Engaged leadership has many expressions and when fully sparked can sensitively and effectively move people and organizations through transition, conflict, uncertainty, and growth. At the 2024 Nonprofit Leadership Conference, we aspire to reveal, study, and generate new, more equitable forms of engaged leadership that consider personal and global trauma, nonhierarchical approaches, generational differences, and external impacts — leadership that invigorates systems change in the sector by engaging people “at home” and beyond.

At this year's gathering, we are particularly invested in bringing the theme of engaged leadership to life through content and conversation that elevates leadership pathways, executive leadership support, board engagement, volunteerism, and impact assessment.

Attendees will examine paths toward personal, organizational, and sector change through the multi-faceted lens of engaged leadership while building each other up as a community of interconnected nonprofit leaders across the career and generation spectrum. We will define ways to speak up for our missions and ourselves while centering the communities of which we are a part and whom we serve.

Attendees will include around 400 nonprofit leaders — emergent to middle to executive, philanthropy professionals, community and civic leaders, students, and Leadership Institute alumni from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs. If you attend the conference, you will be able to:

  • Find and share inspiration and guidance among peer experts for engaging with myriad areas of leadership
  • Have direct access to the latest leadership research (and researchers!) and discuss ways to incorporate academic findings into on-the-ground practice and strategy
  • Bolster foundational knowledge of nonprofit administration and operations as part of honing your advancement pathway and leadership capacity
  • Identify the inequities in leadership models and map ways to disrupt and dismantle them while imagining fresh alternatives

Note about COVID protocols

While COVID-19 remains with us despite the formal end to the national health emergency, we have reached a period in the pandemic where we possess more tools and resources than ever before to better protect ourselves and our communities. 

MCN is no longer requiring masking at events; however, as we gather we recognize that our members, friends, and colleagues are coming from different personal circumstances. Therefore, we ask all event attendees to help us create a supportive environment for anyone wearing a mask, and we encourage all to feel free to wear a mask if needed to protect the health of the community, themselves, or the health of loved ones. MCN is also lifting its proof of vaccination/negative COVID-19 test requirement; however, if you feel ill or have a known recent exposure to the COVID-19 virus, please stay home.

2024 Nonprofit Leadership Conference

Wednesday, May 8, 2024
8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
McNamara Alumni Center
200 SE Oak St., Minneapolis

Register Today!

PDF Registration Form

Sponsored by:

Humphrey School logo

Success Computer Consulting


Doran Leadership Partners logo


Might Consulting logo
 

Mutual of America logo


Projenance Logo

KathySublett (1)

Conference Keynote

Invigorating Systems Change at Home and Beyond

Kathy Sublett, Executive Director, Let’s Erase The Stigma

What would a world where leaders feel supported to admit mistakes, address them, and then move forward be like? How would the nonprofit sector change if more people were given the financial resources, emotional support, and inclusive infrastructures and systems to lead from their lived experience within the communities they wish to serve?

MCN is thrilled to have Kathy Sublett as this year’s keynote speaker. Sublett founded the nonprofit Let’s Erase the Stigma, in Winona, Minnesota, which offers free programs and education focused on expungement, the sealing of criminal background records, personal finance fluency, rebuilding credit, and training in cultural humility.

Pecha Kucha 20x20 - color

Lunchtime Leadership Chitchat

The Japanese word for chitchat is PechaKucha (ぺちゃくちゃ) is a storytelling format in which a presenter shows 20 slides for 20 seconds of commentary each. As we gather for lunch we will be guided through four brief presentations, PechaKucha style, with a little help from super-emcee and Twin Cities drag personality Randy Dandy. Presenters will cover: 

  • Assessing and investing in your career satisfaction with Brigette Marty, associate director and career coach, Carlson School of Management

  • How to prioritize and identify hard to measure personal traits important in a workforce with Morgan Kennedy, chief marketing and growth officer, Atomic Data

  • Standing out on LinkedIn (even if you don’t care about LinkedIn) with Rachel Leatham, director of career and student success at the Humphrey School 

  • The lowdown on the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network—why they need you and you need them with Noah Polipnick, account executive, TransPerfect and YNPN treasurer 

After this sprint of information and some questions from the crowd for our experts, you and your table mates will dig into what resonated with you while you also dig into dessert. With any luck, Memorial Hall will be brimming with “collective effervescence!” 


Puppy Party
Streecorner Letter Press

Wellness & Creativity Activities

Puppy Party!

Join puppies (and people) from Healing Hearts Rescue for some puppy playtime. Seriously. You just get to go and hang out with adorable puppies that will lick your face, nibble your toes, and get you to laugh with their overabundance of goofball energy. We’re leading with the heart with this cuddly wellness offering. 

Print Your Own Postcard with Streetcorner Letterpress

Try your hand at making something impactful with a 100-year-old letterpress. Choose from 3 designs that amplify this year's conference theme of engaged leadership—leadership that invigorates systems change in nonprofits by engaging people “at home” and beyond. There will be pretty pictures, bright colors, and words that will inspire you to keep leading as your true self in partnership with others. Come and activate the right side of your brain and go home with a tactile keepsake.

Conference Planning Committee

  • Nicole DeBoer, Southwest Minnesota Arts Council

  • Rodrigo Escobar, HACER

  • Courtney Gerber, Minnesota Council of Nonprofits

  • Kate King, Feline Rescue and Young Nonprofit Professionals Network of the Twin Cities

  • Aleana Kruger, Trans Northland 

  • Aviva Meyerhoff, Northside Residents Redevelopment Council

  • Nonoko Sato, Minnesota Council of Nonprofits

  • Marcia Ratliff, Engage Winona

  • Jamie Schumacher, Local Initiatives Support Corporation – Twin Cities

  • Shahrin Upoma, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota