Leadership Conference

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

Sponsored by:

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?

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: 

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.