I attended Craigslist BootCamp NYC in early October. It was an exciting coming together of the young movers and shakers in the Public Good community. While the feel of the Independent Sector conference is extremely different than that of Craigslist Bootcamp, I am excited to see that NGens are claiming their space among established Non Profit Leaders. We are contributing our ideas, talent, passion and initiative as we bring a fresh look, feel and perspective to the Non Profit community. Also, we are not shy about doing so.
I am honored to be among an impressive blogger presence at this year’s Independent Sector Conference:
Trista Harris — New Voices of Philanthropy
Tera Wozinak — Social Citizen
Rosetta Thurman — Perspectives from the Pipleline
Katya Andresen — Robin Hood Marketing
It was also a privilege to meet Heather Carpenter at NonProfit Leadership 601. I also met a prospective new blogger, Monica. She is a prominent member of Philadelphia’s rising non profit leaders and the Director of Development and Publicity at the Green School in the Mount Airy section of Philadelphia, a school for autistic children. We will be setting up her blog within the next couple of weeks. She has a lot to say!!
I am so thrilled that the Chronicles of Philanthropy picked up our presence and gave a shout out to our efforts.
After the closing of this year’s IS Plenary, many NGens gathered for a post-conference brainstorming session. While we initially broke discussed our reaction to the conference in smaller groups, we came together in the end to discuss several topics important to both NGens and the IS conference as a whole:
Value
- many felt that the orange “NGen” tags were value on several fronts. They provided visibility of emerging leaders to both other NGens and to more established members of the IS community.
- The larger presence of NGens at the conference allowed us to share our concerns and issues of the future of the IS and the non profit world as well as a way in which we can contribute to its growth
Why Did you Come
- to meet and network with other NGens and more established members of the IS and Non Profit community
- several suggestions were shared about how to better facilitate interactions between NGens and established IS members 1) mentoring and coaching opportunities 2) speed networking between NGens and established members 3) collaboration on plenary planning committees 4) IS board membership program
- NGen investment in the sector through mission based development
Where Do We Go
- while many appreciated the seperate NGen track of workshops this morning, others thought that it separated us from the rest of the conference
- many advocated for more NGen participation in the planning of the IS conference, as presenters and speakers, and on the Board of Directors. Several individuals argued that if IS was truly committed to including NGen’s into IS, it would provide a way for NGen’s to actively participate in the planning and execution of furture conferences and initiatives
- several individuals expressed the need for a greater presence of new media at the conference, particularly more Net Cafe stations and better access to power sources for those who have their own equipment. Also, the incorporation of sessions on the usefulness of new media to non profits and foundations should be established.
- fostering of more scholarship opportunities for NGens who cant afford to attend on their own accord (encouragement to send thank you letters to all contributors to 2008 scholarship fund)
- establish opportunities for NGens to interact in the local level, particularly through engaging local organizations such as PYNL (Philadelphia Young NonProfit Leaders) and YNPN (Young Non Profit Network)
- creation of a listserv to share ideas
- establishment of regional breakout sessions at next year’s IS conference
- more NGen participation as moderators and speakers
- NGen panel discussion or presentation at Plenary Meetings at next year’s conference