More than 400 Memphians filled the University Center at the University of Memphis for the first Memphis Hope Summit, an all-day gathering Thursday, Nov. 13, designed to place the science of hope at the center of planning the city’s future.
Presented by Agape Child and Family Services in partnership with the City of Memphis, Shelby County and a cross-section of nonprofit, faith and government stakeholders, the summit focused on research from the Hope Research Center at the University of Oklahoma. Workshops and presentations centered on how the science of hope can be applied in practice.
The science of hope was developed by Chan Hellman, PhD, at the University of Oklahoma’s Hope Research Center, one of the presenters at last week’s Hope Summit. He defines hope not as emotion or optimism but as a measurable cognitive skill that determines whether people, especially youth, can succeed.
In his research involving more than 2,000 studies across education, mental health, child welfare and juvenile justice, hope was identified as the strongest predictor of positive outcomes. It is built on three components: goals (having something to work toward), pathways thinking (seeing ways to get there), and agency (the belief you can take action).
When paired with trauma-informed neuroscience which explains how stress and adversity affect the developing brain, studies show hope as a powerful, evidence-based tool that helps disrupt cycles of trauma and moves individuals and communities toward thriving.
Using her own childhood experiences to illustrate the difference between survival and hope, Oklahoma First Lady Sarah Stitt opened the summit with a direct explanation of why hope science matters in communities shaped by trauma.
“Survivorship is not a hope mentality,” she said. “So many people in your community don’t know anything different (than survivorship). When a child has only lived in a survivor environment, they don’t know their life can be different. They don’t feel the power to make that change from just surviving to having hope because surviving is just making it from one minute to the next, one day to the next. That is not hope.”
Other sessions focused on justice, civic leadership, education, families and steps toward cultural transformation. Participants examined how to confront despair, identify barriers and build practical pathways toward a more hopeful Memphis.
Ashley Cross, EdD, founder and executive director of The Hub585, which works to move families from trauma to belonging, told the audience: “Hope is this beautiful marriage between power and belonging.”
For David Jordan, president and CEO of Agape Child & Family Services, the summit represented nearly six years of planning and implementation.
“We’ve worked with experts out of Oklahoma, and we’re already framing our own programs around the principles of hope,” Jordan said. “This is not wishful thinking. Hope is cognitive thinking. It’s about saying, ‘We can be better if we take small steps toward a bigger goal.’”
Jordan said the summit is intended to drive long-term strategies for trauma-informed programs rooted in hope.
“This is a movement,” he said. “As Memphis leaders, we are saying, this is us — churches, nonprofits, businesses, media — (and) we want to change the narrative of our city. Because if hope wins, Memphis wins.”
Michael Arnold, a lead trainer for AFIRM, a fatherhood program under Families Matter, said building a hope-centered city requires coordinated strategy.
“We are better together,” he said. “I appreciate that this is not a pep rally. We are going to be excited. We are going to be motivated, but we are also going to have a plan.”
Arnold said fathers are facing significant challenges due to the 43-day federal shutdown and other policy shifts impacting daily life. He noted that promoting hope can be difficult when basic needs are unmet.
“I was talking to a father last night who hadn’t eaten in two days,” he said. “He’s trying to do the right thing. He has kids. He could make money in the wrong way, but he doesn’t want that. Hope for fathers is the opportunity to be a provider, a protector, to show their children something different.”
Arnold added that for hope to take hold “we have to stop letting outside people define our destiny.”
A panel titled Hope Wins, moderated by Jordan, invited city leaders to assess where hope is evident in Memphis and what must change for hope to expand.
Trevia Chatman, president of Bank of America – Memphis, described driving through North Memphis, where she grew up and noticing renewed development.
“I invite people to take a ride through our city,” she said. “Go back to your old neighborhood. We are making changes. Incrementally, yes, but they’re real. In some old neighborhoods, we’ve got cranes in the sky again.”
Kevin Woods, Memphis market president for BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, told attendees, “I remain hopeful and optimistic because even though we have big challenges, we have big rooms where people with big hearts want to do big things.”
He also described hope as “not just wishful thinking. It’s vision plus action,” and urged political leaders to embrace risk. “It is okay to get it wrong. In business that’s courageous leadership. In politics it shouldn’t be a career-ender. Own it. Change it. Our people will be better for it.”
Tomeka Hart, president and CEO of United Way of the Mid-South, highlighted Memphis’ ability to respond quickly in crisis.
“With the SNAP crisis, in two days we raised more than a million dollars so families could eat,” Hart said. “That gives me hope. But what keeps me up at night is that it’s episodic. We don’t have a long-term strategy for hope.”
She added: “Hope requires opportunity. We can’t just ask poor people to feel hopeful. Memphis leaders have to make decisions that extend beyond a four- or eight-year term.”
William Dunavant, CEO of Dunavant Enterprises, emphasized literacy as a central pathway to hope and added, “This room is the opportunity. Hope is the goal for the hopeless. I don’t think we’re positive enough about this city. But being positive starts with hope.”
Some leaders said real progress requires naming systemic barriers.
Mauricio Calvo, president and CEO of Latino Memphis, noted how current immigration enforcement efforts are affecting local families.
“I want to be optimistic, but I also have to be authentic,” Calvo said. I ask myself every day ‘how do I tell someone to be hopeful under the current circumstances?’ I see good things in Memphis, but in some areas, we are standing in the same place we were in the 1960s.”
He continued: “It’s okay to be hopeful, but we also have to provide pathways to be hopeful.”
Carol Coleta, founder and principal of Coletta & Company, said Memphis cannot move forward without embracing inclusive leadership and diverse local talent.
“Civic leadership has been well-meaning,” she said, “but the results haven’t taken us where they need to. We haven’t grown in population. We haven’t competed well with cities we compare ourselves to.”
She added: “Everyone has something to contribute to the success of this city. Inclusive leadership is the path forward. Everyone has agency.”
Returning to the theme of families, Chatman added:
“We talk about wrapping our arms around school children, but we can’t forget the mothers and fathers. If we don’t think about adults too, the cycle continues.”
Agape has already incorporated the hope science framework into its work with families and staff. The organization’s goal is to help spread the model across Memphis so that programs, policies and services adopt hope as a guiding principle.
“Our goal,” Jordan said, “is to help Memphis become a model for cities across the country. But Memphis is our center. We’re starting here.”
The summit concluded with a return to its central question: Can Memphis intentionally build a culture of hope?
To Jordan, the answer remains the same:
“Hope wins,” he said. “Memphis wins.”
