September 23, 2026 (COLUMBIA, S.C.) —
"Improving Opportunity and Affordability for South Carolina’s Workforce" will be the focus and theme of the inaugural civic assembly of The South Carolina Forum this October in Columbia. This landmark civic assembly represents the culmination of a months-long, statewide civic effort launched earlier this year to link grassroots public input with actionable policy.
“We’re bringing South Carolinians together who reflect the geographic, demographic, and political breadth of our state to evaluate, debate, and deliberate on citizen-driven solutions to the issues we face,” said Trav Robertson, co-chair of The South Carolina Forum.
“Over the past several months, we have heard from tens of thousands of South Carolinians about the issues that matter most to them,” added co-chair Dave Wilson. “Across thousands of online submissions, hours of community conversations, and workgroup deliberations, one message came through clearly: expanding economic opportunity for South Carolina’s workforce is essential to addressing our state’s affordability crisis and changing the trajectory for so many who call this state home.”
Working with technical experts and policy advisors, the 100 randomly selected assembly participants will translate individual and community insights into concrete, cross-partisan legislative recommendations backed by a supermajority of participants. Those recommendations will be shared with state lawmakers ahead of the upcoming legislative session.
The civic assembly convenes Friday, October 9 through Sunday, October 11 at The University of South Carolina’s Joseph F. Rice School of Law and will serve as a powerful model for citizen-led democracy that demonstrates how collaborative governance on critical issues can lead to real solutions to the issues facing South Carolinians.
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