CEOLink

The Conditions for Innovation

What was the last innovation – large or small – your organization implemented? What made that possible? What factors were working against you? Ashley Velez, Executive Director of Humility Homes and Services, will share some of the innovative solutions for homelessness they’ve deployed in the last few years, the internal and external factors that worked for and against their ability to innovate, and lead CEOLink members in discussion about how to support your nonprofit’s ability to learn and implement new solutions for our community’s most pressing needs and opportunities.

Peer ConsultationNonprofit

CEOs face unique challenges that we cannot always discuss widely. Come to this session of CEOLink to consult with your peers on a leadership challenge you’re facing, hash out that one problem that's keeping you up at night, or talk through that great idea you're working on. Through small group peer-to-peer discussions in Zoom breakout rooms, you'll come away with a feeling of connection, a fresh perspective, and maybe a new approach to the key issues facing your organization today. We’ll rotate Peer Consultation into our discussion topics periodically.

Guiding Your Board to Provide the Support Your Organization Needs

Janessa Calderon will share her experience in the first few years of her tenure as Executive Director of the Greater Quad Cities Hispanic Chamber – understanding the perspectives of her board members, developing a vision for her organization, and helping existing and new board members see how they can participate to bring that vision to life. She’ll reflect on the successes and challenges so far, and lead CEOLink members in discussion about how you’ve helped your board – collectively and individually – understand how to fulfill their roles for the success of your organization.

Being an Employer of Choice

Like the rest of the country, Quad Cities nonprofits are facing staffing challenges. Unlike many companies, it is not as easy for nonprofits to increase salaries (though many of you are working on it!). What approaches are you taking to attract and retain staff – from salary to benefits to work culture? Come to learn from your peers and share how you continually create an organization where people want to work.

Supporting LGBTQ People and Organizations

As we all work within our organizations and through our missions to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in our community, at this meeting of CEOLink we’ll discuss how that plays out at this time of increased attacks literally and legislatively against trans and other LGBTQ people. Chase Norris will share information about Clock, Inc’s mission and programs, and lead a larger discussion about the current environment for LGBTQ people and LGBTQ-focused organizations. How are we and our organizations standing with efforts to ensure safety and well-being, whether externally through our missions, programs, and communications, and internally as leaders of our staff and volunteers? How can we do more? What are the challenges you face as a leader in this work?

Dealing with Inflation and Other Financial Crunches

Costs are up, and so is the need for many services provided by nonprofit organizations. “For nonprofits that face the same inflationary pressures [as for-profit businesses], that adjustment is much harder. Unlike for-profit businesses, they can’t simply raise prices or switch out unprofitable product lines. And labor shortages are increasingly forcing them to compete with private employers to hire and retain staff.” (Christian Science Monitor) Is your organization feeling the crunch? How are you handling it? Come to learn from your peers and share how you are adjusting on the expense and revenue fronts.

Using Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) in Nonprofit Organizations

Every CEO is charged with effectively aligning the work of their organization with their mission. One method for doing so is EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System). Nicole Cisne Durbin, President/CEO of Family Resources, and guest Ben Brustkern, Executive Director of Friends of the Family in Waterloo, Iowa, will share how they have explored and implemented EOS in their organizations. Come to discuss this and other approaches you’ve taken to ensure your organization achieves its top priorities.

Networking and Peer Consulting

This CEOLink will be minimally programmed to allow us all to connect. You’ll have the chance to network with your nonprofit CEO and Executive Director peers informally, and we will offer prompts on the tables for those who might like to sit down for a more in-depth small group conversation on a topic that is timely for you.

Purpose-Driven Board Leadership

In a March 2021 article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, BoardSource President and CEO Anne Wallestad put forth an argument for “a new way of thinking about the board’s most important work. Data from BoardSource’s most recent Leading with Intent study, she said, shows many boards are “preoccupied with fundraising above all else, disconnected from the communities and people they serve, ill-informed about the ecosystems in which their organization is operating, and lacking in racial and ethnic diversity.” To address these challenges, she puts forth four principles of Purpose-Driven Board Leadership: purpose before organization, respect for ecosystem, equity mindset, and authorized voice and power.

Board Engagement

Board members are some of our most crucial constituents as nonprofit EDs and CEOs. What are your biggest tips for engaged board members? What are some of your current challenges? Come to this session of CEOLink with those in mind to share with your peers. If you want to be everyone’s favorite, have your best documents (board member job descriptions, committee charters, or engagement plans) electronically at hand and ready to share.

