The Bergel Institute 2026 Retreat

Two Days, One Room, a Lot of Big Ideas

The Bergel Institute team landed at our headquarters in Florida for our August retreat — and it did not disappoint. Three groundbreaking Fellowship projects, a bold new push on how we address poverty, and a room full of people who genuinely can't wait to get back to work. Here's your front-row recap:

Setting the Tone

Arantxa Plascencia kicked things off with the energy the day deserved, co-founder Lisa Stransky shared what the Institute has meant to her from day one, and Mark Bergel closed the welcome with the story of where we started — and just how much the vision has grown. It set the tone for everything that followed.

Fellowship Presentations

Three Fellows shared where their projects stand — and where they're headed.

🛡️ TRAPP — Dr. Eirliani Abdul Rahman

Imagine giving police and frontline organizations an early-warning system for human trafficking. That's exactly what TRAPP (Trafficking Risks: AI for Proactive Protection) is built to do — an AI-powered platform that flags emerging risks so people can step in before harm happens.

🤝 A New Profession, From the Ground Up — Andy Schindling & Kate Murphy

What if mentoring young people was a real, credentialed career path — not just a volunteer role? Andy and Kate are helping to build the foundation to make that a reality nationwide, creating a trained, sustainable pipeline of adults ready to consistently show up for our youth.

🧭 Compass by THRIVE — Dr. Omolara Fatiregun

An AI-powered career coach that helps people see paths to durable work they might never have considered — Compass is moving from research into pilot-ready territory, and the roadmap Omolara shared has us genuinely excited to watch it grow.

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🌱 Community-Based Poverty Initiative

Rethinking How We Measure Poverty

Mid-afternoon, the retreat turned to CBPI — measuring poverty by what it actually costs to live in a community, not an inaccurate, decades-old national formula. The retreat's CBPI session (Mark Bergel, Arantxa Plascencia, Susan Williams, and Caroline Barnes) dug into the methodology, and the energy carried straight into a dedicated working meeting the moment the retreat wrapped. This is quickly becoming one of the most important projects we're building — learn more here, with much more to come this fall.

The day wrapped with a look at what's ahead for the Institute, one-on-one time between Mark and each Fellow, and — after a very close vote — the choice for a well-earned team dinner.

Huge thanks to everyone who flew in to make this retreat one for the books. The momentum coming out of this room is real — stay tuned. 💛

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