18–21 October 2026 · Stony Point, New York
Effective Career Summit
A working retreat for organisations moving people into high-impact careers to work on strategy, coordination, and shared challenges.
What this is
A working retreat for decision makers in organisations that move people into high-impact careers. Most run small teams and rarely get dedicated time away from daily execution to work through strategy with others facing shared challenges. Over three nights, attendees work on strategy, coordinate where their efforts overlap, share what they have learned, and get to know the others doing this work.
The retreat takes place directly after EAG NYC, from the evening of Sunday 18 Oct to around noon on Wednesday 21 Oct.
Who it's for
The core audience is organisations and projects that move people into high-impact careers, mostly small or early-stage groups, represented by someone who sets or strongly shapes their strategy. Alongside them we invite a handful of guests, such as funders and people with a clear view of talent needs. The retreat is invitation-only and kept to around 30 to 35 participants.
The format
Attendees know best what the field needs, so most of the time goes to formats where they do the work: one-to-ones, small-group discussions, and working sessions aimed at producing something concrete. We will set a small number of focus areas in advance based on participant input.
We will ask attendees to share memos before the retreat, so conversations can start with more context.
We also leave plenty of unstructured time. Meals, walks, and evenings are where a lot of the value of these retreats comes from, and the schedule protects that.
Where something promising starts here, we want to help it continue by making sure it leaves with a clear owner and next steps.
Program
We will start the the program Sunday evening with an evening social. The working program starts Monday morning; Monday and Tuesday are the core days of the retreat.
The program will be light on talks to leave room for small group discussions, working groups and workshop, and one-to-ones.
Logistics at a glance
Dates
Sunday 18 to Wednesday 21 October 2026 (three nights, two full days)
Rooms
A retreat centre in Stony Point, in New York's Hudson Valley, about an hour north of the city
Venue
A combination of shared and private rooms, with preferences collected at registration
Vegan breakfast, lunch, and dinner will be provided.
Cost
Attendance is fully covered. Documented travel expenses are reimbursable up to $500, with more support available case by case.
Food
Stony Point, in the Hudson Valley, an hour north of the city, mid-October
Vesa Hautala
Event manager
Vesa has worked in community building and career advising for five years, including organising events such as EAGxNordics, EA for Christians conferences and academic workshops, and managing the EA Summit Helsinki team.
Naomi Nederlof
Senior Advisor
Naomi ran the annual retreats for CEA's Community Building Grants programme from 2023 to 2025 and co-founded the 2026 Biosecurity Summit. She is incoming CPIO at Successif.
JD Bauman
Executive Sponsor
JD supports the organising team and oversees the summit's funding and US logistics, having previously managed the team behind Christians for Impact's conferences.