Friends to the Front Summit

If you’ve ever picked up park litter and wondered why you also have to pick up the slack, this summit is for you. Friends to the Front: Advancing Houston’s Parks and Public Spaces is the first summit for Houston’s grassroots friends groups, nonprofits, and community-based organizations working to make our public spaces better. Calling all trail stewards, conservancies, civic clubs, super neighborhoods, environmental justice advocates, and residents whose “someone should do something” has become a second unpaid career. Come learn how to navigate City Hall, build partnerships, raise funds, tell your story, and turn neighborhood persistence into citywide influence. Meet people tackling the same challenges, swap hard-earned lessons, and help shape a shared parks advocacy agenda. Funders, public agency staff, students, and researchers: pull up a chair. Stronger parks need you at the table, too. October 16–17, 2026 | Emancipation Park Cultural CenterHosted by Friends of Columbia Tap. Free to attend, with food provided. Bring your big ideas, your stubborn optimism, and that park problem you’re tired of explaining. You’ll be among friends.