Annual Nonprofit + Grantmaker Conference 2023 | UNITE – Arizona Nonprofit + Grantmaker Conference

Join us in-person on August 24th as we bring back our highly-anticipated annual conference!

After convening our SOLD OUT annual conference in 2022, the Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits + Arizona Grantmakers Forum is excited to announce that the 2023 UNITE Nonprofit + Grantmaker Conference will be hosted at the newly-renovated Mesa Convention Center. This year's 1-day conference will feature two keynotes, 18 breakout sessions, and 3 panel discussions on topics for all levels of nonprofit and philanthropic professionals!

August 24th

7:00am - 4:00pm

Happy Hour immediately following until 6:00pm

Mesa Convention Center
263 N Center Street Mesa, AZ 85201

The 2023 UNITE 1-day conference will feature two keynotes as well as 18 breakout sessions and 3 panel discussions!

This year, our pricing is discounted depending on how many individuals registered at once with group rates discounted as the number of registrants increases. Group discounts start at 3 people.

Broaden your knowledge and network with other nonprofit + philanthropic professionals to strengthen Arizona’s sector.

We offer educational sessions for everyone: from EDs/CEOs, to development teams, to program staff, to grantmaking teams, and even board members.

Mix and mingle with fellow nonprofit + philanthropic professionals and exhibitors.

Scholarships

The Alliance strives to ensure this conference is accessible to all nonprofits.

We are able to provide full scholarships to attend the event for free, courtesy of our generous friends at Vitalyst Health Foundation and partial scholarships are available courtesy of our generous friends at Abbett Family Foundation.

Scholarships were available on a first come, first serve basis. Organizations could receive a scholarship for a maximum of 2 attendees.

Apply for a scholarship here.

Please note: you will be prompted to sign into your Alliance account before completing the scholarship form. If you do not have one, you can sign up for free by following the prompts! If you don’t know your password, please click forgot password.

Hotel Accommodations

The Alliance has secured a hotel block at the Delta Hotels by Marriott Phoenix Mesa (200 N Centennial Way, Mesa, AZ 85201) directly next to the convention center for the special rate of $114/night +tax.

You can book a hotel room for your conference stay for August 23-24 using our unique booking link provided in your registration confirmation email. Rooms need to be booked by July 20, 2023.

Sustainability & Accessibility Matter To Us

The full program for the event will be provided digitally (accessible by QR code) in an effort to promote sustainability and reduce paper waste, which aligns with our IDEA(s) values.  A printed agenda will be available but will not contain all session information. We will only print the number of large-print paper materials as determined in the attendee survey.

We have  ASL Interpretation or Spanish Language services  available upon request and have ensured table clearance at the conference is 28 inches, and the distance between tables and booths are at least 3 feet to accommodate any wheelchairs or mobility devices. 

Gender neutral bathrooms, as well as a pop-up lactation and prayer room, will be available per request.

We want you to enjoy this conference worry-free. If you have additional special accommodations, please let us know by indicating such in your attendee survey.

Kristen Merrifield

CAE – Chief Executive Officer, Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits

