Reimagine, Rebuild, Better
2021 Member Summit
March 15, 17, and 19 | Online
3 Days. 3 Sessions. Many ways to connect with your network colleagues.
Your Summit Speakers
Day 1: Reimagining How We Care for Ourselves & Others Monday, March 15th 11:00 am – 1:30 pm
Speaker: Dr. Amit Sood, CEO Global Center for Resilience & Wellbeing; Professor of Medicine, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine
Dr. Sood is the creator of the Resilient Option program. He is one of the world's leading experts on resilience and wellbeing, and executive director of the Global Center for Resiliency and Wellbeing. He was also professor of medicine, and Chair for student life and wellness at Mayo Clinic. Dr. Sood has authored or co-authored over 70 peer-reviewed papers and is the author of several books including: The Mayo Clinic Guide to Stress-Free Living, The Mayo Clinic Handbook for Happiness, Mindfulness Redesigned, SMART with Dr. Sood, The Resilience Journal, and Build Your Immune Resilience.
Dr. Sood has presented at some of the highest impact forums like, TEDx, Lake Nona, Forbes Under 30 Forum, Conference Board, Beckers, YPO, NPR, NAMI, NBGH, NASA, universities, foundations, and others. He was selected as one among top 20 intelligent optimist in the world (Ode Magazine). Dr. Sood was also selected by RWJ Foundation as one of the health care pioneers, and the "Biggest Impact Maker" in healthcare in Rochester, MN (the home of Mayo Clinic). Dr. Sood serves as member of the Everyday Health Wellness Advisory Board.
More from Dr. Sood: Happy Brain: How to Overcome Our Neural Predispositions to Suffering - TEDxUNI
Impatience: Why We Don't Want to Wait - CBS News
Books by Dr. Sood - Resilient Option (Including: The Mayo Clinic Guide to Stress Free Living, Mindfullness Redesigned, and more!)
Day 2: Reimagining Anti-Racist Organizations Wednesday, March 17th 9:00 am – 11:30 am
Speaker: Dr. Joyce James, President and CEO, Joyce James Consulting
Joyce James has been President and CEO of Joyce James Consulting, since 2013. She has established an impressive 40-year history of working in, leading, and supporting systems that serve children, youth, and families. For the past 25 years she has led efforts for addressing institutional and structural racism in multiple systems in Texas and across the Country.
She has a powerful story of her journey from CPS caseworker to Assistant Commissioner of Texas CPS, Deputy Commissioner of Department of Family Protective Services, and Associate Deputy Executive Commissioner of the Center for Elimination of Disproportionality and Disparities (CEDD) and the Texas State Office of Minority Health, at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. It was her bold and courageous leadership and her willingness to speak out on issues of institutional and structural racism that served as a catalyst for Texas to pass three bold pieces of Legislation, directly related to examining and addressing racial inequities in Child Welfare, Health, Mental health, Education, and Juvenile Justice.
Day 3: Reimagining the Role of Human Services Friday, March 19th 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Facilitator: The Theater of Public Policy
In 2011, Tane Danger and Brandon Boat decided to turn a hobby into a passion. Many of their friends had complained of feeling politically disconnected and isolated, so they decided to do something about it. With a background in mission driven nonprofit work and improv comedy on the side, they decided to merge the two together. After many coffee meetings and some Minnesota style passive-aggressive encouragement, they produced their first run of The Theater of Public Policy (T2P2) at HUGE Theater in Minneapolis.
Over time T2P2 has performed over 300 shows, toured the nation, hosted candidate debate forums, designed a brewery tour, turned the entire city of St. Paul into a stage, and more. They have been praised by civic leaders and artists alike for their professionalism and their fun presentation of difficult issues.
Our Panelists:
Antony Bugg-Levine, CEO, Nonprofit Finance Fund
Antony Bugg-Levine is CEO of the Nonprofit Finance Fund, one of the nation's leading community development financial institutions that makes millions of dollars in loans to nonprofits and pushes for fundamental improvement in how money is given and used in the sector.
