Community leaders gathered at the UMass Charles River Campus on Wednesday morning for the 52nd Annual Theodore D. Mann Newton Mayor’s Community Breakfast.

The annual event helps raise money for the Foundation for Racial, Ethnic and Religious Harmony (known as The Harmony Foundation, for short).

This year’s breakfast had a theme: Building community through arts and culture.

That’s been a cornerstone of Mayor Marc Laredo’s administration—he’s even created a new Arts and Culture Department, chaired by Meryl Kessler—aimed at nurturing economic development and community-building.

“Newton has always been a city built by people who cared enough to participate,” Laredo said. “People who volunteered, people who organized and spoke out without fear or judgment. Newton has always been and will remain a place where we welcome others. And today our strength comes from continuing that tradition.”

Laredo urged the people under that tent to help keep Newton a welcoming, inclusive and comforting place, “because there’s a lot of noise out there.”

“There’s a lot of anger, a lot of uncertainty,” he said. “And when the world around us feels unstable, community becomes even more important. Newton, right here in our 13 villages, is where we hold on to our values and bring people together.”

The guest speaker was Newton resident Keith Lockhart, who has served as conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra for the past 31 years, and who spoke about the way an audience becomes part of the art and how important that is to community-building.

“I did something really, really unusual last weekend. I went to a concert,” Lockhart said.

This was unusual, because his busy schedule means he’s the one on stage. But he and his wife had a night off, so they went to see Bruce Springsteen.

Being part of the 20,000-people crowd soaking in the energy of a concert inside a packed TD Garden changed his perspective for an evening.

“It brought home to me, once again, the power of music and performance to bring us all together,” Lockhart said.

The mayor presented two Mayor Theodore Mann Community Service Awards to retiring 2Life Communities Director Amy Schectman and the City of Newton IT Department. Schectman has led 2Life through an expansion of housing for seniors in Newton. And in this digital age, the IT Department—under the direction of CIO Greg Ansaldi—is all that stands between Newton and utter chaos.

Scholarships were awarded to Bilan Ali of Newton North High School, Hannah Spector of Newton North High School and Julia Conroy of Newton South High School.

You can watch the entire event here.

And here are some photos from the breakfast.

Left to right: Former City Councilor Emily Norton, former School Committee member Rajeev Parlikar and current School Committee member Tamika Olszewski attend the 52nd Annual Theodore D. Mann Newton Mayor’s Community Breakfast on May 27, 2026. Photo by Bryan McGonigle

Mayor Marc Laredo presents a community service award to the city’s IT Department, run by Greg Ansaldi, at the 52nd Annual Theodore D. Mann Newton Mayor’s Community Breakfast on May 27, 2026. Photo by Bryan McGonigle

Newton Rotary scholarship awardee Hannah Spector hugs Superintendent Anna Nolin while Rotary President Gayemarie Brown applauds. Photo by Bryan McGonigle

Superintendent Anna Nolin and Newton Rotary Club President Gayemarie Brown present Bilan Ali with a scholarship at the 52nd Theodore Mann Mayor’s Breakfast on May 27, 2026. Photo by Bryan McGonigle

Superintendent Anna Nolin presents Newton South High School student Julia Conroy with a rotary scholarship at the 52nd Theodore Mann Mayor’s Breakfast on May 27, 2026. Photo by Bryan McGonigle