Partner Partner Content Bringing neighbors together: Q&A with Réna Bradley on the Inspire Neighborhoods Conference

This article was made in collaboration with the City of Fort Wayne Department of Neighborhoods.

Across Fort Wayne’s 450+ neighborhoods, local leaders are constantly searching for answers, solving problems, and innovating on behalf of their community. Working as a neighborhood planner, Réna Bradley has met quite a few residents over the last four years, and as she’s helped them find a path forward, she’s also heard their struggles.

“A lot of what association leaders were facing, they felt they were facing on their own. They weren’t able to easily find networks of either subject matter experts or other association leaders to gather ideas, glean support from, or find encouragement…to feel like, ‘We’re in it together!  We’re all trying to rally and make our neighborhoods better, and I’m not just out here by myself,’” Bradley says.

From this, the Inspire Neighborhoods Conference & Awards was created. Starting in 2023, the city has invited residents to attend a one-day conference focused on sparking inspiration, providing education, and creating connections. 

Bradley says over the last three years the Inspire committee has continued to refine the logistics, taking in attendee feedback and finding ways to make it more engaging and to expand the event’s impact. This year features two keynote speakers, breakout sessions, workshops, breakfast, lunch, and a rooftop dinner, complete with awards honoring neighborhood associations and leaders. And, thanks to sponsors, it’s all free for city residents. 

Input Fort Wayne sat down with Réna Bradley, neighborhood planner and Inspire committee chair, to learn more about this year’s lineup, the value of inspiring practical solutions and new ideas, and the importance of recognition. 

Input Fort Wayne: Inspire Neighborhoods Conference is in its fourth year now. Take us back to that first year. What led your department to this event idea?

Réna Bradley: The city used to send people to an event called the Regional Neighborhood Network Conference, which convened neighborhood leaders from the five-state area. When the COVID-19 pandemic happened, that event stopped convening, but we still needed training, education, and leadership development for neighborhood association leaders. Once our department realized that the postponement of that event seemed indefinite, we went ahead and started to create our own offering. That was the initial genesis of Inspire.

In Southeast Fort Wayne, where I live, what I was hearing from the Southeast Area Partnership participants, a sentiment I’m sure resonates with a lot of neighborhood leaders throughout the city, was that association leaders often felt isolated. My genesis behind Inspire was to make sure that there was space for people to learn from each other. A space to meet experts and resource providers one-on-one, in a very comfortable, more intimate setting, so that helped them feel more approachable to the average resident. 

IFW: On the subject of neighborhood leaders, some folks might feel this event is just for association leadership, but really it’s open to anyone who is interested in making a difference in their community. Tell us about that.

RB: Our target audience is always going to be neighborhood association leaders and advocates. I usually call them association residents and presidents. I don’t want people to think that only the board of your association can attend. If you’re a member of your community, you’re passionate about that place you live, and you aspire for it to be an even better place than it is right now, you are more than welcome to attend. If they want to come out and learn more, we love to have them. We’ve seen folk come out, I think, as young as 16 all the way up to 95 or 96.  Everyone’s welcome.

IFW: More than education, you’re helping people put action to what they’re learning at the conference. What led to the creation of Sparked at Inspire Micro Grants? 

RB: Last year we started our Sparked at Inspire Micro Grants, sponsored by the Indiana Michigan Power Foundation. They were created in response to feedback we received that it’s great to learn at the conference, but it often takes resources to get something started. We were able to offer up to $1,500 grants for association members and residents who attended Inspire and had ideas based on the content they received. There were 15 awardees from last year, and we have room for up to 30 more this year!

IFW: The programming offers a variety of options, and you encourage people to attend whatever portion of the conference they can. Can you tell us about the workshops on the schedule this year?

RB: In the afternoon, we have workshops, and they’re very hands-on. We have some truly phenomenal speakers for those this year. Andrew Downs, the City of Fort Wayne’s Chief of Staff, is going to go through the structure of government, helping people understand the difference between city government, county government, who to reach out to for what. 

Eric Smith from Community Works is going to be talking about asset mapping for neighborhoods. He ascribes to ABCD, or asset-based community development, the notion that if we develop vision by focusing on a community’s strengths and build from that we can make tremendous strides – much more so than we can by focusing only on things like a pothole or whatever else is wrong. He’s going to come out and help associations understand how to take inventory of their strengths and assets and how to then leverage and build upon those strengths and assets. I think that will be a really outstanding workshop. 

