Rachel B. Cohen, MSW, MUP is the Principal and CEO of Aging- Dynamics. She has a diverse background in community planning and social work with a specialization in nonprofit management. With over 25 years’ experience working and consulting with public and private organizations of all sizes, and across sectors including aging, housing, public health, health care, social services, and community development; she offers a comprehensive perspective to multi-sector efforts. Her clients are often balancing the requirements of diverse funding sources from state and federal grants to private foundations and individual and corporate donors. Rachel draws on best practices and accesses expertise from content experts in multiple sectors to craft solutions to complex challenges while simultaneously building the capacity of her clients enabling them to increase efficiency and efficacy of their efforts. She has extensive experience in facilitation, strategic planning, program development and establishing strategic partnerships. She is a trained visual facilitator and believes in bringing the fun back into strategy development. Rachel holds a Bachelor’s in City Planning from the University of Virginia, a Master of Social Work with a focus on non-profit management, a Specialist in Aging Certificate, and a Master of Urban Planning from the University of Michigan.
Rachel Hutchens (she/her) is a Colorado native with a mission to make culture and nature accessible to everyone. Rachel has been the Executive Director of Bluff Lake Nature Center since 2018, and has helped grow the organization’s education programs and accessibility to diverse communities. She has a degree from the University of Colorado Boulder in History and Education. Rachel has worked in the nonprofit field for over 10 years, including spending time at the Missouri History Museum and the St. Louis Science Center. Rachel also serves on the Board of Directors for two partner organizations: Sand Creek Regional Greenway Partnership and Friends of the Front Range Wildlife Refuges.
Finding the best nonprofit website and online tools can be daunting. We often end up juggling multiple platforms, working harder to achieve less. Wouldn’t it be better if you had just one effective nonprofit fundraising website with a content management system that does it all?
Learn how to master your online presence and leverage the power of your nonprofit website. Join us for insight into technology trends and best practices, plus see firsthand why Firespring offers the best nonprofit websites.
Kiersten Hill has almost 2 decades of experience in nonprofit management and fundraising. She has raised over $20 Million for Nebraska nonprofit organizations and worked to better train and equip nonprofit leaders and Boards of Directors.
She is a rising thought leader on LinkedIn and frequently speaks to nonprofit groups and other organizations about marketing, fundraising, board development and organizational change. This year alone, Kiersten has presented in-person and virtually for more than 50 webinars and 8 nonprofit conferences. Kiersten’s energetic and authentic presentation style keeps nonprofits coming back for more.
Kiersten, her husband Chad and their teenage son Cooper live in Seward, Nebraska, with two large dogs and one tiny cat. She has passions for leadership, networking, fundraising and nonprofit organizations.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/hillkiersten/
We as humans have unparalleled and often overlooked abilities to filter out unnecessary information, organize key elements, and act on minimal knowledge. But our lightning-fast perceptions come through pre-programmed ‘shortcuts’ that can sometimes lead us astray. It’s essential that we use the information and data at our disposal to inform the tough and complex decisions we face as nonprofits, but we must also understand how our brain ‘sees’ incoming information so we can manage the downsides of our amazing minds. In this session, Alexandra Mannerings, PhD, will help you to explore the cognitive biases that come standard with being human, prepare you to notice when they are active, and arm you with tools for counteracting these biases when it comes time to make key decisions.
Alexandra Mannerings
Alexandra Mannerings founded her analytic education and consulting company, Merakinos, to help non-profits amplify their impacts through data. Merakinos, a combination of the Greek roots “meraki” and “nos,” could translate to heart-felt data or soulful knowledge, and represents a melding of the wisdom of humans with the acuity of analytics. A decade of measuring what matters in low-resource environments from Ghana to Atlanta has taught Dr. Mannerings how to ask impactful questions of data – even if it’s just you in the wilderness. She earned her PhD in Veterinary Science (Epidemiology) from the University of Cambridge, UK, and BSc in Biology from Emory University. She has also directed the Data Center at a state hospital association, rowed for the Light Blues, built trails across Colorado parks, and is currently raising two spirited toddlers.
