StoryGrowing 2026 Cohort Completes Six Months of Storytelling Development

DINNER GROUP 2026 CONFERENCE: After much thought and careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the 2026 Dinner Group Conference. This would have been our 7th Annual Conference, and we are deeply disappointed that we won't be gathering this fall as we have since 2020. From the beginning, our goal has been to create a signature experience that was accessible to everyone. Thanks to the generosity of our sponsors and partners, we've been able to offer the conference at little to no cost, ensuring that financial barriers never prevented someone from participating. Unfortunately, today's fundraising environment has created significant challenges for community-based organizations like ours. Despite months of outreach, we were unable to secure the level of support needed to deliver the experience our community deserves. While we are disappointed, we are far from discouraged. The Dinner Group has always been about much more than one annual event. Our mission to connect professionals of color and allies, build community, and develop leaders remains as important today as ever. To every sponsor, partner, volunteer, speaker, and attendee who has supported us over the years, thank you! Your partnership has helped us build a thriving community and impact thousands of professionals. We hope you'll continue supporting the important work of The Dinner Group. We're also exploring a scaled-down event for October and look forward to sharing more details soon. In the meantime, we'll continue bringing our community together through our Women's and Men's Dinner Group gatherings. #Staytuned! #TheDinnerGroup #Leadership #Community #Networking Paul Francisco (He, Him, His) Constanza Cabello, Ed.D., Christina Bryant, Nathalie Gauthier, Sharhea Wade, Betty Francisco, Emerson Foster, Anna Foster, Juris Doctor, CLC

Healthcare doesn’t need more noise. It needs leadership, alignment, and people willing to solve the hard problems together. California has an incredible opportunity to build a healthcare system that creates greater value for providers, patients, and communities but it will take all of us leaning in. I’m grateful for the strong partnership with California Association of Health Plans and the opportunity to contribute at a leadership level. At this stage, leadership is also about giving back, sharing what we’ve learned, opening doors, bringing people together, and helping shape what comes next. If you’re passionate about healthcare and want to give back, I’d love for you to join me. Let’s build what’s next — together. #HealthcareLeadership #CaliforniaHealthcare #ValueBasedCare #HealthcareInnovation #CAHP Marjorie Purscell King Charles Bacchi Allen Miller Kathryn Honeycutt

Much of the most important foundation work happens long before anyone sees the outcome. As the Executive Director of Vituity Cares, my role involves continually asking where our resources, relationships, and expertise can make the greatest difference. That work includes listening to the people closest to the need, identifying gaps that may otherwise be overlooked, building trusted partnerships, evaluating opportunities, and determining where an investment can create meaningful and lasting value. It also means bringing the right people together around a shared goal. A strong program is rarely built by one organization alone. It grows through collaboration among community leaders, healthcare professionals, educators, volunteers, supporters, and partners who understand that meaningful change requires both commitment and follow-through. Leading a foundation is not simply about funding good ideas. It is about helping turn those ideas into programs, opportunities, and pathways that can change what is possible for individuals and communities. That is the work behind the work, and it is what makes every partnership and investment matter. #FoundationLeadership #CommunityImpact #HealthcareLeadership #Philanthropy

Members who actively participate in communities, volunteer, mentor peers, and engage in discussions are often far more likely to remain involved over time.⏳ Research continues to show that engagement is a stronger predictor of retention than membership status alone. This is why associations are increasingly looking beyond membership counts and event registrations to better understand how members participate throughout their journey. 👓Learn more: https://hubs.li/Q04rQtnj0 #Associations #MemberEngagement #AssociationLeadership

We are so excited to welcome EDCC to the Gold Camp and look forward to showing off all that Cripple Creek and Victor have to offer! In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s this district was an economic engine, home to two of the largest cities in Colorado, and played a pivotal role in shaping our state. Today, our region may play a smaller role by population, with Cripple Creek and Victor now the 146th and 210th largest cities in the state, but our impact and identity remain much bigger than our size. We are still the heart of mining in Colorado, home to the Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mine and a mining legacy that continues today. We’ve also grown into a gaming destination and are quickly building a reputation as an outdoor recreation hub, with incredible trails, public lands, history, and access to some of the most unique landscapes in Colorado. I couldn’t think of a better place for economic development professionals from across Colorado to come together and talk about the challenges, opportunities, and changing realities facing communities like ours.

