Tuesday, May 6, 2014
Van Jones shouted it. Robert Reich stated it. Carol Larson emphasized it. Numerous panelists and speakers demonstrated it. The conference itself could not have been possible without it.We must work together to have real impact.
That was the message heard time and again at NCG’s inaugural Annual Conference. It was a wonderful experience to have more than 260 social sector leaders gathered together for a day of learning, sharing and leading. I would like to thank everyone who joined us to look at how collaborative approaches are working to help address issues such as income inequality across the region. I’d also like to thank our sponsors and conference partners who helped make this event possible.
As I’ve said before, no issue island and the conference made it clear that we cannot return to business as usual-–using the same approaches and working with the usual suspects–-if we want to have real impact. Moving forward, NCG is committed to keeping this conversation going and to actively working together with funders, government, nonprofits, and communities to develop comprehensive solutions to the problems that our communities are facing.
We are looking forward to working with you to develop new programming, new initiatives, and new collaborations to address the complex and multifaceted social challenges facing us. If April 8, 2014 is any indication, I have no doubt that this incredible group of social sector leaders I have the privilege of working with here in Northern California, will be the change.
Annual Conference Materials
inaugural Annual Conference was a huge success. And not because registration was completely sold out-–it was. Or because we had two amazing keynote speakers-–we did. The success was in our members who came out that day. It turns out capturing lightning in a bottle isn’t about taking a bolt from the sky, but rather harnessing the charge in the air. This palpable energy came from you, our members, mixing together and from the friction of ideas being exchanged.If you weren’t able to attend this year’s Annual Conference, I encourage you to take a look at the resources, conference tweets, and photos from that day.
Working Together: NCG’s New Strategic Direction
NCG’s new strategic direction is built on a foundation of working together and includes three key components:
- Enhancing our core professional development and networking programs to meet the needs of grantmakers at different levels as well as grants management, communications and support staff;
- Launching a new focus on “Collaborative Philanthropy” where NCG will bring members together across issue-areas and geographic regions to develop comprehensive and holistic initiatives that address our communities most-pressing challenges; and
- Developing new services and productions for NCG’s members from on-demand training to research and data collection to public policy initiatives.
In our focus on “Collaborate Philanthropy,” we will be defining new ways for our members to combine their unique skills and expertise to tackle problems in a collaborative way. It gives me great pleasure to announce that Michelle Bermudez will be joining our team as our Collaborative Philanthropy Manager. Michelle is currently a Partnership Associate for the Council on Foundations and was responsible for identifying, cultivating, and facilitating strategic partnerships with institutions both inside and outside of philanthropy that better serve the field.NCG is excited to enter this new phase of work. We have a long track record to bringing members together and we will build on our success to help grantmakers leverage their resources and expertise to affect meaningful change in the communities they serve.
Working together, we can be the change.