BARI Conference 2026 Call for Proposals Deadline Extension

We are excited to announce that BARI Conference 2026: Greater Boston’s 10th Annual Insight-to-Impact Summit will be on

May 8th at Northeastern University.

We are accepting proposals for talks and poster presentations until February 2nd!

For a decade now, BARI Conference has been a unique forum for community leaders, practitioners, researchers, and policymakers to share how they are leveraging the tools of research, scholarship, and design with and for the communities of Greater Boston—and how we can do even more through collective action. This is made possible by your submissions for talks, covering a broad range of:

Insights, including research findings, program evaluations, data-driven implementations, methods and processes for collaboration, and tools and platforms for facilitating impact. We are interested in submissions centered on data-driven results or on reflections about how civic research collaborations are most effective and impactful;

Perspectives, including those of the public, non-profit, and private sectors, as well as academia;



Data, from qualitative stories and experiences to quantitative “big data;" and

Topics, including but not limited to: affordable housing and housing insecurity; jobs; public health; economic development; transportation; education; climate resilience and environmental justice; segregation, opportunity, and equity; public safety and law enforcement; arts and culture; and access to resources, amenities, and services.

Proposals will be accepted until Monday, February 2, 2026, at 12:00 noon.

BARI will notify applicants by the end of February regarding selections for the conference. Please contact bari@northeastern.edu with any questions.

We Encourage Proposals That Are…

Grounded in multiple forms of expertise. We value all forms of expertise, from generational knowledge to lived experience to formal training and everything in between. These bases of expertise can be rooted in any discipline or domain.

Innovative. We want to highlight projects that use data and research to advance knowledge, policy, and practice in greater Boston. These might entail novel approaches or ideas, or they could honor old ways of doing or being that have new relevance in our quickly evolving world.  

Collaborative. We want to showcase the power of collective action: the felt and meaningful impact we can accomplish when we combine our specialized knowledge and skills. This might entail collaborations between individuals, across organizations or institutions, or any combination thereof. We are especially interested in submissions that describe civically engaged collaborations between community organizations, government entities, and/or research institutions that directly speak to opportunities to advance equity in the region.

Directly relevant. We are interested in all topics meaningful or actionable for our communities. Submitters are encouraged to consider if and how their work addresses those individuals and populations in society who have the greatest need.

BARI will notify applicants by the end of February regarding selections for the conference. Please contact bari@northeastern.edu with any questions.

Proposal Instructions 

Submit the title, speaker (and collaborators), and description of your proposal (<350 words) today! Submissions are due on Monday, February 2, 2026, by 12:00 noon. Preference is given to presentations about collaborative projects with at least two partners.

Submissions should include both a description of the work and its real or anticipated implications or impacts for communities in Greater Boston. Proposals are for 10-minute talks to be incorporated into panels designed by our cross-institutional Conference Committee.

The conference will also feature a poster session designed to highlight the work of early career professionals in the public, private, non-profit, and academic sectors, including students. Submitters will have the opportunity to indicate if they would like their proposal to be considered for this session.