The eighth annual list of must-attend events.
In a year when AI tools promise to bring any information to your fingertips, there’s something decidedly analog about blocking out days to attend a conference. While AI unlocks new ways of synthesizing information and generating content, it can also help us appreciate uniquely human capacities that machines cannot replace — or should not. No algorithm can replicate the energy of a room full of people wrestling with the same hard problems, or the insight that emerges when someone from a completely different field offers an unexpected perspective on your work.
At Luminary Labs, we’re connectors at heart. We know that solving big problems requires drawing insights from across disciplines and building relationships that transcend organizational boundaries. Tracking where innovation leaders, researchers, policymakers, and practitioners converge helps us stay attuned to the conversations across our focus areas and topics of interest.
For the eighth year, we’ve surveyed our team and extended network to identify where they plan to learn, connect, and engage over the next 12 months. This curated list spans over 150 events across the future of health, the future of work and education, scientific discovery, and infrastructure — plus the cross-cutting themes that connect them all. This year, we’ve included links to conference and event recaps our team shared from the past year.
Where do you go to expand your network or find inspiration for your next big idea? If you don’t see your favorite event on this list, email editor@luminary-labs.com or add a comment on LinkedIn to let us know where you’ll be this year.
* At time of publication, some annual events included on this list have not announced their 2026 dates. We’ve flagged those entries with an asterisk.
Future of work and education
- AASA (School Superintendents Association) National Conference on Education
- ACTE’s CareerTech Vision Conference and the National Work-based Learning Conference
- American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) Annual Meeting
- American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting
- Anthology Together
- ASU+GSV Summit
- Aurora Institute Symposium*
- Charter Workplace Summit*
- Coalition on Adult Basic Education (COABE) National Conference
- Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) — Building What’s Next, Together
- Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) Annual Conference
- Culturati Summit*
- EdTech Week*
- EdTech World Forum
- Future of Work USA
- Grantmakers for Education Annual Conference*
- Innovative Schools Summit
- Institute for Education Innovation National Spring Summit
- ISTELive (International Society for Technology in Education)
- JFF Horizons 2026Learning Ideas Conference
- National Conference on Science Education
- National Consortium of Secondary STEM Schools (NCSSS) Professional Conference
- National Forum to Advance Rural Education
- National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) Conference and Expo
- National Summit on Improvement in Education 2025 (formerly Carnegie Summit)
- National STEM Festival
- NICE K12 Cybersecurity Education Conference
- NSBA (National School Boards Association) Annual Conference
- Quality Assurance Symposium (AAQEP Annual Meeting)
- Skills Summit (National Skills Coalition)
- Space Exploration Educators Conference
- SXSW EDU
- TRETC (Three Rivers Educational Technology Conference)
Reflections from SXSW EDU 2025
Each year our team comes back from SXSW EDU with fresh insights and perspective on the latest trends, challenges, and opportunities in education.
3 ways partnership can unlock innovation in education
This past spring, the Learning Landscapes Challenge team partnered with the challenge sponsors to present a session about the importance of partnerships in education innovation at the ASU+GSV Summit.
Education innovation at the speed of trust
Each year, EdTech Week brings together a community of leaders thinking deeply about how to solve America’s educational challenges.
Future of health
- ACHE 2026 Congress on Healthcare Leadership
- Ai-Med Global Summit*
- ATA Nexus26
- Behavioral Health Tech Conference
- Civitas Networks for Health Annual Conference*
- Check Up by Google Health*
- The Decentralized Trials & Research Alliance (DTRA) annual meeting*
- Digital Healthcare Innovation Summit (DHIS East)
- Digital Health Summit NY*
- FIERCE Biotech Summit
- Future of Mental Healthcare Summit
- Frontiers Health*
- Health Leader Summit
- HealthNext Summit
- HealthTech ConX*
- Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Global Health Conference
- Health Datapalooza*
- HLTH
- Integrative Healthcare Symposium
- International Forum on Quality and Safety Healthcare
- J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference
- 2026 Lake Nona Impact Forum
- LogiMed
- MED-PR
- Mental Health America Conference
- Milken Institute Future of Health Summit*
- NAM Climate and Health Summit*
- National Human Services Summit (APHSA)
- Open Innovation In Life Sciences*
- NextMed Health 2026
- Rare Disease Summit
- Rock Health Summit*
- SCOPE Summit for Clinical Ops Executives
- Society for Public Health Education Annual Conference
- STAT Summit
- SXSW Health & MedTech
- Virtual Healthcare in the Mainstream Symposium & Research Forum*
- ViVE
- WIRED Health 2026
- World Health Summit
- World Vaccine Congress
- The X Factor Healthcare Innovation Summit*
Bringing Veteran mental health to the fore
Luminary Labs was proud to be the Veterans Week Partner for the 2025 Behavioral Health Tech Conference, elevating Veteran perspectives and their contributions to innovation in mental health.
