On Thursday, January 22, at 7:00 PM, YWCA Greenwich and community partners will host the 2026 Coretta Scott King and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Annual Conversation. Held each January, this event celebrates the lives and legacy of Dr. King and his wife, Coretta Scott King, by exploring an issue they would have cared about if they were still alive.
This year’s conversation, titled “Third Spaces: Building Belonging Beyond Home and Work,” will be rooted in keynote speaker Eric Klinenberg’s best-selling book Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequity, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life. Our keynote speaker and expert panelists will offer their insights and solutions on third spaces and engage in an extensive discussion on how third spaces are crucial to our communities, connecting us all.
“I think it is easy to lay the blame of our current fractured social fabric on national events and trends, but as community partners, we owe it to each other to understand the importance of cultivating third spaces for young people, elders, and everyone in between. We must have spaces beyond work and home where we build community. It is even more crucial that those spaces are not exclusionary and are welcoming to all people,” explained the moderator of this event, Director of the Center of Equity and Justice at YWCA Greenwich, Simone Quartey.
YWCA Greenwich is excited to welcome keynote speaker, Eric Klinenberg, along with expert panelists Seila Mosquera-Bruno, Commissioner of Housing for the State of Connecticut; Andrew Clarke, Director of the Institute for Municipal and Regional Policy (IMPR) at the University of Connecticut; Carmen Hughes, Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the City of Stamford; and Denise Savageau, Environmental Activist and Thought Leader.
YWCA Greenwich President and CEO Mary Lee Kiernan explained the significance of this event; “We are delighted to join with our community partners once again to not only honor Dr. and Mrs. King but also explore the challenges and opportunities that contemporary third spaces offer to our community and our social cohesion.”
For more information or to register for this free event, please visit www.ywcagrn.org/KING2026
