Michael Saccocio is an aha! Process consultant who has transformed Schenectady, New York, using antipoverty concepts and strategies from Framework, Bridges, and Getting Ahead. But what you may not know is that the network Saccocio built would not have been possible without his strong faith and a church-backed mission.

In fact, Saccocio’s first passion is City Mission of Schenectady, where he is the executive director. Schenectady is a real example of the public, private, and faith-based sectors all pitching in to rejuvenate a city.

Saccocio will be a presenter at this year’s SATtalks in Kansas City, October 24–26. SATtalks is a conference for church leaders modeled on TED Talks. You can learn more and view past videos here.

Here’s Mike Simon of Simon Solutions (creators of CharityTracker) at last year’s SATtalks:

More about the conference from SATtalks website:

SATtalks is a two-day event with presenters from 6-8 faith-based organizations who are actively applying THE BIG IDEA in their particular ministry.  Presenters give their best 18-minute talk to a live audience about what they’re doing and learning, what’s working and what’s not (admitting failure or setbacks is encouraged!) followed by a time for Q&A. And of course there’s time to just mingle.  Like many events, some of the most important conversations happen outside of the structured schedule.   Each talk is videotaped and then posted on the SATtalks website.

One of the great lessons learned through the TED Talk phenomenon is that you can actually accelerate the learning curve of new ideas by bringing innovative people together to share their best ideas, discoveries, models and lessons with others.  There are a number of individuals, churches and faith-based organizations that are actively working on models that reflect the above BIG IDEA.  They have moved beyond the theoretical and abstract to a point where they are investing resources, executing strategies and working on ways to do good that are truly sustainable and transformative.

We hope you can join Saccocio and other influential leaders in the faith-based sector at this year’s SATtalks.