In The First Wives Club, Goldie Hawn’s character, Elise, dismisses the quiet life of her former college friend Annie, played by Diane Keaton: “Annie, you had a life to lead. It must have been time-consuming, churning out those newsletters.” The line is meant to be sarcastic. But as someone who regularly produces newsletters, I hear it a little differently 😉. Newsletters are serious business. When they are treated strategically, they can keep people connected, build trust, increase participation, strengthen retention, and support fundraising. I may also relate a little too closely to Diane Keaton’s character. I have been churning out newsletters since I edited the Saint Francis High School newspaper, ran an interdepartmental newsletter at Google to help global offices stay aligned, was the web editor for the Journal for Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University Medill School, and most recently others at St. Anthony Foundation, Stanford University School of Medicine, and Development Executives Roundtable. The opportunity now is to make that work more connected and strategic. AI can help teams segment audiences, organize existing content, match different newsletters to different stages of the engagement journey, and streamline the process from planning through scheduling and sending. This carousel infographic looks at how nonprofits can use AI to build more relevant newsletter strategies for the people they are trying to reach. #AIForNonprofits #NonprofitCommunications #NewsletterStrategy #NonprofitMarketing #DonorEngagement

"They have a different way of speaking to the world." -Ashley Frohnert, Senior Director of Social & Influence of PETA This is just one clip from our 2026 Anthem Trend Report, Shared Influence, where we go straight to the creators and nonprofit leaders rewriting the rules of impact work. Access the full report now at https://vist.ly/5c9nm

Susan Kryl helped launch the Discover Card, led marketing programs for Children's Hospital and Northwestern Memorial, and built a strategy agency that ran for 30 years. Then she spent a decade teaching at DePaul, where her students developed real marketing plans for Chicago nonprofits. Her advice to marketers at every level is the same: Learn, Teach, and Mentor. It doesn't matter if you've been in the business for five months or five years. She joined us on Marketing Legends to share how she climbed to the top of the agency world, what the Day in the Life technique taught her about customers, and why giving back became the most important chapter of her career: https://lnkd.in/exHEjQY7 #MarketingLegends is co-hosted with Cyndi Greenglass and sponsored by WVU Marketing Communications Online Programs

"We support the Chamber because the Chamber supports us," shared Philip Koovakada, President of Dr. P. Phillips Hospital and Senior Vice President for the South Florida Region at Orlando Health. 💼🍊 For Philip, being part of the West Orange Chamber of Commerce is about more than just membership. It's about building meaningful relationships, strengthening collaboration, and working alongside organizations committed to making the community stronger. Through Orlando Health's partnership with the Chamber, they are helping to move healthcare forward while staying connected to the people and businesses they serve every day. 🤝 Philip believes the Chamber is the glue that brings West Orange together, uniting businesses, nonprofits, and community leaders with a shared purpose. Its advocacy, leadership, and commitment to showing up for the community make it unlike any other Chamber he's experienced. His advice is simple: If you're thinking about joining, do it. The connections you build today can create a stronger community for tomorrow. 🍊 📣 Hear Philip's story and discover how the West Orange Chamber of Commerce is advancing community, collaboration, and leadership. Are you ready to take the lead? Watch now: https://lnkd.in/eU9hx2Eq

Grassroots movements have one thing in common: they're under-resourced. The work is urgent, but the tools are often scattered. Here's what we do instead. First, we identify what organizers actually need on the ground. Not what looks good in a portfolio. What works in a community meeting. Second, we design for speed. Billboards that communicate in seconds. Flyers that educate and activate. Brochures that build trust. Event assets that unify a room. Third, we get them in the hands of people who need them. No delays. No friction. For Dogwood Alliance, that meant supporting successful campaigns across Mississippi, Georgia, and North Carolina. When frontline advocates are equipped, they win. If your organization is ready to move fast, we should talk.