ZIM will give an overview of grants lifecycle, from start to end, and provide tips for successfully writing and submitting grants. We will review our step-by-step process for ensuring high-quality proposals by walking through common proposal formats and questions. We will discuss identifying opportunities, how to get started, how to tackle difficult questions, and what attachments and financials you may need.
Matt Barker | Director of Grants & Organizational Learning
Matt has 10 years of experience working in nonprofit resource development, including grant management, individual giving and stewardship, and special events. An accomplished grant writer, Matt has successfully developed grants for small and large nonprofit organizations in Denver and Saint Louis, Missouri, writing for mental health, youth development, senior services, refugees, informal education, and STEM. He received his Bachelor of Science in English, Professional Writing, from Brigham Young University–Idaho. A Denver native, Matt recently returned to Denver to pursue a Master of Arts degree in International Development. from the University of Denver’s Josef Korbel School of International Studies.
Aaron Charney | Director of Grant Research
Aaron graduated from CU Boulder summa cum laude with a BA in Environmental Studies and minors in both Political Science and Business. He is now pursuing his Masters of Development Practice from Regis University. Aaron became fascinated with the non-profit sector and specifically community development after spending a summer of college working in Nairobi, Kenya. His passion for searching for sustainable solutions for underserved communities drove him to work abroad again after college when he spent a year living and working with some of Nepal’s most remote communities. In Nepal, he became passionate about participatory development methods and working towards context-specific community development solutions.
Born and raised in Denver, CO, Aaron loves spending his time in the mountains either snowboarding or backpacking. He also loves reading, live music, and talking about scuba diving whenever he can.
Having an accessible website is a moral obligation and often a legal one, too. Website content managers have a responsibility to make their message available to the widest possible audience, avoid legal issues, reach marketing goals, and most importantly, do the right thing. Aten Design Group’s accessibility expert, Michaela Blackham will provide a step by step guide for content editors to create more accessible content for their website.
Michaela Blackham, QA & Accessibility Specialist
Originally from Boston, Michaela came to Denver after several years of experience as both a designer and developer. Michaela always had an interest in making the world a better place and giving back to the community through volunteering, as well as following her passion for physical and digital ADA compliance. Now she uses her background in the industry and her personal life to bring awareness and solutions to digital ADA compliance as Aten Design Group’s Accessibility and QA Specialist. Michaela writes and speaks about accessibility and inclusive digital experiences, has completed a number of accessibility trainings, and is currently working on her IAAP – Web Accessibility Specialist certification.
The American Psychological Association reports that the vast majority of American adults are experiencing emotions associated with prolonged stress, with 87% feeling like there has been a constant stream of crises over the past two years (Mar 2022). In addition to the personal pain we are holding, we have been navigating the fear and uncertainty of a pandemic, experiencing inflation, and wrestling with racial injustice. Trauma can have negative impacts on our mental and physical health, particularly if gone unacknowledged.
Research shows us that alongside difficult experiences, positive outcomes such as personal growth, gratitude, and a stronger sense of self often emerge. Once we give ourselves time to effectively feel and process challenging emotions, research-based strategies can help us orient ourselves towards meaningful shifts. In this session, we will engage in telling redemptive stories to reclaim our personal narratives, and make sense of what we have been through. Uncovering opportunities for learning and growth will help us connect with the meaning and purpose that sustain our personal and professional fulfillment
Mary Cipollone – Big Onion Partnerships
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The American Psychological Association reports that the vast majority of American adults are experiencing emotions associated with prolonged stress, with 87% feeling like there has been a constant stream of crises over the past two years (Mar 2022). In addition to the personal pain we are holding, we have been navigating the fear and uncertainty of a pandemic, experiencing inflation, and wrestling with racial injustice. Trauma can have negative impacts on our mental and physical health, particularly if gone unacknowledged.