Networking and Peer Consulting

This CEOLink will be minimally programmed to allow us all to connect. You’ll have the chance to network with your nonprofit CEO and Executive Director peers informally, and we will offer prompts on the tables for those who might like to sit down for a more in-depth small group conversation on a topic that is timely for you.

Your Favorite Consultants
Strategic planning. Fundraising strategy. Executive coaching. Equity and Inclusion consultation. Training of all kinds. For these and many other needs, many of us turn to experts outside our organizations. And it’s a common question we ask each other: “Who did you use for….?” At this month’s CEOLink, come with that question – and answers about consultants you’ve used and loved, whether from the Quad Cities or from across the country. Try to have their website info handy, because we’ll capture this information to be shared back with attendees. We’ll also discuss what makes for a good contract with a consultant and how to set that relationship up for success.

Welcoming Afghan Refugees to the Quad Cities
In your CEOLink survey, many members noted that occasional topics on current events and issues in our community would be welcome. This month, we will hear an update from Laura Fontaine, World Relief QC and Ann McGlynn, Tapestry Farms on the plans to welcome Afghan refugees to the Quad Cities. The White House recently announced that the United States will welcome between 50,000-75,000 Afghans under Operation Allies Welcome through Special Immigrant Visas (SIV) and Humanitarian Parolee Status. In order to assist those assigned to Humanitarian Parolee Status in Afghanistan, the Afghanistan Placement Assistance Program (APA) has been created and communities across America are gearing up to welcome and assist. Humanitarian Parolees come with different needs and receive different benefits than the refugees World Relief Quad Cities has resettled in the past. World Relief Quad Cities has agreed to assist 150 Afghan individuals. What needs and strengths will these new members of our community bring? What can your organization do to coordinate and help?

Board Development from Day 1
Building on our conversation in May about a predominantly white institution working to diversify its board, this month discussion will be led by an organization founder who was able to focus from the beginning on recruiting a board with diverse backgrounds and skill sets. Gaye Shannon Burnett, Executive Director of Azubuike African American Council for the Arts, accompanied by Board Member Pat Hardaway, will discuss Azubuike’s approach to board recruitment and development for the good of their mission.

Leading in Crisis and Change
Each of us has led our organizations through immense and constant change in the last year. A year ago in CEOLink, we asked ourselves "What has it meant to you to provide leadership through this crisis? What strengths have you drawn on, and what toll is it taking?" These questions are still relevant. Since then, what have you learned about yourself and about leadership that you are carrying forward? What support and advice do you need from your fellow CEOs to lead through this next era of change?

Peer Consultation
Nonprofit CEOs face unique challenges that we cannot always discuss widely. In this time of social distancing and remote work, getting advice or just empathy from your fellow leaders can be even more of a challenge. Come to this session of CEOLink to consult with your peers on that one problem that's keeping you up at night, or talk through that great idea you're working on. Through small group peer-to-peer discussions in Zoom breakout rooms, you'll come away with a feeling of connection, a fresh perspective, and maybe a new approach to the key issues facing your organization today. We’ll rotate Peer Consultation into our discussion topics quarterly.

“What do you mean by board diversity?”
After almost a year of heightened awareness and discussion of race-based inequity in our country and our community, what changes have the conversations about diversity, equity and inclusion produced within our nonprofit organization leadership? While many organizations have from the beginning been led by the people they serve, for predominantly white-led organizations, progress can be bogged down by conversations about "what do we mean by a diverse board?” Stacy Klingler, Executive Director of the William Butterworth Foundation, will lead this transparent conversation from the standpoint of a leader of one of those predominantly white-led organizations aiming to change to better reflect and serve our community. Has data about the demographics of our community and the people you aim to serve advanced or hindered efforts to diversify the board? Has looking at the complexity of identities (age, gender, income, disability, sexual orientation) provided insight into intersectionality, sidelined discussions of race, or acted as an excuse for inaction? Come share your successes and challenges in advancing diversity, inclusions and equity goals for your organization’s leadership.

Engaging Our Constituents in a Semi-Remote World
Our community is making progress on vaccination, but pandemic procedures aren’t over quite yet. Over the last year, we’ve all gotten used to Zoom interactions, but it’s… not perfect. From external (donor meetings, fundraising events, client connections, performing arts audiences) to internal (team meetings, onboarding new staff, orienting new board members) what have you found that works well to connect virtually or safely in-person – and what are you still figuring out? Share your best tips and worst frustrations with your peers at this meeting of CEOLink, and take home a few tips for yourself.

Staff Morale and Self-Care
It’s clear from our last CEOLink meeting, and from the results of the most recent Wastyn and Associates survey of nonprofits about the financial and operational impacts of the pandemic, that nonprofit leaders are hungry to talk about how to care for their staff – and themselves. Mary Macumber Schmidt, President of Trinity Health Foundation, will share her experience and the insight of her team about how leaders can support the staff working so hard for your mission. She’ll then lead the group in discussion about the challenges and the successes that we’ve each experienced in this area.

