Moments from the Praxis Summit

Gathering leaders in our community at our annual ideas festival.

ORI Dinners were a new venue of discussion and collaboration at this year’s Summit, with each table conversation focused on a specific Opportunity for Redemptive Innovation. Here, this group discusses Valuing Special Needs as a Gift to Society.

Since 2017, we’ve hosted our annual Summit to convene founders, mentors, philanthropists, investors, and thinkers in our community to learn, dream up venture-building projects, and find others interested in building up entrepreneurial ecosystems. It’s also a celebration of our current Nonprofit and Business Accelerator cohorts, representing the newest ventures in our Portfolio.

In May, we were thrilled to welcome over 400 guests from across the United States and 20 countries to beautiful Napa Valley. Through shared meals, small-group discussions, and thought-provoking storytelling, we encouraged each other as we reinforced relationships and forged new friendships.

We continue to pilot fresh ways for our attendees to engage with each other and share ideas. This year, we introduced:

• ORI Dinners for table-based discussion of more than 30 major issues of our time
• A half day of Portfolio Mentoring to support nearly 30 post-Accelerator Fellows in various stages of their ventures
• Emerging Founders scholarships for 10 entrepreneurs under 25
• A full-day Capital Forum for several dozen capital allocators interested in dialogue specific to that vocation
• Technology-driven experiences including a redemptive chatbot, a chance to try new eReaders from Sol (Business 2022), and a scannable community library of books written by Summit attendees

When we gather in person, we’re reminded of how refreshing and restorative it is to be together. We’re grateful for the chance to collaborate in redemptive entrepreneurship as a Praxis community.

Praxis CEO and Co-Founder Dave Blanchard gave the opening plenary talk about choosing redemptive quests, followed by a panel discussion about those quests with Trae Stephens (Founders Fund) and Ben Chelf (Sol, Business 2022).

A shared Summit-wide dinner on the first night of the gathering to reconnect, build new relationships, and process the day’s ideas.

The 2023 Fellows from the Nonprofit and Business Accelerators presented their ventures in a showcase of 4-minute pitches. Here, Luke Keller shares about his venture, Kicky (Business 2023).

At open houses, Summit attendees meet Praxis Fellows, ask questions about their ventures, and form connections. Here, Dee Punugwe-Chijota and Ko Chijota explain the work of GGEM Farming (Nonprofit 2023).

Breakout sessions are opportunities for Summit attendees to discuss current topics with expert panelists. Here, Steve Graves (Coaching by Cornerstone) moderates a session titled “Scaling Your Venture Without Losing Its Soul (or Yours)” with panelists Gary Haugen (International Justice Mission), Jessica Kim (ianacare, Praxis Studio 2019), and Mark McClain (SailPoint).

The Praxis community welcomed a cohort of ten Emerging Founders — talented entrepreneurs under 25 — to join Summit programming and interact with Praxis Fellows and Mentors. Here, Butler Brewer meets 1:1 with Mentor Cody Nath (Refined Technologies).

For the first time, Portfolio Fellows — Fellows from past Accelerator cohorts — gathered for a 1-day Portfolio Mentoring experience to present their current venture vision, connect with Mentors in 1:1s, and share ideas in small groups. Here, Sassie Duggleby (Venus Aerospace, Business 2022) reconnects with Ben Bohannon, Praxis Partner for the Business Portfolio.

Choosing redemptive quests requires a different approach to risk and failure, and in that vein, in the closing plenary, Praxis Managing Partner Sajan George facilitated a panel on “Reframing Failure.” We are grateful to panelists Will Haughey (Grandin Investment Management; Tegu, Business 2012), Mel Murray (Praxis Partner for Global Community), and Dave Evans (Stanford Design Lab) for their vulnerability in this discussion.

Praxis Partner for Theology & Culture Andy Crouch commissioned Summit attendees to pursue relationships over the long term as we build ventures together because “friendship makes room for time and risk.”

Photos: Braedon Flynn