Breakout Session Evaluation

This page will be updated regularly with clickable bios and session descriptions. Note, this schedule is subject to change, please reference this page for up-to-date information.

Click on speakers' names below to learn more about them. 

Invest in Your Organization through Board Service

More than ever, strong boards are necessary to help nonprofits meet their missions and strategic goals. Pulling from both her experience as a CEO reporting to a board, as well as founder of The Gifford Foundation’s Nourishing Tomorrow’s Leaders program, Sheena Solomon will share practical tips and real-world experience around investing in intentional board development, diversity and community-based board leadership support. Join us and learn how to create a cohesive board that draws on the benefits of its members’ diverse income, education, life experience, etc., and ensures all voices are equally heard.

Sheena Solomon

Executive Director, The Gifford Foundation

ED Confidential

The Executive Director position has always been uniquely challenging. Executive Directors are responsible for the overall health and success of their organizations and are faced with limited resources and growing need, while also being accountable to many different audiences. And today, there is the added pressure of federal actions.

Based on last year’s popular conversations, this session will again provide an opportunity for Executive Directors to meet with others facing the same challenges. Through structured conversation topics and a confidential space, attendees will have the opportunity to speak with other nonprofit leaders to commiserate, get advice, share wisdom – and be understood by others in the same position. NYCON CEO Megan Allen will facilitate this session, which is open to Executive Directors only.

Megan Allen

Chief Executive Officer, New York Council of Nonprofits (NYCON), BoardStrong

Taking Your Board to the Next Level

Is your board a hot mess? Or a great team working together like clockwork? Somewhere in between? Your board isn’t just another task on your to-do list. With the right guidance and a clear path forward, they can become one of your greatest assets—energized, aligned, and ready to lead alongside you. Join BoardStrong Director Barbara Paxton to discuss how you can make your board stronger, more engaged, and more aligned with your mission.

Come ready to share your challenges – there will be time for discussion.

Barbara Paxton

Director, BoardStrong

To Merge, or Not to Merge

For nonprofit boards and leaders, deliberation over a potential merger or affiliation with another nonprofit is a complex process that prioritizes mission alignment, organizational compatibility, and long-term viability. Legal concerns, employee impacts, and state regulations are also crucial factors.

Nonprofit corporate restructurings are sought for a number of reasons – whether to achieve greater mission impact, increase operational efficiency, expand programs geographically, and/or secure long-term financial sustainability. Other key drivers include succession planning and fostering innovation. By combining resources and expertise, and gaining economies of scale, merged nonprofits can become stronger, more influential, and more effective in their pursuit of a shared mission. Should your organization begin to consider a merger or affiliation? What do you need to explore? Join members of NYCON’s team for these projects, to start answering these questions.

Michael West, Esq.

Sr. VP, Attorney, NYCON

Jeffrey Kosmacher

Capacity Building Advisor/Mid-Hudson Coordinator, NYCON

Nonprofit Advocacy Overview and Strategies

As experts in your mission, impact, and community, nonprofits can shape the policymaking process through advocacy. Regardless of where you are in your advocacy journey, this session – led by National Council of Nonprofits policy expert Jessica Mendieta – will show how you can advance your mission and help develop good ideas into policies that cultivate thriving communities.

This session will cover:

• An overview of the difference between advocacy and lobbying
• Tips on how to advocate and lobby
• How to leverage your expertise and experience
• Communicating with different audiences

Jessica Mendieta

Policy Associate, National Council of Nonprofits