The third workshop is about helping to bridge cultural divides, which I think is a big topic in a lot of our neighborhoods. People want to reach out to their neighbors of different languages, ethnicities, or cultures, but they feel clumsy or awkward because they don’t know how or where to start. 

All the workshops are going to be outstanding, in part because they’re all on topics our associations want to hear more about…because they focus on how we go beyond just complaints to really solutions-oriented meetings and strategies.

IFW: This year’s theme is resilience. How did you land on that?

RB: The theme was inspired by our focus groups. People just told us, ‘We’re out here, we’re doing our best, but how do we avoid burnout? How do we stay energized as leaders?’ And so a lot of our topics this year have that focus of building resilience and working together. Both our lunch and dinner keynotes focus on resilience, but each in different ways. 

IFW: In addition to providing a space to learn and connect, the conference also serves as an opportunity to recognize people for their work. Tell us about the Inspire Awards. 

RB:  We present awards in two big categories, Associations of the Year and Leaders of the Year. Leaders of the Year fall into three big categories: Helping Hands, which is for unsung heroes; Rising Stars, which recognizes people under the age of 25; and then Inspiring Leaders.

City staff, if they see people doing great work, are welcome to submit nominations, but we primarily ask neighborhoods themselves to nominate people and associations who are doing great work. We also encourage people, that if you are the unsung hero, it’s okay to nominate yourself. It’s okay to say, you know what, I’ve been here, I’ve been doing this work, and I’ve been the underdog. It’s okay to put yourself out there to be recognized and celebrated. This year we have invited all finalists and their friends and family to attend the dinner, not just our winners. With the award selection becoming more competitive, we really wanted an opportunity to honor as many people as possible for all their effort.  

IFW: Why is this sort of recognition important? 

RB: The city hadn’t done association of the year or leader of the year awards in a very long time – it might have been decades. And so I thought to myself, why don’t we make sure that there’s a point of celebration as a part of this event to really acknowledge the great work that our volunteer leaders are doing within their communities? 

I think what stands out is just how much some of the volunteers do, like it’s kind of nuts, especially considering that the vast majority of association leaders are unpaid volunteers who do the work just because they care deeply. The hope is to educate, to connect, to really celebrate our association leaders and leave them feeling energized. The way my brother phrases it, when he loves or is passionate about something, is that it ‘gives him air.’ I hope this event does just that. That it ‘inspires’ people in both senses of the word – by giving air to our leaders and motivating them to keep making progress. 

IFW: For those considering attending, but aren’t quite sold yet, what’s your final pitch?

RB: Come out! First: Inspire is a free event. We feed you — well! It’s a low-pressure, very comfortable setting. Second: All attendees we’ve received feedback from have said that they’ve gotten something out of it. Third: You don’t have to stay the whole time. I think that might be a misconception some community members have. If you just want to come out because you see one or two sessions that are relevant to you, come out. If you just think, ‘Man, that lunch speaker or that dinner speaker looks really good,’ just come out for lunch or dinner. Just be sure to register to let us know that you’re coming out for lunch or dinner. This is also my pitch for registration. Register! We want to make sure you have the best experience possible, but we can’t plan for you if we don’t know you’re joining us. 

That said, to anyone who is considering coming, I hope you’ll check out the speakers list and, if you see something you’re interested in, that you’ll join us and come out. If there’s a different type of content you would like to see in the future, feel free to reach out to me or a member of our team and let us know your ideas so we can incorporate your thoughts into next year’s event. Then, hopefully, we’ll see you the next time. 

The 2026 Inspire Neighborhoods Conference & Awards Dinner takes place on September 11 at Electric Works. Doors open at 7:30 a.m. The schedule includes breakout sessions, workshops, awards, and a free lunch and dinner with keynote speakers. Attendees should register by August 31 and are encouraged to attend any portion of the day that aligns with their interests and schedule. 

Support for Input Fort Wayne’s Neighborhoods series is provided by the City of Fort Wayne Department of Neighborhoods through an in-kind sponsorship supporting the 2026 Inspire Neighborhoods Conference. Input Fort Wayne maintains full editorial independence over all reporting and story selection.