Research shows us that alongside difficult experiences, positive outcomes such as personal growth, gratitude, and a stronger sense of self often emerge. Once we give ourselves time to effectively feel and process challenging emotions, research-based strategies can help us orient ourselves towards meaningful shifts. In this session, we will engage in telling redemptive stories to reclaim our personal narratives, and make sense of what we have been through. Uncovering opportunities for learning and growth will help us connect with the meaning and purpose that sustain our personal and professional fulfillment.
Do you want to hire and retain the best talent to achieve your mission? Do you want to maximize the human potential in your organization to achieve innovation and growth? Do you take a data-driven approach to measuring your culture and employee experience?
A healthy, empowering, and inclusive culture that inspires loyalty and trust is necessary for success – yet it’s harder than ever in constantly changing world as we deal with the on-going COVID pandemic, political and social unrest, and threats of a recession.
To combat external threats we cannot control, we focus on what we CAN control.
In this session, you will learn how to design a culture strategy that inspires and motivates your board and staff . Only through data, honest feedback, and actionable insights can we take steps towards our greatest vision of making the world a better place for all.
Marcia Donziger is a Workplace Culture & Engagement Advisor for non-profit and healthcare organizations, and the architect of the CARES Framework—created to help today’s organizations thrive.
In 2007, Marcia founded the national non-profit organization, MyLifeLine, with a vision to transform the cancer experience through community and connection. She served in various leaderships roles for more than a decade and led the successful merger of the organization into the Cancer Support Community in 2018. For her pioneering efforts to reduce isolation and build community for 300,000+ cancer patients and their families worldwide, Marcia has been honored with the “John Hickenlooper Unsung Hero Award” and the Denver Channel’s “Everyday Hero Award.”
Marcia holds a degree in Organizational Psychology and Business Management, is a certified Agile Coaching Professional, and regularly presents to national and international audiences about culture.
Marcia lives in Denver, Colorado, with her twin boys and feels enormously grateful to have lived cancer-free since 1997.
To learn more about her work, please visit www.MarciaDonziger.com.
This grant course is an interactive lesson meant to help grant writers rethink the message they are telling through improved writing and advocacy techniques. Participants will use existing example grant narratives to rethink how to connect with the reviewers through the story of need. They will walk away with a new way to articulate the story of their organization.
Dr. Melanie Hicks
Dr. Hicks is an empathy driven leader with more than two decades of experience in workforce, education and nonprofits. Focused on the areas of human centered leadership, strategic planning, employee engagement and organizational culture, Dr. Hicks has worked with hundreds of clients over the course of her career including small to midsize companies, education institutions and nonprofit organizations.
Dr. Hicks holds a doctorate from the Askew School of Public Administration and Policy at Florida State University, a Master’s in Public Administration from the University of Miami and bachelors in Organizational Communications from the University of Central Florida. She is also a SHRM Senior Certified Professional.
In addition to her formal degrees, Dr. Hicks also holds two Diversity, Equity and Inclusion certifications and a lean six sigma yellow belt from the University of South Florida. As well as a Business Analytics certificate from Harvard Business School.
Her awards include the Rod Rose Paper of the year award for the Journal of Research Administration, the Joyce Keller Volunteer of the Year Award, the Florence Bayuk Scholarship for academic excellence; the University of Miami Outstanding Scholastic and Public Service Achievement Award.
Dr. Hicks formerly served as the Vice President, Education Solutions Group at MGT Consulting where she leads business development for PK12, Higher Education and Education Transformation Practice areas. Prior to joining MGT, Dr. Hicks served as Assistant Provost at the University of Tampa where she created UT’s first Office of Sponsored Programs and oversaw the University’s 52 department budgets, and all grants and contracts. She also taught courses in Social Entrepreneurship, Environmental Policy, Public Private Partnerships, among others.
