Leadership Conference

Last year, the Nonprofit Leadership Conference took engaged leadership, a way of leading, as its theme. This year we widen our lens to capture the whole of nonprofit leadership — the meaning, impact, and future of a leadership field that has distinct needs and offerings.

At the 2025 Nonprofit Leadership Conference we will imagine and set the course for a resilient and dynamic future for nonprofit leadership. Placing an emphasis on empathy, relationships, and strategy in our work, we will dream audaciously and plan accordingly for leading in a sector that is highly attuned to its environment and uniquely positioned to introduce change into that environment in partnership with the communities engaging with nonprofits every day.

Attendees will include 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:

• Have the space to move outside of reaction mode and into systems-change long-view planning
• Identify the inequities in nonprofit leadership and map ways to disrupt and dismantle them while imagining fresh alternatives and thus strengthening the field
• Find and share inspiration and guidance among peer experts
• 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 your knowledge of and confidence with nonprofit administration, compliance, operations, communications, and advocacy

Sponsored by:

Conference Keynote

Lead with Your Heartbeat 

Join TaikoArts Midwest for an unforgettable keynote program that will set the energy level for this year’s gathering. A demonstration of resiliency and connectedness, Taiko drumming matches one’s heartbeat and opens access to one’s primal power.  

TaikoArts Midwest associate artistic director Megan Chao Smith and artistic apprentice Emily Harada will share a memorable drum duet, followed by an inspiring talk rooted in story and image illustrating the power of artist-centered practices by executive director Jennifer Wier. Jennifer believes that if you let artists lead you will find your way and that taiko makes the world better.