Overview of The Johnson Foundation at Wingspread
 
The Johnson Foundation at Wingspread is dedicated to serving as a catalyst for innovative public and private solutions in two spheres - one global and one regional - that reflect the Johnson Family’s longstanding passions:  healthy environments and healthy local communities.
 
Over the course of 50 years, The Johnson Foundation has hosted leading thinkers at its Wingspread Conference Center, inspiring consensus and action on a range of public policy issues. Several organizations have roots at Wingspread, including the National Endowment for the Arts, National Public Radio, the International Criminal Court and the Presidential Climate Action Plan.
 
Building on this legacy, The Johnson Foundation at Wingspread has set a new, mission-driven strategic course designed to achieve a greater, more sustained impact on the issues we care about. We are committed to being a catalyst for environmental and community solutions by convening small groups of people and utilizing leading edge convening techniques and technologies for the most effective and efficient conferences possible.
 
A major thrust of this new strategic direction is The Johnson Foundation at Wingspread Environmental Forum – a series of linked conferences focusing on a specific environmental issue.  The inaugural Forum, launched in early 2009, is focused on how government, business and institutions can more effectively manage the looming crisis that threatens our nation’s freshwater resources and systems and the health of our communities. Our Freshwater Forum is engaging leading national experts in a set of conferences on critical dimensions of freshwater issues, including the intersection of water quality and supply with agriculture, development, municipal water and wastewater services and industrial uses. These conferences set the stage for The Johnson Foundation at Wingspread Freshwater Summit held in June 2010, in which leaders in business, government and not-for-profits helped develop a national call to action and a set of key water initiatives. Future Forums will deploy the Foundation’s resources to help find solutions for other significant environmental challenges.
 
As the Foundation heads down this new strategic path on national and global environmental issues, it will continue its important community work on social, economic and equality challenges facing Wisconsin. Topics of regional conferences and programs, in areas such as public health and education, typically are chosen in collaboration with community leaders in our region.
 
The Johnson Foundation at Wingspread approaches issues without preconceived ideas or fixed agendas. A distinctive feature of our conferences is candid yet collegial conversation among those with divergent ideas and perspectives -- in an environment fostering the trust and collaboration needed for innovative solutions that can also be broadly supported. Our unique convening model, combined with a serene natural environment and gracious hospitality, contribute significantly to the authenticity of the dialogue at our conferences.
 
The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Johnson family home known as Wingspread, completed in 1939, is nestled amid 36 wooded acres near the western shore of Lake Michigan. It was donated to the Foundation in 1959 to promote “the free exchange of constructive and purposeful ideas.” The Johnson Foundation at Wingspread occupies a singular place among conference facilities and conveners with its combination of focused environmental mission, historic and stimulating natural setting and unique convening model.

 
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