Peer Consultation
Nonprofit CEOs face unique challenges that we cannot always discuss widely. In this time of social distancing and remote work, getting advice or just empathy from your fellow leaders can be even more of a challenge. Come to this session of CEOLink to consult with your peers on that one problem that's keeping you up at night, or talk through that great idea you're working on. Through small group peer-to-peer discussions in Zoom breakout rooms, you'll come away with a feeling of connection, a fresh perspective, and maybe a new approach to the key issues facing your organization today. We’ll rotate Peer Consultation into our discussion topics quarterly.

Working with your Board Chair
One of the most important relationships a nonprofit CEO or Executive Director has is with your Board Chair. The National Council of Nonprofits has advice on building a trusting and effective relationship with your Board Chair – and we know you have ideas, experience, and questions to share with each other on how you approach this aspect of your work. In small and large group discussions, at this session you’ll share with each other strengths, struggles, and learnings from working with your Board Chairs over the years.

Innovation and responsiveness of NP sector during the pandemic (and always).
CEOLink members discussed how organizations have adapted and how they are continuing to adapt to pandemic realities.

Peer Consultation
Nonprofit CEOs face unique challenges that we cannot always discuss widely. In this time of social distancing and remote work, getting advice or just empathy from your fellow leaders can be even more of a challenge. Come to this session of CEOLink to consult with your peers on that one problem that's keeping you up at night, or talk through that great idea you're working on. Through small group peer-to-peer discussions in Zoom breakout rooms, you'll come away with a feeling of connection, a fresh perspective, and maybe a new approach to the key issues facing your organization today.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Trainings; Federal Funds; and the “Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping”
On September 22, a federal Executive Order was issued prohibiting certain concepts related to diversity, equity, and inclusion from being included in training materials for federal contractors and federal grant recipients. The Executive Order follows a letter sent to federal agencies earlier this month instructing them to cancel contracts related to “any training on ‘critical race theory,’ ‘white privilege’” and other concepts frequently included in anti-bias, anti-racist, and diversity/equity/inclusion programming. If your agency receives federal funding, how are you examining the implications of this Executive Order? Even if your organization does not receive federal funding, how might this federal policy affect the efforts of our community and the nonprofit sector to make the Quad Cities a more equitable and inclusive place?

A Conversation: The Arts, COVID, and Change—and What All Nonprofits Can Learn
Our community of nonprofits continues to respond to, and be affected by, the double-helix disasters of COVID and racial injustice that we’ve all been experiencing this year. How has this played out in arts organizations – and what do all nonprofits stand to learn from the way arts organizations have approached surviving and serving? Gaye Shannon Burnett and Jonathan Burnett (Azubuike African American Council for the Arts) and Tyson Danner (River Music Experience) will ask each other, and engage the group in discussion: since we are being forced to change so much by the pandemic, how do we use that opportunity to make the right changes within our organizations?

Racial Equity in the Nonprofit Sector, Continued
How does racial inequity play out in the nonprofit sector, and what does it mean to advance racial equity in my organization – and in our local sector? CEOLink members began a conversation in June about what each of us, and our organizations, sought to learn about our place in systems of inequity, and how we can shift them. Let’s continue that conversation and on top of learning, layer action. What opportunities for internal and external change exist in our organizations – and what examples of such changes do you have to offer as ideas for your peers? What opportunities do we have for advancing racial equity collectively? Guest Presenters: Dr. Monica Smith, Vice President, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Augustana College, and Ryan Saddler, Associate Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at St. Ambrose University.

Racial Equity in the Nonprofit Sector, Continued
CEOLink members held further discussion on racial equity and the pandemic and how both were intertwining in our organizations’ work.

Racial Equity in the Nonprofit Sector
CEOLink members discussed racial equity in nonprofits and the uprising against systemic racism.

Leadership in Crisis
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and its resulting economic and social upheaval has tested us all, high among them our nonprofit leaders. Please join us, virtually, at this meeting of CEOLink to share and connect with your peers about your and your organization’s experience to date. What has it meant to you to provide leadership through this crisis? What strengths have you drawn on, and what toll is it taking?

Planned Giving
Planned giving is one of the most powerful development tools for organizations to build support for their missions in the long-term. With all the other responsibilities nonprofits have, such as annual fundraising, and with the sense that an in-depth understanding of complex gifts is needed to undertake a planned giving program, this important fundraising vehicle can remain on the back burner for CEOs and for organizations. Jay Pearce will share some successes and some challenges he has experienced in making planned giving a priority, and lead a discussion about resources to help us all do the same.

