Our mission
Our mission is to make spontaneous connection more accessible in everyday places. We do this by helping public and commercial places create Minglespaces—designated areas where strangers are invited to say hi and talk.
These spaces use signage, prompts, and thoughtful design to make it easier for people to connect, whether they’re alone, traveling, new to the city, or just open to conversation.
What we believe
Places where people gather can take the lead in encouraging connection. By simply adding a clearly marked spot, they create an invitation to say hi.
Opportunities to connect should fit into daily life. Meeting new people should feel as natural as finding a water fountain—always there when you need it, simple to use, and part of the environment.
Spontaneous conversations strengthen communities. When strangers can chat in everyday places, they build trust, spark new ideas, and make places feel more welcoming.
Letter from the Founder
Michael Anthony Kirsch
Executive Director
In early 2023, I began exploring how to encourage more meaningful interactions and help people feel a stronger sense of community in the places they already spend time. Around that time, I came across the Surgeon General’s report on loneliness and the growing national conversation about the importance of social connection. Discovering this—along with the work of groups like the Foundation for Social Connection, and later reading Together by Vivek Murthy—gave me confidence that I was on the right track.
As I attended events and visited familiar places, I started noticing a common challenge: even in social settings, there often wasn’t a clear way to meet new people. In rooms or events full of people, there was no obvious obvious way to signal openness to conversation. And then it hit me: why aren’t there clearly marked areas, created by places themselves, where people are invited to introduce themselves and spark conversation? Once I saw the gap, I couldn’t unsee it.
Minglespace was one of several ideas I had originally imagined as part of a broader civic initiative—including tools to support connection-driven events and a network of neighborhood connectors—but this was the one I felt most strongly about bringing into being. Later that fall, I attended the Building Connected Communities Conference in Boston, where I heard from inspiring leaders in the field and met other local community builders. It was encouraging to meet others who were thinking about similar questions, and to feel part of a growing community.
Before the concept took shape, I had begun working on a project called Prospecting for Dreams—a plan to interview 100 people in Milwaukee from different backgrounds about their ideas and visions for the future. I wanted to spark imagination and uncover the shared dreams of a city. The questions I used—about creativity, community, and personal goals—later became the foundation for the conversation prompts featured at Minglespaces.
We aim to partner with places of all kinds—cafés, parks, museums, universities, festivals, and more—to create dedicated spaces where connection happens naturally. I’m excited to collaborate with communities across the country to test, refine, and develop this new piece of social infrastructure—one Minglespace at a time.
—Michael Anthony
Michael Anthony Kirsch founded Minglespace, a community-building organization based in Milwaukee, WI, to make in-person connection easier in the places people already go. From Stevens Point, WI, has long been driven by a desire to serve others and to improve their lives through ideas with lasting impact. He holds a BA in History from George Mason University and an MS in Mathematics in Finance from NYU’s Courant Institute. He is the author of The Challenge of Credit Supply: American Problems and Solutions, 1650–1950, a concise, historically grounded study of how U.S. banking and credit policies shaped economic growth. Before Minglespace, he worked on financial modeling and credit policy at KPMG, a global advisory firm.
Community Builder
Founder of Minglespace
Michael Anthony Kirsch
