Event Schedule
Day 1 - Thursday, October 20
Host
10:45 am Eastern (9:45 am Central, 8:45 am Mountain, 7:45 am Pacific)
Welcome & Opening Remarks
Maryanne Dersch
How To Make Fundraising Conversations Easy, Joyful, & Productive
11:00 am Eastern (10:00 am Central, 9:00 am Mountain, 8:00 am Pacific)
Can you imagine donors flocking to your nonprofit instead of you scrambling to find them? Can you imagine ending the stress of constantly finding new donors while keeping the ones you have? Courageous Communication specializes in helping nonprofit organizations easily increase their influence to connect with new donors so they can raise more money without feeling rejected or pushy. Maryanne Dersch, founder, spent thirty years working in the sector helping organizations communicate more effectively. From those experiences she authored, Courageous Communication: Why codependence is making your nonprofit brand boring and what to do about it. She hosts The Influential Nonprofit podcast and the annual Donor Attraction Forum virtual event. She’s known for her love of ultrahigh heels, extra-large Diet Cokes, and short karaoke rotations.
Dana Textoris
Grants that Speak Truth to Power
12:15 pm Eastern (11:15 am Central, 10:15 am Mountain, 9:15 am Pacific)
Dana Textoris is Chief Executive Officer of Grants Plus. Since 2007, the Grants Plus team has partnered with nonprofit organizations across the country to secure more than $250 million in public and private grant funding. Dana currently serves on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force of the Giving Institute and she is an alum of The Ohio State University, where she received her BA in Women’s Studies.
Nadya Rousseau
Purposeful Partnerships to Engage Businesses
1:30 pm Eastern (12:30 pm Central, 11:30 am Mountain, 10:30 am Pacific)
A storyteller since childhood, Nadya Rousseau worked as a professional actor, freelance journalist, and multimedia producer before pivoting to digital marketing and business development.
To date, Nadya has worked with clients ranging from startups, to nationally recognized law firms, to nonprofits, to entertainers, and more. In late 2016, Nadya founded a purpose-forward global marketing & PR agency, Alter New Media. The agency has its own influencer board, representing influencers worldwide. Nadya also has a best-selling Instagram growth and management service, Instagram Rockstar, that since its launch on the “Fiverr PRO” platform in late 2017, has serviced over 600 customers.
Hugh Ballou
Leading From A Position Of Influence
2:45 pm Eastern (1:45 pm Central, 12:45 pm Mountain, 11:45 am Pacific)
Hugh Ballou is The Transformational Leadership Strategist™ and Corporate Culture Architect working with visionary CEOs, entrepreneurs, clergy, and nonprofit leaders and their teams to develop a purpose-driven high-performance collaboration culture that significantly increases productivity, profits, and job satisfaction, through dramatically decreasing confusion, conflicts, and under-functioning. With 40 years as musical conductor, Ballou uses the leadership skills utilized daily by the conductor in teaching relevant leadership skills and showing leaders in business, religious institutions, or nonprofit organizations the power of creating a high-performance culture that responds to the nuances of the leader as a skilled orchestra responds to the musical director. In his work with Social Entrepreneurs and corporate executives for 32+years applying his unique transformational leadership concepts, he has developed comprehensive systems and strategies for empowering leadership leading social change. His books, e-Books, online programs and live presentations have impact on leaders worldwide with his unique and proprietary leadership methodology that integrates strategy with performance unlike the traditional consultant model.
Amy Fazio
More Than a Mission, It's A Movement
4:00 pm Eastern (3:00 pm Central, 2:00 pm Mountain, 1:00 pm Pacific)
Amy will be joined by Special Guest and Event Sponsor: Amanda Dafonte, Network For Good
Day 2 - Friday, October 21
Host
10:45 am Eastern (9:45 am Central, 8:45 am Mountain, 7:45 am Pacific)
Welcome & Opening Remarks
Tamara Mon Louis
Take Your Mission To The Digital Streets
11:00 am Eastern (10:00 am Central, 9:00 am Mountain, 8:00 am Pacific)
Tamara Mon Louis is a renowned digital marketing strategist and business developer. She has helped grow multi-million dollar businesses in the hospitality, travel, healthcare and education sector for the past 20 years.
