full audiovisual capacity: microphones, sound, projection, and presentation capabilities
- Internet and technical capacity to livestream selected portions of the program
- At least one professional or staff photographer
- At least one professional or staff videographer
- Coffee, tea, and water available to attendees
- Light refreshments at least twice during the program
- Staffing for registration, venue operations, technical production, and event logistics
- A venue accessible to people with disabilities and able to accommodate reasonable accessibility needs
Who leads what.
KMSG and The Etolia Fund
KMSG is the lead programmatic and strategic partner, working closely with the host throughout planning and production. KMSG expects to lead:
- Summit theme and overall program strategy
- Agenda development
- Panel and session concepts
- Speaker identification and outreach
- Invitations to regional and national leaders, influencers, funders, practitioners, and other participants
- Event messaging and communications strategy
- Core promotional and communications materials
- Press strategy and messaging
- Guidance on event branding and audience development
- Program moderation and facilitation, as appropriate
- Coordination of selected livestreamed or recorded programming
The host institution
The host is the summit’s primary logistics and venue partner, responsible for:
- Securing and managing the venue
- Managing local vendors and university service providers
- A/V production and technical coordination
- Livestream production support
- Event registration logistics
- On-site staffing
- Hospitality and refreshments
- Photography and videography
- Campus coordination
- Local audience development
- Coordination with relevant departments, centers, faculty, student organizations, or leadership
- Ensuring operations comply with institutional requirements and policies
Two people the institution must designate
Fill the room before, during, and after.
$7,500 to $15,000, sized to the plan.
The final award depends on the selected proposal’s demonstrated costs, available institutional resources, proposed deliverables, and capacity to meet the summit’s production and audience requirements. Funds may support reasonable direct costs of hosting:
- Venue expenses
- Audiovisual and production costs
- Livestream services
- Photography and videography
- Catering and refreshments
- Event staffing
- Registration infrastructure
- Local vendor expenses
- Accessibility services
- Other approved event-production expenses
Applicants should identify any institutional contributions, donated space, waived fees, existing technical resources, staff time, or other in-kind support that will supplement the requested grant.
Eleven things to cover.
Keep the proposal concise, with enough detail for KMSG to judge your ability to host, produce, and promote the summit.
1Institutional overview+
Briefly describe the institution and the department, center, school, office, or program that would be the primary host. Identify the proposed day-to-day project lead, the proposed senior institutional sponsor, and relevant members of the planning or production team. For the sponsor, describe their role, authority, and anticipated involvement.
2Regional connection+
Describe the institution’s connection to the South and/or Appalachia and its existing relationships with relevant communities, organizations, businesses, funders, civic leaders, or social impact networks. Explain how the institution engages communities beyond campus and name regional relationships or networks that could contribute to the summit’s audience, programming, or reach.
3Institutional experts and potential participants+
Identify experts, researchers, practitioners, faculty, institutional leaders, public figures, or other thought leaders affiliated with the institution whom you could reasonably help secure. Keynote speakers, panelists, moderators, interview participants, and workshop leaders all qualify. For each person, provide:
- Name and title
- Area of expertise
- Relevant institutional or public role
- How their perspective could contribute to the summit
- Whether the institution can directly facilitate or secure their participation
KMSG retains final responsibility for program design, speaker selection, and invitations. Being named here does not guarantee inclusion.
4Convening track record and external speakers+
To show your experience attracting high-profile outside participants, identify a small number of prominent speakers, public figures, practitioners, funders, business leaders, artists, or advocates who took part in major campus events in the past three to five years. For each, include:
- Name and title
- Event or program
- Year of participation
- Sponsoring school, center, department, or office, if relevant
You may also name external leaders you are well positioned to invite or help secure through existing relationships, prior campus participation, alumni connections, or advisory roles. Prior participation does not mean any individual is expected to take part in the summit.
5Proposed venue+
Describe the venue, including the items below. Photographs, floor plans, specifications, or links are welcome.
