National Trails Day 2026 was more than a celebration of trails, active transportation, and the outdoors. It was a remarkable day of milestones, partnerships, and community impact across Northwest Indiana.

On May 5-6, leaders, advocates, planners, public officials, and community partners gathered at the Omni Severin Hotel in downtown Indianapolis for two days of bold conversations, mobile workshops, networking, and visionary thinking focused on creating safer, healthier, more walkable, and more bikeable communities across Indiana.

Both the APA IN conference and the Hoosier Planning Awards were held this year at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. Being present not only as award recipients but also as exhibitors was a wonderful opportunity to engage with the planning community and amplifying the impact of projects we advocate.

The work of helping communities plan their futures often begins with understanding and shaping their stories (who they are, where they’ve been, and where they want to go). Much like filmmaking, effective strategic planning requires translating complex ideas, research, and community input into clear narratives that people can understand and rally around.

Some projects begin with a grant or a plan. Others begin with a question, a community goal, and the patience to see it through. Launching the Lagoon is the latter, a project that represents the culmination of more than a decade of vision, advocacy, planning, and collaboration in the Miller neighborhood of the City of Gary, Indiana.

Nexus Strategy & Implementation was honored to represent the Fest in the First Committee at the APA-IN Awards Luncheon in Madison, Indiana, this May. We are especially proud to have donated our strategic planning, storytelling, and data-driven evaluation expertise to support the Fest in the First committee once again, this time as they prepare to celebrate their 22nd anniversary.