Prior to joining the University of Tampa team, she served as the Director of Research for the Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida, an advocacy organization, and concurrently as the Managing Director of the Florida Independent College Fund, a 501c3 foundation. While at ICUF/FICF she implemented a four‐prong system for federal and state grant funding applications resulting in enhanced collaborative partnerships and led ICUF’s governmental affairs research for advocacy in Tallahassee and Washington, DC.
Dr. Hicks began her career as the Aide to Mayor of Tallahassee, a special projects coordinator with the Florida Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability and as an adjunct professor of Public Administration for Florida State University and Barry University.
Dr. Hicks is the author of the upcoming book Incongruent; Travel, Trauma, Transformation. Writing her first book at 10 years old, she has now been published in numerous magazines and websites including Forbes.com, Humanity Wine Co., The District, Doctor’s Life, Journal for Research Administration and Moc Ideja, a grassroots policy manual for lawmakers in Bosnia funded by the US Department of State.
Outside of her professional activities, her hobbies include writing, paddle boarding, biking, hiking, and is a certified yoga instructor. She also enjoys spending time with her husband Randy, stepdaughter, Lauren, and her fur babies, Eva & Molly
Finding the right people for your organization and then keeping them engaged is your number one priority. Using Emotional Intelligence tools can help you recruit and retain your most valuable resource. This session will discuss key elements of EQ and how they apply to your culture, your recruiting efforts and engagement strategy. We will explore how to use EQ tools to evaluate current staff, potential staff and create developmental opportunities that uplift your organization’s culture.
Mary Ann Little
Mary Ann, an accomplished Senior Executive with an extensive background in business – large, small, global and domestic – startup and mature, is the CEO of –Peak To Peak Business Strategies, LLC and is a certified coach. Her company specializes in Business Coaching using proven methodologies coupled with experiences from her vast career. Based in Denver, Colorado, Mary Ann serves the US and International countries offering clients ways to work smarter, not harder. Mary Ann is an executive coach, trainer and advisor backed by more than 36 years of executive leadership, international business development, operations, customer excellence, product management, team management and sales leadership.
She began her career in the high- tech industry as an Account Manager for AT&T and was rapidly promoted to Executive Briefer with the AT&T Global Briefing Program. In 1991 she was promoted to General Manager with AT&T Computer Systems managing a multi-state sales region. The next step was the National Sales Director for AT&T Video Technology program. Mary Ann moved to New Jersey to become the Executive Chief of Staff with an officer with AT&T Headquarters. During the launch of Lucent Technologies, Mary Ann served in 4 marketing assignments to extend the brand in the global marketplace building the Executive Briefing Program, Consultant and Analyst Program, Trade Show & Exhibits, and Client/CEO/Business Partner Global Events.
In 1999, Mary Ann was promoted again to Vice President/General Manager for an AT&T/Avaya business partner – Expanets – where she built a $100M business spanning 8 states. Upon the merger of Expanets to Avaya, Mary Ann led the sales transition and then became the Vice President for Services at Avaya. Inside this role Mary Ann built 26 Technical Centers of Excellence to support Avaya’s largest Fortune 100 clients on a global basis. With over 1500 engineers, Mary Ann established platforms for technical support in 16 languages. Also with Avaya, Mary Ann took on the role as Vice President for Channels and developed channel/distribution programs for the services portfolio.
Upon leaving Avaya, Mary Ann was promoted again to Vice President Portfolio Management for Bank of America where she built the product management function for Information Services and managed a $1.5B contracts portfolio.
In 2015, Mary Ann opened her own company – Peak to Peak Business Strategies – providing executive & business coaching and business consulting. She enjoys speaking, teaching, coaching and consulting for clients on a global basis. Her specialties include Strategic Planning, Leadership Development, Growth Strategies and Team Building.
Mary Ann graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration with an Emphasis in Management from the University of Northern Colorado. She also attended The Executive Marketing Program at Columbia through her work at AT&T and Lucent Technologies. She is trained in Change Management and LEAN through her work in Lucent and Avaya.