Seeds of Connection

By Michael Kirsch | November 5, 2025

Last week, I attended the Seeds of Connection conference put on by the Foundation for Social Connection and Healthy Places by Design.

More than any particular panel or idea, what struck me the day after I got home was the realization of just how kind everyone was. This was a gathering of over 300 attendees who were not there to sell anything, but because they care deeply about ensuring people in their communities and across the country have sufficient opportunities for belonging, meaningful friendships, and the social connection they need. It felt amazing to hang out with people like that for two and a half days–and seeing the full smiles on everyone, who I think felt the same. 

That's a testament to these organizations, their people, and their clear messaging. It’s also a testament to the cause. As the work of John Cacioppo showed, and Julianne Holt-Lunstad continued, and Vivek Murthy brought it to the fore, social connection is as essential to our mental and physical health as food and exercise. And something that essential, that simple, cuts deep into basic human qualities of what we need to be happy and to the core of social organization. 

It was that realization that got me excited to get involved in social connection three years ago. It’s hard to get to something more fundamental to what it means to be human. How should we be organizing our societies and changing social norms in how we build and form relationships? How should we be building our social infrastructure to maximize our happiness, in life and work, our individual creativity, and the creativity of our neighborhoods, cities, and beyond?  It’s a field as exciting as any science, coming up with new inventions, or designing how to create futuristic cities.

When I was young and thought of community organizing, it seemed a rather mundane and dry topic. But designing how people connect isn’t just a matter of putting on the same types of block parties or events and building the same public spaces on autopilot; those are the scaffold. As Daniela Paz Peterson from the Trust for Public Land said, “A park is just a salad bowl. How you organize it for community connection is the salad.”  

If we as community builders see ourselves as social artists, then the core ingredients and metrics of social connection become the paint before a canvas. It’s really a question of how do we want to relate? How can we evolve the way we form meaningful relationships so that we can make social connection a natural and abundant effect?

I liked hearing Julianne Holt-Lunstad state at the conference that loneliness is just a symptom, and how the forthcoming, groundbreaking AARP dataset on social connection will help us get at the real causes of what drives healthy social connection (I’m excited to see that). That’s what’s been on my mind since thinking about solutions back when I created socialconnectioncircle.org. Solutions that only target loneliness miss the chance to address the long-term social structures and norms that cause it. Do our social norms promote meaningful connection? Do our places make it easy to meet new people and form those connections? Do the events we go to connect us when we arrive?  

It was great to hear from so many people working on solutions and I’m so glad there is a movement across the country with ideas and networks addressing the challenge.  

I’m so glad the YMCA is getting involved and will be applying their Pioneering Healthy Communities model and leverage to connection. Hearing Suzanne McCormick of the YMCA of the USA speak about what it feels like to walk into a YMCA hit home for me. She reminded us that as a place and organization, it is just about as close as you come to the definition of belonging. That resonated deeply because in my hometown of 25,000 the YMCA was our community center. I spent countless days there from swimming lessons, to summer camps, and so many classes from kindergarten to high school. When you go into a YMCA, there is a sense of everyone is welcome as they are, and you belong in that city, you’re a part of the community, and you can become friends with anyone there. John Powell’s speech on bridging and inviting people into shared dialogue was really inspiring as well. Together, they set the tone for the whole conference. 

I want to thank the Percent for Place panel for their work showing how communities can change through intentional investment in public places designed to bring people together.  Loved hearing from Kristina Cannon about how their investment in waterfront is going to help tie the community together, from Bridget Marquis on how her project over 7 years completely transformed the trust within a community and from Kelly Humrichouser on her dedication to investment in main streets and public places for us all on a national scale. 

Aaron Hurst of the US Chamber of Connection shared a wonderful idea with national implications: transforming how we view volunteering by making activities that create community connection in communities, such as block parties, count as service hours. His ability to speak passionately and plainly about connection is inspiring. And I loved hearing from the team at Build IRL Saumya Gupta and Colton Heward-Mills about their club generator platform. It is going to be an incredible resource.  

One of my favorite quotes of the conference was from LookUpp founder Atiksh Bhan, who said that the solution to the threat of AI and digital companions stealing our attention is to make in-person connection so exciting and engaging that people simply prefer it.

That idea is at the heart of my own initiative, MingleSpace, building spontaneous connection spots into everyday life. What if we can surround ourselves with opportunities for spontaneous conversation and mini-gatherings with strangers, and design them to be fun, engaging and meaningful? We could help each other get a daily dose of social connection we all need, form new social norms around meeting new people, ensure an abundant opportunities for social connection exist everyday, and strengthen communities by drawing forth and supporting ideas from the inside. I was excited to share my platform overview, detailed vision, and concept illustration cartoons at the conference (some attached here).

I’ve uploaded all the visual concept art to minglespace.org. Seeing how the idea resonated with a room full of community builders in the preconference open share was very encouraging, and receiving positive feedback from community builders around the country throughout the conference was invaluable. Thank you. 

I’m looking forward to collaborating on this idea with people I met at the conference, on their ideas, and being part of the national dialogue on what tools and ideas are most effective in different communities.  

Vivek Murthy’s Parting Prescription for America was “Choose Community” and built it. He wrote,  “So, what makes community possible? Three core elements: relationships, service, and purpose. And one core virtue: love. Together, they create the ecosystem of meaning and belonging that are essential for fulfillment.” I think everyone who came to this conference can be proud of heeding that call.