Reframing healthcare’s AI future
This past spring, we attended the third annual HealthNext Summit, where scientists, entrepreneurs, health system leaders, payors, and providers gathered to address the latest impacts of AI.
Scientific discovery
- American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting 2025
- American Chemical Society (ACS) Spring Meeting
- Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness Annual Meeting
- BIO International Convention
- Trellis Impact
- CNS Summit (Collaborating for Novel Solutions)
- CubeSat Developers Workshop
- Falling Walls Science Summit
- ID Week (Infectious Diseases Society of America)*
- IEEE Aerospace Conference
- International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society
- International Conference on Neurology and Neurological Disorders
- Michigan Institute for Computational Discovery and Engineering (MICDE) Annual Symposium: Scientific Foundation Models
- Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Regulatory Information Conference
- Open Science Conference and EOSC Symposium*
- Science Summit at UN General Assembly*
- Small Satellite Conference
- Space Economy Summit*
- Space Week NY*
- Space Symposium
- Space Tech Expo
- STAT Breakthrough Summit
- SynBioBeta Global Synthetic Biology Conference
- University of Arizona Science of Consciousness Conference
Bringing galactic opportunities to local economies
We participated in Space Week New York, Empire Space’s annual convening for networking and scheming to imagine a more connected sector.
9 ways to build trust in science
The Building Trust in Science 2025 convening empowered journalists, science communicators, researchers, and policymakers to craft impactful messaging to strengthen public trust in science and scientists.
Infrastructure
- ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit
- AIVP World Cities and Ports Conference*
- BloombergNEF Summit
- BuiltWorlds Global Summit
- Climate Week NYC
- DERVOS — “the Davos of distributed energy resources”*
- DistribuTECH International
- Green Schools Conference
- International Battery Seminar & Exhibit
- LA Climate Week
- MIT Energy Conference
- NASEM Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting
- National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) and the Development District Association of Appalachia (DDAA) Washington Conference
- National Planning Conference (American Planning Association)
- Pacific Conference for Development Economics
- Smart Cities Connect Conference
- Smart City Expo USA
- Smart City Expo World Congress
- UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP 31)
- Urban Tech Summit*
Tech innovation for urban resilience
The Urban Tech Summit convenes leaders from across academia, government, industry, and civil society to learn about pressing opportunities and challenges facing cities.
Connect with us at Climate Week 2025
Our 2025 Climate Week guide will give you a sense of the breadth and scope of this annual event.
Futurism, technology, and innovation
- AI4 Conference
- AIGA Design Conference*
- AI Summit New York*
- Aspen Ideas Festival
- Atlantic Festival*
- CES
- Code for America Summit
- Config
- Databricks Data + AI Summit
- Design Thinkers*
- EmTechAI (MIT Technology Review)
- Fast Company Innovation Festival
- The Future of Everything Festival (Wall Street Journal)
- FWD50
- Government Service Delivery (formerly GovernmentDX)
- International Society for Professional Innovation Management (ISPIM) Innovation Conference
- Milken Institute Global Conference*
- National Cyber Summit*
- New Yorker Festival*
- NYCxDESIGN Festival*
- NYC Open Data Week*
- The OOO Summit*
- Tech Week
- PopTech annual conference
- ON_Discourse Summit*
- Semafor World Economy Summit*
- Service Design Network Global Conference*
- SOCAP Global*
- Solve at MIT
- SXSW 2026
- Transform
- World Open Innovation Conference*
- World Usability Congress
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