Group of different people in community on white background

(Illustration by iStock/bluebearry)

At this year’s Nonprofit Management Institute (NMI), social change leaders explored ways to build healthier, more equitable communities in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Speakers addressed topics that included: supporting proximate leaders; disrupting political polarization; building multigenerational teams; and nurturing our well-being in a hybrid workplace.

To help NMI attendees make the most of the event, SSIR's editors recapped the virtual conference and assembled a list of related articles.

Session 1: Transforming the Way We Think About Proximity

To kick off NMI, Angela Jackson and Tulaine Montgomery of New Profit, Cheryl L. Dorsey of Echoing Green, Sam Cobbs of Tipping Point Community, and April Chou of OneTen discussed how philanthropy can advance the work and insights of proximate leaders and innovators.

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Session 2: Leadership to Advance Healthy and Thriving Communities

Hanh Cao Yu and Albert Maldonado of The California Endowment, Frank Farrow of the Center for the Study of Social Policy, and Luis Sanchez of Power California discussed how organizations can address generations of income inequality, structural racism, and other forms of systemic discrimination.

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Session 3: The Five-Generation Workplace: How to Help Your Multigenerational Team Thrive

Marci Alboher and Eunice Lin Nichols of Encore.org, Sherreta R. Harrison of MetroMorphosis, and Jeffrey Vargas of Generationology LLC discussed new models for generational collaboration and shared practical tips for tapping the complementary strengths that older and younger people can bring to the workplace.

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Session 4: Disrupting Polarized Politics to Build Connection and Collaboration

Doug Hattaway and Carlos Diaz of Hattaway Communications shared lessons from the marriage equality campaign and other successful communications efforts to shift perceptions among disparate audiences around polarizing topics.

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Session 5: Better Than Normal—How Nonprofits Are Building Back Stronger in the Wake of Local and Global Crises

Michael Green of Social Progress Imperative, Chris Ticknor of Orange County United Way, and Carolina Henriquez-Schmitz of TrustLaw examined the data points that ground us in the current state of social well-being and progress and shared how they use data and technology to help them respond to the changing challenges of those with whom they work.

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Session 6: Connecting Inner Well-Being and Societal Change

Aaron Pereira of The Wellbeing Project, Bedriye Hulya of BFİT-MUZİPO KİDS, Katherine Milligan of the Collective Change Lab, and Nora Murphy Johnson of Inspire to Change LLC discussed how personal well-being has a strong organizational and societal impact.

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Session 7: Well-Being Partnerships That Work

Jessamyn Shams-Lau, co-author of Unicorns Unite: How Nonprofits And Foundations Can Build Epic Partnerships, discussed how funders and nonprofits can work together to support staff well-being and help organizations thrive.

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Session 8: Belonging, Dignity, Justice, and Joy: A Framework to Create the Beloved Community

Aida Mariam Davis, organizer-turned-founder of Decolonize Design, and Marc Lamont Hill, acclaimed professor, intellectual, journalist, and organizer, discussed how the labor of transforming ourselves and our organizations is the labor of reclaiming our sacred personhood and creating the beloved community.

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Session 9: Reflective Leadership for Team and Organizational Health

Leah Weiss, a researcher and lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and co-founder of Skylyte, discussed how leaders can communicate the importance of reflection and visioning to build team health, tangibly embed reflection and visioning in their organizations every day, and practice having difficult conversations that lead to thought-provoking reflections and next steps.

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Session 10: Getting to a New Normal: The Power of Starting With Well-Being

Tanya Tucker of the Full Frame Initiative introduced participants to a framework for well-being and tools to help challenge assumptions and shift our mental models.

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Session 11: The Role of Nonprofit Boards in Building a Better Future

Anne Wallestad, CEO of BoardSource, led an informative conversation about the core concepts of purpose-driven board leadership, what these mean for board recruitment and governance, and how to apply these lessons to your work.

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Session 12: Personal Well-Being and Work-Life Balance in a Hybrid Workplace

Beth Kanter, author of The Happy Healthy Nonprofit, shared practical tips to help nonprofit teams go from languishing to flourishing in a time of high anxiety.

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Session 13: Inequities and Complexities—The Leaders We Need for the Decade Ahead

Paul Shoemaker, author of Taking Charge of Change, shared examples of the kind of leaders we will need to navigate the 2020s and build more sustainable, more just, and generally healthier systems and solutions.

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Read more stories by SSIR Editors.