Thank you to all that attended our 32nd Annual Meeting (and our second virtual meeting) on Friday, June 18. We were thrilled to see members, board members and committee volunteers, sponsors, speakers as well as nonprofits in attendance. 

One of our key updates was the news that we have broken our highest membership number on record, including an increase in national members (our membership now represents 15 states). 

We thanked our outgoing board and committee members for their service: board members Suzanne Griffith, Emily Taylor and Randy Ford, as well as outgoing committee chairs, Michael Mayse (Programming) and Laura Weinman (Membership). 

We also announced retaining board members Jim Javorcic and Shailushi Ritchie as well as new board members, John Bauer, Arthur Padilla, David Dow, Aashi Mital and Gioia Giannotti. See the full ACN board here. 

Shailushi Ritchie, who led the Strategic Planning Task Force, unveiled ACN’s new strategic focus as well as our related Mission Statement, Statement of Purpose and Core Audience. 

Kelly Short of Campbell & Company shared eye-opening data and discussed how we can shift to a more community-centered fundraising model that brings racial equity to fundraising, and how we as consultants can use our power to break the systems and processes in place. 

Next we heard inspiring insights from our panelists: Hilary Dale of BDO FMA discussed how they helped nonprofits apply for PPP loans, resulting in over $1 billion in loans. Talla Mountjoy of Talla Mountjoy Consulting talked about how she started consulting for a better quality of life and to follow her passion. Arthur Padilla of StrataG.Works talked about how he initiated coaching cohorts to help people dismantle racism and become allies. 

Our featured speaker Monique Jones, CEO of our partner Forefront kicked off her talk by sharing the five personal values that lead her work: optimism, integrity, equity, fidelity and humor. She talked about how organizations and philanthropy are being reimagined and how consultants can be a part of this. She suggests to diversify what you’re able to offer, take care of yourself, and set boundaries for what you can/cannot do. 

Thank you for joining us—here’s to a great year! 

The meeting replay is available for ACN members here.