- Location
- Maximum capacity
- Seating configuration
- Stage or presentation infrastructure
- A/V capabilities
- Livestream capacity
- Accessibility
- Parking and transportation
- Distance and approximate travel time from the nearest major commercial airport
6Proposed event date+
Provide at least three possible dates between January 18 and March 26, 2027. Flag any significant campus, regional, or community events that could affect attendance or venue availability.
7Production and logistics plan+
Briefly describe how the institution would manage the items below, and note whether each would be handled internally, through existing university vendors, or through outside contractors.
- Venue operations
- A/V and technical production
- Livestreaming
- Registration
- Photography
- Videography
- Catering and refreshments
- Accessibility
- On-site staffing
- Vendor management
8Audience and community engagement+
Describe how you would recruit participants from students, faculty and staff, local nonprofits, community groups, philanthropic institutions, sustainable or socially responsible businesses, civic and public-sector organizations, and other regional networks.
Explain how you will secure at least 50 students, staff, faculty, and community participants connected to the institution, and how you can attract attendees outside the university: nonprofit leaders, funders, business leaders, practitioners, organizers, and community members from the surrounding region.
9Communications capacity+
Describe your capacity to promote the event through email and listservs, social media, institutional websites, media relations, press outreach, community partnerships, and alumni or professional networks. Include approximate audience, subscriber, follower, or distribution sizes where readily available, plus any regional media relationships or university communications resources that could widen visibility.
10Proposed budget+
Provide an estimated summit budget showing the items below. You may request between $7,500 and $15,000. Make clear what the KMSG/Etolia grant would directly support and what the institution would contribute on its own.
- Total anticipated cost
- Amount requested from KMSG/The Etolia Fund
- Major expense categories
- Institutional financial contributions
- In-kind contributions
- Donated or waived expenses
11Relevant experience+
Give up to three examples of conferences, summits, lectures, forums, or comparable events the institution hosted in the past three years. For each, include:
- Event name and year
- Approximate attendance
- Scope or format
- The institution’s role
- Relevant production, livestream, communications, or community-engagement components
How proposals will be reviewed.
Preference may go to proposals showing strong connections between the institution and communities beyond campus, particularly institutions able to convene nonprofit, philanthropic, civic, business, academic, and community leaders in the same room.
KMSG and The Etolia Fund are especially interested in hosts that can contribute meaningful assets beyond the grant itself, whether facilities, expertise, personnel, communications infrastructure, or community relationships.
- Strength of the connection to the South and/or Appalachia
- Suitability and accessibility of the proposed venue
- Capacity to host 100–250 participants
- Quality of A/V and production infrastructure
- Ability to livestream selected programming
- Geographic accessibility for regional and national participants
- Ability to execute event logistics within the required timeline
- Strength and seniority of the institutional sponsor
- Strength of local and regional networks
- Capacity to recruit a substantive audience beyond the university
- Communications and media capacity
- Quality and relevance of institutional experts or recognized leaders
- Proposed budget and use of grant funding
- Institutional and in-kind contributions
- Experience producing comparable events
- Ability to work collaboratively with KMSG on an intensive planning timeline
From release to summit.
KMSG may request a brief follow-up conversation with finalists before selecting the host.
How to submit
Send your proposal as a single PDF to Kindred Motes by Tuesday, November 3, 2026 at 5 PM Eastern Time, using this subject line:
KMSG + The Etolia Fund | So Goes the Nation Summit Host Proposal
About KM Strategies Group
KMSG is a social impact consulting firm working across philanthropy, nonprofit strategy, communications, research, and public-interest initiatives. It works with organizations and institutions seeking to strengthen their impact, communicate with greater clarity, and build stronger connections between strategy and the communities affected by their work.
About The Etolia Fund
The Etolia Fund is KMSG’s philanthropic initiative supporting organizations, movements, and leaders working to strengthen communities, with particular attention to the U.S. South and Appalachia.
Through the summit, KMSG and The Etolia Fund intend to invest in the infrastructure that brings people together across sectors, regions, institutions, and levels of power, creating a platform for relationships, ideas, and opportunities that continue well beyond a single event.