Townhall Foundation
2010 Fall Ideas Forum
On September 8, 2010, Townhall Foundation welcomed world-renown author, architect and sustainabilty expert Bill McDonough to Laguna Beach for our 2010 Fall Ideas Forum. More than 140 attended the event, hosted by the Laguna Art Museum.
Engaging Our Community in Ideas That Matter
The foundation has focused on smaller groups, often in a workshop format, gathering high profile business leaders to engage in a dialogue about "important ideas that influence our society". Open to the public, there is no ticket price or suggested donation. The goal is to raise consciousness, not money. The objective is to provide a forum where we could invite people who are leaders in their particular field — a field that has a broad impact — and engage them in conversations.
Educating and Building Awareness of the Progress of Human Rights
On October 28, 2009, we hosted our first Townhall Foundation event at the Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach. The speakers for our first event were Theresa Harris, executive director of Human Rights USA, who joined the landmark case against Yahoo for releasing the names of dissidents to the Chinese government; and Paul Van Zyl, who served as executive secretary under Bishop Desmond Tutu on South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Vision
We hope that our success with smaller groups will continue with the larger public forums. We will continue to reach out to and secure high profile "Ideas Forum" speakers and work with them to shape a compelling, profound discussion: what they're hoping to do in this world through their passion at work.
Community Enhancement
We enhance the overall culture and vitality of, and level of discourse within, our community.
Impactful Events
We produce exciting, intellectually stimulating and impactful events from which attendees walk away enriched.
We expose local residents to ideas that shape our culture.
We secure high profile speakers who will draw a large yet high profile audience.