Working with your Board of Directors - One CEO’s Two CEOs’ Experiences
There are many good trainings available for Board Development 101. Think of this discussion more as “Special Topics in Board Development.” Mark Smith (Hand in Hand) and Gary Weinstein (Transitions Mental Health Services) will share some of their useful experiences and a few “cautionary tales” of working with boards and board members, along different points in the organizational lifecycle of two very different organizations. CEOLink members will be invited to reflect on their experiences as well, and discuss their own strengths, needs, and questions for this perennial topic.

Organizational Capacity
Nonprofit organizations invest in their capacity in varying ways, from hiring internal staff, contracting out, or sharing resources. What’s right for the organization depends on the organization. CEOLink members discussed how they decide how to meet their various operational needs, what vendors they use when they do contract out, and how they share the message of the importance of funding to meet those core business capacities.

2019 Mississippi River Flooding
Trish Burnett, executive director of the local American Red Cross, led a discussion on the 2019 flood response in the Quad Cities and our region. CEOLink members discussed the impact of flooding on the Quad Cities, the nonprofit sector, and the people we serve.

Strategic Planning
Strategic planning puts our organizations on the right course—but it can be too easy to let that plan become just another binder on the shelf. CEOLink members discussed what approaches they’ve taken to creating and living out strategic plans, and what processes or facilitators have been helpful for them.

CEO Transitions
Nonprofit CEOs have many similar and many difference experiences. The one experience each of us is guaranteed to go through—twice—is a CEO transition. CEOLink members discussed how they have navigated this experience, on the way in to their positions or on the way out, the practices and relationships that helped them succeed as a new CEO, and the planning that made them confident that their organization was in a good place as they prepared to leave.

Nonprofit Mergers
Mary Macumber Schmidt of Family Resources discussed nonprofit mergers, acquisitions, and other formal partnerships.

Issues Impacting Nonprofits Today
Members served as peer consultants for each other on issues affecting their organizations right now.

The Core Functions of Being an Employer
Kristi Crafton from Habitat for Humanity Quad Cities discussed how nonprofits can best handle the core functions of being an employer—human resources, payroll, employee benefits, and more—without compromising missions.

Q2030 Followup
Whether or not you attended the Q2030 Nonprofit Session, come to continue the conversation about how you and others align with our community's efforts to be even more cool, creative, connected, and prosperous. What are the early wins we can achieve together? What are the challenges this effort faces? What must we do to ensure Q2030 succeeds?

The Illinois Budget Crisis: Making the Best Out of the Worst Thing That Could Have Happened
Many Illinois nonprofit organizations face dire circumstances due to the ongoing lack of an Illinois budget. Mark Mathews of the Child Abuse Council will discuss how he and nonprofit partners use creative thinking and dedication to face this ongoing challenge, and how their approach actually led to the evolution and expansion of some critical programs. This discussion will be relevant to organizations in both states, as we will all at some time face financial problems out of our control - how do we lay the groundwork to prepare, and how do we respond when they occur?

Reaching Across Sectors to Meet Multiple Needs
None of us can meet all the needs of our clients or constituents. With growing demands and limited budgets, we must be even more resourceful. Mike Miller will share how the River Bend Foodbank approaches the opportunity to meet needs beyond hunger while avoiding mission creep, and will lead us in discussion about how we can creatively bring together diverse resources to meet diverse needs.

Creating and Building Endowment for Permanent Support of Your Mission
Janelle Swanberg, Executive Director, HELP Regional Office of Iowa Legal Aid, discussed creating and building endowments.

Working With a Board of Directors
Ben Loeb, executive director at Quad City Symphony Orchestra, led a discussion about working with board members.

Working Together to Demonstrate the Value of the Nonprofit Sector
Carmen Darland, Executive Director, Quad City Arts

Changing Relationships With Funders
Funders - whether federal, state, local, or private - want different things out of their relationships with nonprofits than in the past. Government sources continue to increase their accountability requirements, while private funders or individual donors often want to see their impact in an up-close, personal way. How has your organization been able to update its relationship status with funders?

Leading Organizations through (Extremely) Uncertain Times
The economy, regulations, government funding... you name it, it seems to be changing continually. How does this impact your clients, your employees, your services? What kind of leadership do nonprofit organizations need in an uncertain environment?

The Joy of Partnerships
We all know that partnerships and collaboration are important, but they come with their own challenges. Building trust, defining roles, finding funding, using technology. How do you do partnerships well? What do you struggle with?