August 2026 Purpose Forum
About this Event
Purpose Forum Fireside Chat
New Chapters
Different seasons. Enduring purpose.
Two stories. Two new chapters. One powerful reminder: there are many beautiful ways to matter.
Wednesday, August 26, 2026 | 11:30 AM–1:00 PM
Hilltop Community Resources | 359 Main Street, Grand Junction, CO
Free parking available on-site + nearby street options
What happens when purpose enters a new season?
Some chapters arrive with a new title, a new responsibility, or a larger public role.
Others arrive more quietly — after a long career, during retirement, or in the space between what we have already given and what we are still being called toward.
Either way, new chapters can invite us to ask deeper questions:
Who am I becoming now?
What do I still have to offer?
Where might my experience, relationships, wisdom, and care be needed next?
At this month’s Purpose Forum, we’ll explore how leadership, contribution, and purpose evolve across different seasons of life.
Through a thoughtful fireside conversation with Will Hays and Angela Christensen, we’ll hear from two respected community leaders entering meaningful new chapters.
Will is stepping into a significant executive-leadership role as CEO of Hilltop Community Resources.
Angela is stepping from a highly respected professional career into a new season of board service, community leadership, and continued contribution.
Their stories are different, but the invitation is shared:
There are many beautiful ways to matter — and many meaningful ways to contribute.
This will not be a résumé-driven panel or formal presentation.
It will be a warm, story-rich conversation about purpose, identity, leadership, service, transition, and the possibilities that open when people continue showing up for community life in new ways.
Whether you are beginning something new, stepping into greater responsibility, retiring, rebuilding, exploring what’s next, or simply wondering where your experience might be useful, this conversation is for you.
Featured Speakers
Angela Christensen
Former D51 Foundation Executive Director; incoming Hilltop Community Resources Board Member
Angela Christensen recently retired after a highly respected and well-loved tenure as Executive Director of the D51 Foundation, where her work centered on education, philanthropy, relationships, and community partnership. This August, she is joining the Hilltop Community Resources board, carrying her experience and leadership into a new season of contribution.
Angela’s story reflects the truth that leadership and contribution do not end when a professional chapter closes. Experience, relationships, wisdom, and care can continue to become gifts to the community in new ways.
Will Hays
CEO, Hilltop Community Resources
Will Hays became CEO of Hilltop Community Resources on July 1 after more than two decades of leadership within the organization, including serving as president. His new role reflects both continuity and evolution: a trusted leader stepping into broader responsibility for Hilltop’s people, programs, partnerships, and future.
Will’s story offers a timely perspective on leadership, stewardship, institutional memory, and what it means to guide a long-standing community organization into its next chapter.
Together, Angela and Will demonstrate that leadership has many beautiful expressions — and that purpose can deepen, adapt, and continue serving the community across very different seasons.
Wisdom does not expire when a title changes.
Who Should Attend?
✨ Community members interested in hearing from Will Hays during one of his early public conversations as Hilltop’s new CEO
✨ People navigating a new season of life, work, leadership, or contribution
✨ Retirees and people exploring purpose beyond a formal professional role
✨ Emerging and younger leaders curious about service, responsibility, and community leadership
✨ Nonprofit, civic, education, philanthropic, and business professionals
✨ Board members and prospective board members
✨ Newer residents looking for meaningful pathways into community life
✨ Longtime locals invested in the future of the Grand Valley
✨ Anyone who wants to feel more connected, useful, and engaged in community life
You do not need a formal leadership title or organizational affiliation to belong in this conversation.
Why Attend?
Because many people are not looking for another obligation.
They are looking for a place where reflection feels useful, connection feels human, and community life feels more personal, more visible, and more possible.
At the Purpose Forum, we create a different kind of gathering.
One where conversations feel real.
Where people meet beyond their usual circles.
Where stories help us see leadership differently.
Where lunch-table conversation, thoughtful questions, and meaningful introductions create room for new possibilities to emerge.
You’ll experience a hopeful, story-rich conversation and leave with renewed perspective, meaningful relationships, and practical inspiration for carrying your own wisdom, experience, and purpose into what comes next.