"I came to NFF to find colleagues who share my strange interest in both social justice and finance. I stay to work with pragmatic idealists: helping others thrive despite the crazy funding system we are stuck in while also working to build a better one.
At NFF, I forge partnerships to fund and implement our work, strive to lead a team that lives our values, and share what we learn about how to spread power in the form of money and financial knowledge. And I try to keep my outrage and optimism in balance."
More from Antony:
Innovative Approaches to Finance Social Change - Keynote at 2018 Net Impact Conference
Impact Investing & Moving Toward an Outcomes Oriented Social Sector - Wharton Business Radio
NFF Full Cost Initiative - Nonprofit Finance Fund
6 Ways to Improve How Government Fund Nonprofits - Nonprofit Finance Fund
Julie Sweetland, Frameworks Institute
Julie Sweetland is a sociolinguist and serves as a Senior Advisor at the FrameWorks Institute, where she leads efforts to diffuse the organization’s cutting-edge, evidence-based reframing recommendations throughout the nonprofit sector. Since joining FrameWorks in 2012, she has led the development of powerful learning experiences for nonprofit leaders and has provided strategic communications guidance for advocates, policymakers, and scientists nationwide and internationally. Prior to joining FrameWorks, Julie was actively involved in improving teaching and learning for over a decade as a classroom teacher, instructional designer, and teacher educator.
At Center for Inspired Teaching, she served as director of teaching and learning and helped to found a demonstration school with an embedded teacher residency. As founding director of the Center for Urban Education, she launched a graduate teacher preparation program for the University of the District of Columbia. Julie’s linguistic research has focused on the intersection of language and race; on the role of language variation and language attitudes on student learning; and on effective professional learning for teachers.
Rehana Absar, Impact Director, Alliance for Strong Families and Communities
Rehana Absar currently serves as the Impact Director, Organizational Excellence at the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities, which recently merged with the Council on Accreditation. With a commitment to tackling root causes and affecting systems change, Rehana works closely with human services community-based organizations and cross-sector stakeholders to ensure that the social sector is positioned to achieve the Alliance’s vision of a healthy and equitable society and is recognized for the excellence, distinction, and influence they bring to the larger human services ecosystem.
In her role at the Alliance, Rehana served as the project director for the A National Imperative: Joining Forces to Strengthen Human Services in America report, released in 2018. Prior to joining the Alliance, Rehana began her career in international affairs, holding positions at the Council of Women World Leaders, Council on Foreign Relations, and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. Her past experience also includes working in philanthropic management consulting to help social sector organizations optimize internal operations for long-term, sustainable growth. Rehana holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Marquette University and a Master of Public Policy degree from American University.
Susie Brown, President, Minnesota Council on Foundations
Susie has spent her career in the nonprofit sector, beginning at Planned Parenthood of Connecticut and Planned Parenthood of New England, where she served as Public Affairs Director. After relocating to the Twin Cities, Ms. Brown acted as Public Policy Director at The Family Partnership before becoming Executive Director for Child Care Works, an organization dedicated to improving Minnesota’s child care system. She then held the role of Public Policy Director at the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits from 2010 to 2016. During that time, Ms. Brown served on the MCF Public Policy Committee and the Minnesota Office of Grant Management. She currently serves as the president of the Minnesota Council on Foundations.
She holds a BA degree in international affairs from Lewis and Clark College and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Vermont where she earned the Frank Smallwood Student award.
She is an adjunct faculty member at Hamline University where she teaches courses in nonprofit management and governance.
Trista Harris, President, Future Good
Trista Harris is a passionate advocate for leaders in the philanthropic and nonprofit sectors. Trista’s work has been covered by the Chronicle of Philanthropy, CNN, Forbes, the New York Times, and numerous social sector blogs.
She is also the co-author of the book “How to Become a Nonprofit Rockstar” and the book “FutureGood”. She speaks internationally about using the tools of futurism in the social sector and is the president of FutureGood, a consultancy that helps visionary leaders build a better future.
More from Trista:
Trista Harris on the Future of the Social Sector
The Future Started Yesterday - Trista Harris Plenary, SCG Foresight Philanthropy
A BIG Thanks to our 2021 Summit Sponsors: