Obama Foundation Announces December Dates for 2026 Democracy Forum at the Obama Presidential Center

CHICAGO – The Obama Foundation today announced that its 2026 Democracy Forum will convene December 9 to 11 at the Obama Presidential Center - the first time the Foundation is hosting its signature event on its own campus, culminating with keynote remarks from President Obama.

The Democracy Forum will be anchored on the theme “Powering Democracy with Trust,” exploring how people, institutions, and technologies build, repair and scale trust in one another and in democracy itself. Over three days, leaders, practitioners and young changemakers from around the world will come together in person in Chicago to examine trust as a social, emotional, cultural and institutional force that holds democratic life together. The Forum comes as questions of public trust – and the need to rebuild – are increasingly being raised domestically and globally. 

“At a moment when so many people around the world feel isolated from their neighbors and disconnected from institutions, restoring faith in our shared future starts with rebuilding trust. That is why the 2026 Democracy Forum at the Obama Presidential Center will focus on the fundamental work of strengthening trust across our communities,” said Valerie Jarrett, CEO of The Obama Foundation. “We are inviting global thinkers, grassroots changemakers, and everyday citizens to gather, find common ground, and help chart a roadmap forward. Real progress happens when we step out of our isolated corners, listen to one another, and realize that we have the power to bring change home.”

This year’s forum builds on a framework to strengthen democracy that President Obama first laid out in 2022 at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit, where he called for a positive roadmap for protecting and preserving democracy around the world and encouraged a new generation of leaders to carry it forward. Since then, the Obama Foundation has hosted an annual Democracy Forum that focuses on one key element that President Obama highlighted: building inclusive economies, countering misinformation in the age of artificial intelligence, and reinvigorating the values of pluralism, or finding common ground to advance change across differences. 

Since its inception, the Democracy Forum has become a venue where current and future leaders focus on the long-term work required to sustain democracy globally, whether through rebuilding social trust or reinforcing core democratic principles and norms.

Notable speakers at past Forums have included a diverse array of voices, including thought leaders but also intriguing innovators such as Ryan Reynolds, actor and entrepreneur; Emma Grede, CEO and co-founder of Good American and founding partner of SKIMS; Regina Hall, award-winning actress and producer; journalist Judy Woodruff; Governor Wes Moore; Alexander Soros, investor and philanthropist; country-music star Reyna Roberts; Eboo Patel, founder and president of Interfaith America; professor and author Mariana Mazzucato; Leni Robredo, 14th Vice President of the Philippines; and next-generation leaders from across the Obama Foundation's global network, including Ainka Jackson, Nika Kovač, Doussouba Konaté, and Nick Antipov. 

Further programming information and media invitations will be shared ahead of the Forum at obama.org/democracy-forum . 

About The Obama Foundation

The Obama Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization with a mission to inspire, empower, and connect people to change their world. That mission begins on the South Side of Chicago, the home of the Obama Presidential Center. But that approach extends to all our work, whether it’s holding leadership training sessions in communities throughout the U.S., bringing local leaders together in countries around the world, working to support the global education of girls, or ensuring young men of color have pathways to opportunity. From every corner of the globe, our program participants are working together to address some of the biggest challenges of our time—from renewing our democratic institutions, protecting LGBTQ+ rights, fighting climate change, and so much more.

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Contact: Emily Bittner, press@obama.org