The 2025 Small Giants Community Summit is happening April 29-May 1, 2025 in Detroit, MI

Connections

The key to success comes down to the connections we make – with our team, customers, partners, and community – and aligning back to our purpose and values. That’s why we’re excited to announce the 2025 Small Giants Community Summit theme is “Connections.” We’ll explore the importance of our relationships and how to forge meaningful connections in all aspects of our lives. 

Connection is critical to how businesses succeed, how teams thrive, how we grow personally as leaders, and how we support our communities. In addition to our traditional authentic storytelling, we’ll spend time together to learn the tools and share experiences that deepen our connections in purposeful ways, including…

Connecting aspects of our culture that will scale and last over time

Building trust that enables difficult conversations and tough decisions

Creating a sense of accountability and responsibility in aligned ways

Fostering closer ties with our customers

Differentiating our brand and reputation

Deepening clarity through connections to data and analytics

Strengthening relationships and impact through technology and AI

Aligning strategic and operational decisions, both in the short- and long-term

Enhancing real impact in our communities and the world around us

To lead in a Small Giants way, it requires intentionally connecting people, ideas, purpose, and values. Get ready to connect the dots in new, exciting, and thoughtful ways at our next Summit!

Learn with other like-hearted leaders at the 2025 Small Giants Community Summit

Who’s taking the stage? 

The Small Giants Community Summit relies on inspiring speakers and compelling storytellers to make the event worthwhile. Our speakers are leaders, practitioners, entrepreneurs, CEOs, and Community members who are willing to share their lived experiences and lessons learned. View the amazing lineup of speakers here. These leaders are ready to share their story and expertise on the Summit stage!

Explore the sessions, and view the full 2025 Summit agenda here.

Celebrate the Hall of Fame

Help us recognize and cheer on some of the best Small Giants leaders in our Community! Small Giants Community members have nominated Next Gen Leaders and Founders/CEOs who represent and live out Small Giants values, philosophies, and what it means to be a purpose-driven leader. The finalists will be recognized at the Summit and a winner from each category will be announced live during an evening ceremony on April 30. Learn more about the Hall of Fame and the previous winners here.

What to Expect

  • Mainstage Presentations

    Be inspired by Small Giants leaders sharing their stories and best practices for building exceptional company cultures. View the 2025 Summit agenda here.

  • Customized Content

    Two distinct learning tracks for founders/CEOs and Next Gen leaders.

  • Interactive Sessions

    Hands-on workshops dive deep into the topics that matter most, teaching you practical systems you can implement in your business right away.

  • Evening Events

    All-inclusive evening events give you a chance to build meaningful relationships with like-minded leaders in beautiful settings around Detroit.

  • Hotel

    You’re responsible for booking your own lodging, but we welcome you to book in the Small Giants Community’s room blocks at convenient locations here.

  • Transportation

    We have your transportation covered to and from all Summit-related events. And we ride in style thanks to the Detroit Bus Company.

  • Meals

    Nothing brings people together like an excellent meal (and a great drink!). All of your food and beverages during Summit events are nutritious, delicious, and included.

Get Inspired!

The Small Giants Community Summit is unlike any other business conference. We celebrate leaders for their authenticity and vulnerability. And our goal is for every attendee to walk away with new friends, practical tools to take back to their organization, and a reenergized sense of purpose. This is what a typical Summit schedule looks like.

Support the Magic!

As an L3C organization, the Small Giants Community operates as a hybrid for- and non-profit, prioritizing our mission and social purpose. We couldn’t do what we do without our generous sponsors who help bring our vision to life! Interested in supporting a magical purpose-driven leadership experience? Check out various packages and opportunities to sponsor the Small Giants Summit and see who else is making an impact.

  • 9am-3pm: Small Giants Leadership Academy in-person meetup (Leadership Academy participants only)
  • 4:30-5:30: Optional city walking tour (more details coming soon)
  • 6pm-9pm: Small Giants Summit opening reception
  • 8am-8:45am: Breakfast
  • 8:45am-4pm: Programming, presentations & tracks (including lunch)
  • 6pm-9pm: Hall of Fame Evening Reception
  • 8am-9am: Breakfast
  • 9am-3pm: Programming, presentations & tracks (including lunch)

Register today for a community experience unlike any other!

FAQs

A friendly and open and honest experience! Small Giants are open and incredibly welcoming. Every seat assignment and experience is thoughtfully curated so you’ll get to meet a lot of people and you’ll get to connect on a deep level. If you want to learn more about the experience, email us at hello@smallgiants.org so we can have a virtual cup of coffee and tell you more!

The Small Giants Summit is unique in that we hang out together for a couple of days, learning and connecting during the day, and sharing meals in the evening. Therefore, your ticket includes the conference portion, all meals during our time together, evening receptions, and any transportation needed in between sessions!

You can view the Summit agenda here.

Early bird registration is available until October 31, 2024. Early bird tickets are $1,300.

From November through April, general admission pricing is $1,600.

Looking to bring a group? Use the code “threeplus” to save $200 per ticket when 3 or more people from the same organization register. Use the code “sixplus” to save $300 per ticket for groups of 6 or more.

Purchase your ticket by registering here!

Of course! We have two tracks and content that caters to two audiences including founders/CEOs + all other leaders. Bring three or more colleagues and use the promo code “threeplus” for a discount.

The open call for 2025 Summit speakers closed on October 31, 2024.

We encourage you to find out more about contributing to the Small Giants Community here.

We are very proud of the wonderful humans that take the stage! View the speaker lineup here.
The approach for the Summit has always been to engage Small Giants practitioners – people who are leading organizations and initiatives in like-hearted ways –  who are open to authentically and vulnerably share their stories, systems, learnings with our audience. They’re not professional speakers (not that there’s anything wrong with that) but they’re just like you and us – doing the good work every day! Our speakers are generous with their time, and they see value in being on the Summit stage, as well as being in the audience. And we feel like that’s really special. They register, they attend and they speak. Also, they prepare for hours! Our team meets with each the speaker at least 3 times to work through their presentation, which they pour their heart and soul into. And that’s worth celebrating!

We have a variety of experiences and packages that you can sponsor. Check it out here

When we first held the Summit in Detroit, it was because our team was anchored there and we wanted to share the “revitalization” story that was unfolding. Small Giants loved the experience so much that we brought them back again and again!

Over the last few years, we’ve established relationships with small businesses and local organizations who support the Summit in a variety of ways and have given us an incredible foundation to do what we do. And this allows us to do our part in continuing to revitalize a city that has endured so much over the years.

Small Giants Community