What You'll Experience
🍽️ Lunch in a warm, welcoming room where conversation feels natural, relaxed, and human.
🔥 A thoughtful fireside-style conversation grounded in real stories, lived experience, and practical community wisdom.
💬 Guided reflection and shared insight that helps you think differently about purpose, contribution, and where your own next chapter might lead.
🤝 Meaningful connection beyond your usual circles—across nonprofit, business, civic, education, philanthropic, and everyday community life.
🌱 A hopeful, possibility-focused atmosphere where people feel seen, welcomed, and reminded that there are many beautiful ways to matter.
No expertise required.
No perfect words required.
Come as you are.
Bring curiosity, openness, and a willingness to explore what’s possible when purpose continues to evolve.
What You'll Take Away
✨ A richer understanding of how leadership can deepen within an organization or take new form beyond a formal career
✨ Fresh perspective on carrying wisdom, relationships, and experience into what comes next
✨ A more personal understanding of Will Hays and the leadership perspective he brings to Hilltop’s next chapter
✨ Real examples of contribution across different seasons of life and leadership
✨ Practical inspiration for recognizing your own evolving path of purpose and participation
✨ New relationships with people who care about the future of the Grand Valley
✨ A renewed sense that your experience, presence, and contribution matter
💬 From Our Community
"Connect for Good has been one of the most positive Netweaving™ experiences I've had in Grand Junction. I've made connections I would not have found elsewhere and leave every gathering with meaningful takeaways, new perspectives, and genuine relationships. It's a heartening, expansive experience every time."
— Purpose Forum Attendee
🌐 Our Unique Approach to Netweaving™
Connect for Good offers a different kind of gathering.
Instead of asking, “What’s in it for me?” we ask, “What’s possible for us?”
Through Netweaving™, we help people build genuine relationships, discover opportunities to participate in community life, and strengthen the social fabric of our community.
Whether you’re new to the area, deeply rooted here, or simply looking for more meaningful ways to engage, the Purpose Forum offers a welcoming place to discover possibilities, build relationships, and find your place in community life.
🤝 About Connect for Good
Connect for Good, soon growing into GoodnessCO, is cultivating a more connected, hopeful community ecosystem — one where people feel seen, build meaningful relationships, strengthen the social fabric, and discover the many beautiful ways they can participate and matter.
Through Purpose Forums, Netweaving™ gatherings, Board Connect, and small-group experiences like Possibility Gathering, we create spaces where people can explore what matters, discover one another, and imagine what might be possible together.
At the heart of this work is a simple belief: communities flourish when people recognize the many ways they already matter, expand their imagination for how they might participate, and help keep goodness in circulation.
We believe participation takes many forms.
People strengthen communities through volunteering, board service, mentorship, advocacy, storytelling, relationship-building, sharing expertise, informed civic participation, acts of generosity, and simply showing up with openness and care for others.
Every pathway matters.
Every person strengthens the whole.
Rooted in Western Colorado, Connect for Good is Netweaving™ purpose, positivity, and possibilities everywhere.
Communities become extraordinary when people show up to do good.
Live here. Do good here.
Community Access Tickets
A limited number of Community Access tickets are available to help keep this gathering accessible and welcoming to a wide range of community members.
Refund Policy
If your plans change, email [email protected] by midnight on the Saturday before the Forum and we’ll issue a refund.
After that, tickets are non-refundable.
Processing fees are non-refundable. Eventbrite processing fees are applied at checkout and support the infrastructure that allows Connect for Good to host sustainable, high-quality gatherings.
📩 By registering for this event, you agree to receive organization updates and event information from Connect for Good.
Connect for Good events may be photographed or recorded for promotional purposes. By attending, you acknowledge and agree that your image may appear in our publications, website, social media, and other promotional materials.
If you prefer not to be photographed or recorded, please inform our staff upon arrival, and we will do our best to accommodate your request. However, please note that media coverage by external organizations is beyond our control.
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
USD 28.52 to USD 44.52
