2026 West Harlem Summit recap
Pathways to Power
Three days. Real rooms. Voices that refuse to be silent.
June 5 – 7, 2026
West Harlem · Governors Island · New York City
Presented by The LOHM & West Harlem Development Corporation
West Harlem Summit 2026 RECAP
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The recap
Three days. Three venues. One movement.
From June 5 to 7, 2026, The Ladies of Hope Ministries (The LOHM) and West Harlem Development Corporation brought together women, advocates, artists, authors, and community members for the Pathways to Power Summit. From the Rewriting Her Story author talk-back and One Decision Workshop on Day One, to the keynote address, breakout workshops, and film talk-back on Day Two, to a Governors Island Filmshop and Women Over Dinner closing the weekend on Day Three, every hour was designed to move attendees from inspiration into action.
What happened in these rooms was not just programming. It was proof of what becomes possible when the individuals most impacted by unjust systems are placed at the center of the conversation and given the tools, the mic, and the community to chart their own path forward.
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Day One · Friday, June 5, 2026
Rewriting Her Story book talk and One Decision Workshop
The Dwyer Cultural Center, West Harlem
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The author talk-back
Rewriting Her Story: live from the page
The summit opened with an evening rooted in the power of testimony. Attendees gathered at The Dwyer Cultural Center for an author talk-back celebrating Rewriting Her Story, a collection of essays by women whose lives have been shaped by the criminal legal system and who have chosen to reclaim their own narratives on their own terms.
The room didn’t just listen. It recognized itself in every word read aloud from that stage. That recognition is the entire point of Faces of Women Imprisoned, and on the first night of the summit, it was impossible to miss.
Real stories. Real women. Real power. When justice-impacted women speak, the room changes.
Pathways to Power, Day One
Featured author
Trish Lewis
Trish Lewis, co-author of Rewriting Her Story and Program Director of Faces of Women Imprisoned, brought depth and grounding to the evening. With years of advocacy and direct service behind her, Trish reminded the room that the stories in this book are not just personal triumphs. They are evidence of systemic failure that demands systemic change.
The evening planted seeds for everything that followed over the next two days: a belief that the most powerful voices in any conversation about justice are the ones who have lived it.
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Meet the keynote speaker
Aisha Babilonia-Campbell
From surviving to leading. Aisha Babilonia-Campbell brought the kind of keynote that does not let you look away. A visionary leader, advocate, and lived-experience voice, Aisha opened Day Two with an address rooted in what it means to build a life of power, purpose, and unapologetic possibility after the system says otherwise.
Her presence in the room wasn’t just inspiring. It was instructive. She modeled exactly what the summit was designed to celebrate: a woman who has transformed her own story into a blueprint for others.
Day Two · Saturday, June 6, 2026
Keynote address, workshops and film talk-back
The Dwyer Cultural Center, West Harlem
A full day of strategy, story and solidarity
Day Two was the beating heart of the summit. From the moment Aisha took the stage through the closing film talk-back, every hour was designed to move every participant from inspiration into action. Workshop facilitators challenged attendees to examine their own power, their platforms, their stories, and the systems they navigate.
Starling Thomas
Communications Director, The LOHM
Starling Thomas anchored the summit’s vision from concept to execution, bringing together voices, stories, and programming that reflected the full power of what The LOHM stands for.
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Nia Forrest
Workshop facilitator
Nia Forrest brought energy, depth, and community into her workshop space. Her session opened a dialogue about identity, power, and what it means to show up fully for individuals who have too often been told their presence is a problem.
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Aisha Babilonia-Campbell
Keynote speaker
From surviving to leading. Aisha delivered a keynote that challenged every person in the room to think bigger about what power, purpose, and possibility look like when individuals who have lived through the system are the ones doing the leading.
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The film talk-back
Justice-impacted voices in Hollywood
Starling Thomas, Carmela Zumbado, and Alexys Feaster sat together for a conversation about the stories we tell, the stories that get told about us, and the difference between the two. Antwan Williams joined virtually, bringing a filmmaker’s perspective to a discussion that held the full weight of what representation really means.
The panel didn’t offer easy answers. It held the tension that justice-focused storytelling demands: between representation and exploitation, between visibility and vulnerability, between what sells and what is true.
Film doesn’t just reflect the world. It shapes how the world sees people who look like us. That is not a creative decision. That is a moral one.
Film talk-back, Pathways to Power 2026
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Day Three · Sunday, June 7, 2026
Governors Island Filmshop and Women Over Dinner
Governors Island and Harlem, New York City
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Morning at Governors Island
Reclaiming narrative: the Filmshop
The summit’s final day began on the water. The Governors Island Filmshop brought together a smaller, more intimate group of participants for a morning of immersive storytelling at the Filmshop House in Nolan Park.
Surrounded by open sky and the quiet of the island, participants engaged with what it means to see oneself reflected on screen, to use creative tools as advocacy, and to build narrative power from the inside out.
Evening in Harlem
Women Over Dinner
The summit closed the way the best conversations do: around a table. Women Over Dinner brought the weekend to a close with an intimate gathering where the guard was down, the conversation was honest, and the connections made were the kind that carry forward.
What was said at that table, the plans, the commitments made to one another, is the real measure of what this summit produced.
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What we built together
The summit was just the beginning
Three days. Multiple venues. Dozens of speakers, facilitators, authors, artists, advocates, and community members. And one through line: individuals whose lives and voices have too often been pushed to the margins, standing squarely at the center, leading, teaching, creating, and demanding the futures they deserve.
The 2026 West Harlem Pathways to Power Summit was made possible by the community that showed up for it, the partners who believed in it, and every individual who made it real.
Join Us in Making Change
It's time we recognized that when we put women in jail, we inflict potentially irreparable damage to their families.