Tamara believes in keeping abreast of trends in the industry, for her team to be effective and constantly provide her clients with top services. Under her oversight, Monivan Digital is fast establishing a record of outstanding commitment in helping clients to identify new opportunities, build an online presence, foster engagement and building loyalty with their customers.
Her greatest motivation is seeing her client’s business revenue and services expand beyond their own expectations.
Cherie L Kisla
Your Numbers Tell A Story
12:15 pm Eastern (11:15 am Central, 10:15 am Mountain, 9:15 am Pacific)
Cherie L. Kisla, CPA, MST, MBA, is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. She graduated from Washington and Jefferson College in 1986, received her MBA from Waynesburg University in 2002 and received her MST (Masters of Taxation) from Robert Morris University in 2012.
After graduation, Cherie launched her career in public accounting where she served primarily on the audit team. In 1988, she moved to the private sector and held senior financial management positions with companies in the nonprofit, manufacturing, engineering, sales, and service industries.
In 2008, Cherie started her own public accounting practice serving individual tax clients and small and medium-sized business clients. She also does accounting software training, particularly in QuickBooks, as she is a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor. Also, Kisla & Associates has been certified as a Disadvantaged Business.
As a community leader, Cherie has worked with many associations including football, basketball, and soccer organizations. She was very active in her church, serving as Treasurer, playing in the bell choir and singing in the chancel choir. She has also served as an Elder, Deacon, and Sunday school teacher. Cherie currently resides in Houston, PA with her husband, Marty.
Michael Jonas, Esq. & Elena Fewell Howard, Esq.
Keep It Classy & Legal: Bylaws, Policies, & Contracts
1:30 pm Eastern (12:30 pm Central, 11:30 am Mountain, 10:30 am Pacific)
Elena is an attorney barred in California who practices mostly in filing federal trademarks, nonprofit formation, business formation (mostly LLCs) and contract drafting/review for her small business clients. Elena works out of Davis, California (Yolo) where she has lived most of her life. Her undergraduate degree is in social work and she believes her legal practice an extension of that, in that she delights in assisting small business owners in protecting their dreams and working collaboratively with them as they grow.
Michael Jonas, JD, MBA (he/him) is the Principal Attorney and Owner of Rational Unicorn Legal Services PC, a certified benefit company that practices “community business law for everyone in the community.” The firm's clients include nonprofits, small businesses, and artists/entertainers in WA, OR, and CA. Their pay-as-you-go legal service model includes but is not limited to business and nonprofit formation, contract review and drafting, intellectual property law applications (trademarking, patenting, and copyrighting), and conflict resolution. In addition to lawyering, Michael is passionate about teaching business law and volunteering with several community organizations
Kelly Burgos Harper
Master Your Message To Attract Donors
2:45 pm Eastern (1:45 pm Central, 12:45 pm Mountain, 11:45 am Pacific)
Independent communications consultant, Kelly Burgos Harper, helps nonprofits sharpen, strengthen, and streamline communications for greater impact and greater good.
Kelly brings 25 years of hard-earned know-how from her work in nonprofit communication, fundraising, entertainment, and events. Her superpowers are experience, empathy, and creativity.
During her ten years on the senior management team of the MusiCares and GRAMMY Foundations, Kelly served as the go-to writer and co-leader of the fundraising and events team. She helped raise $75 million and created the GRAMMY Charities Online Auction program which provided a new and innovative revenue stream, boosted public awareness, and engaged previously untapped audiences.
She has directed communication for the Pittsburgh Airport Area Chamber of Commerce, Hope Grows, The Cornerstone of Beaver County, and a variety of other nonprofits that help transform lives and communities. Her work in communication also includes singing and voice coaching.
Kelly is a founding board member of the Monaca Community Development Corporation and has served on Communication Advisory Boards for CCBC and Robert Morris University.
Amy Fazio
What Kind of Fundraiser are You? Take the Quiz
4:00 pm Eastern (3:00 pm Central, 2:00 pm Mountain, 1:00 pm Pacific)
Event Wrap Up & Next Steps
Sponsored by:
