Social Trust and Civic Healing

About Elevate NOVA

Elevate NOVA is an initiative at the Community Foundation to help advance the 4 pillars of our mission and work: social and economic mobility, opportunities for all, inclusive systems of economic growth, and community resilience.

As the community's trusted advisor, we prioritize collaboration, trust, humility, inclusion, belonging, and a commitment to knowledge and innovation. Elevate NOVA offers our partners a platform to embody and showcase these core values in meaningful ways. Elevate NOVA is designed to foster dialogue, discussion, and connection within the Northern Virginia community. By creating spaces for individuals to share their lived experiences, the program encourages meaningful conversations that highlight diverse perspectives and promote mutual understanding. Central to Elevate NOVA’s mission is the use of real-time, scrutinized data from the Community Foundation’s Insight Region center for data and research. This data-driven approach ensures that conversations are grounded in accurate, up-to-date information, providing a solid foundation for informed decision-making and collaborative action. Through Elevate NOVA, participants are empowered to connect with others, exchange ideas, and work together to address the region’s most pressing issues, all while drawing on the power of shared experiences and reliable data.

Past Events 

People's Supper - September 2024 
We invited our community of donors, partners, changemakers, and prospects to join us for a community dinner as a capstone event to our 2024 Elevate NOVA Book Circle. The Community Foundation was able to leverage the expertise of The Dinner Party Labs through their People’s Supper model. This model equips communities with the tools they need to build trust across differences and to overcome any sources of rupture. Their simple premise: Healing is a collective enterprise. Forty-three guests joined us for faciliated, thought-provoking conversations over a great meal.  

Shape of the Region Conference - February 2024
David Brooks launched the 2024 Shape of the Region Conference as our keynote speaker. The event was hosted with a record 19 regional partners from diverse sectors, and featured a panel presented in partnership with WEAVE: The Social Fabric Project at the Aspen Institute. Together, we addressed the issue of broken social trust, aiming to bridge divides and foster connections within our community.

Elevate NOVA Book Circle - November 2023
Author and Speaker, Mónica Guzmán discussed her book, I Never Thought of it That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times, at the Elevate NOVA Book Circle event. The book is an excellent tool that offers a thoughtful process for how good citizens in tough times can help bridge what divides us. Her unique formula for civic healing got us all thinking about how deeper listening and curiosity can bridge gaps in understanding, especially when we disagree.


The Community Foundation’s 2023 5-year Strategic Plan lays out a roadmap for building a stronger, more equitable, more resilient community.