The 15th annual JES Global Summit begins on Monday night.

This three week summit brings in people from all over the country to discuss a variety of topics; from politics, to democracy, the environment and current events.

The summit has come a long way since it first began in 2009.  Ben Speggen, the Vice President of the Jefferson Educational Society explained,  "It began as a two and a half day conference that had five events and in drew roughly 500 people. Now we have some events that draw 500 alone."


The three-week speaker series brings in people from around the country to share their expertise and knowledge, with some even choosing to invest in Erie.  As Speggen explained, "We bring in speakers that aren't parachuting in and out. They want to come in. They want to see the community they want to get to know a bit about here. For some folks, it's a return visit. For others, it's the first time that they've ever seen the area and many of them want to meet with community officials outside of the public event."


Speggen said the response from Erie shows a desire to learn from world-class thinkers and a hunger for intellectual discussion. "But there's an importance of being able to import ideas and part of that comes from the idea that Erie residents shouldn't have to travel to a bigger city", said Speggen.


It all begins Monday night with White House Correspondent for the New York Times, Peter Baker, as he discuss U.S. Foreign Policy, Russia, Ukraine, the 2024 Election and Israel, "So to talk about what is happening in Israel, what is happening with the Hamas conflict in the attack. Why it's important that the U.S. go to Israel, go to Tel Aviv, meet with key leadership there to talk about the U.S. position in this emerging crisis. "

For more information on the JES Global Summit series or for ticket information, click here.