Preserving the Charitable Deduction: How We Got Here & Where We Go From Here

Carolyn Sechler

CPA, Sechler Morgan CPAs, LLC

Ten Real Estate Rules Every Nonprofit Should Know

Kathy Foster

Sr. VP, Colliers

The Workplace as an Engagement Tool

Bianca Buliga

Digital Marketing Manager, SEED SPOT

How to Crush Nonprofit Marketing with Limited Staff, Budget, and Time

Dr. Jeff McGee

CEO, Cross-Cultural Dynamics

Community Cultural Wealth

Michael Barry

CEO, ONE - Organization of Nonprofit Executives

Executive Roundtable

Laura Dillingham

Senior Strategic Partner, HPISolutions

Engaging Through Team Dynamics

Beth Jo Zietzer

President/Designated Broker, ROI Properties

Ten Real Estate Rules Every Nonprofit Should Know

Terri Shoemaker

Marketing Director, Association of Arizona Food Banks

Create and Successfully Present Your Giving Season Plan

Keith Yaskin

President, The Flip Side Communications LLC

How to Master Media Interviews

Torrie Taj

CEO, Child Crisis Arizona

Leadership for the Roaring (20) 20’s: C-Suite Discussion & Panel

Laurie Liles

President & CEO, Arizona Grantmakers Forum

Preserving the Charitable Deduction: How We Got Here & Where We Go From Here

Claire Louge

Training Director, Prevent Child Abuse Arizona

Stress, Trauma, and the Trauma‐Informed Approach

Keith Perske

Sr. VP, Workplace Innovation, Colliers International

The Workplace as an Engagement Tool

Tiffanie Dillard

Founder/Principal, Avenir Consulting Partners

Moving From Exhausted Leadership to Effective Leadership

Ellis Carter

President, Caritas Law Group, PC

Creating and Managing an Endowment Fund

David Martinez

Director, Capacity Building & Community Engagement, Vitalyst Health Foundation

Advocacy Roadmap: Making “Cents” of Your Advocacy Plan

John Scola

Chief Development Officer, Boys & Girls Club of Metro Phoenix

Dirty Money ‐ Ethics In Nonprofits

Jennifer Bonnett

Associate Director, Nonprofit Lifecycle Institute

Building the Capacity Ecosystem

Laura Ingalls

CEO, Abeja Solutions

How to Spot and Solve Nonprofit Burnout

Darlene Newsom

CEO, UMOM New Day Centers

Leadership for the Roaring (20) 20’s: C-Suite Discussion & Panel

Brandy Petrone

Senior Associate, Goodman Schwartz Public Affairs

Preserving the Charitable Deduction: How We Got Here & Where We Go From Here

Chris Sower

Founder & Managing Member, Andlosa Education

Understanding the Public Student Loan Forgiveness Program

Kristiana Fox

Founder/CEO, Think Outside the Box LLC

How to Build a Social Enterprise or Earned Revenue Strategy for Your Nonprofit

Tara Bethell

Practice Leader, Avenir Consulting Partners

Moving From Exhausted Leadership to Effective Leadership

Lisa Deane

Chief Member Services Officer, State Bar of Arizona

Envision, Establish and Execute: Engaging Your Stakeholders to Create and Achieve Your Strategic Plan

Jeffrey Wilcox

President, Third Sector Company, Inc.

Nonprofit Succession Planning ‐ Creating a Continuity of Leadership to Advance Your Mission

Julie Euber

Vice President, Young Nonprofit Professionals Network Phoenix

What Young Nonprofit Professionals Need to Engage Fully In the Sector

Kay McDonald

Founder/CEO, Charity Charms

How to Build a Social Enterprise or Earned Revenue Strategy for Your Nonprofit

Tom Ralser

Principal Convergent Nonprofit Solutions

ROI & True Sustainability: Moving Beyond the 3 G's (Golf, Galas, and Giveaways)

Tom Egan

Foundation for Senior Living

Leadership for the Roaring (20) 20’s: C-Suite Discussion & Panel

Penny Allee-Taylor

Chief Public Policy Officer, Valley of the Sun United Way

Preserving the Charitable Deduction: How We Got Here & Where We Go From Here

Beverly Browning

Senior Consultant, Bev Browning, LLC

Taking the Right Steps Toward Nonprofit Sustainability

Donita Douglas

Executive Vice President, InReach

Envision, Establish and Execute: Engaging Your Stakeholders to Create and Achieve Your Strategic Plan

Steve Browning

Co-presenter, Nonprofit Succession Planning

Nonprofit Succession Planning ‐ Creating a Continuity of Leadership to Advance Your Mission

Jerry Houston

CEO, HPISolutions

Engaging Through Team Dynamics

George Heiler

Nerd, Nerds on Site

3 Things All Nonprofits Should Know About Cyber Security To Avoid Scams, Threats and Disasters

Brianna Klink

Chief Operations, Officer Abeja Solutions

Create and Successfully Present Your Giving Season Plan

Todd Vigil

Chief Marketing Officer, The Phoenix Symphony

The Road to 100% Digital Marketing

Michael Barry

Executive Director, ONE – Organization of Nonprofit Executives

Leadership for the Roaring (20) 20’s: C-Suite Discussion & Panel

Check-in begins at 7:00am and programming begins at 8:00am. Breakfast and lunch will be included.

Times for each session will be announced as we near the conference date.

Intercultural Creativity® for NonProfit: The Ace Up Your Sleeve for the Future of Work

Speaker: Genein Letford

Creative thinking is now the #1 skill needed in our workforce. This is a VUCA environment. So increasing the creative thinking skills on your teams and in your organization is no longer a luxury, it’s now required. Unity requires us to be creative together. But creativity can’t thrive unless there is a culture of inclusion, belonging and psychological safety.

This thought-provoking and hilarious keynote combines intercultural development, which is a key tool needed for inclusion, with concepts that cultivate and expand creative thinking.

Attendees will learn how:

-culture and creativity are connected

-to analyze their own cultural behaviors and become aware and beneficially responsive to others

-to creatively engage with other cultures in business – virtual and in person

-to advance their intercultural competence for success in a global market

Advance Your Breakthrough, Avoid the Breakdown

Speaker: Dr. Roderick Logan, Senior Faculty with the Arizona Trauma Institute

When you think about you, your work, and your workplace, do you feel liberated and empowered, or do you feel fatigued and overwhelmed? Are there seasons when it seems there is a wall between you and where you are wanting to go. Is there a sense of desperation inside you that is hoping for a breakthrough, but you fear a breakdown is more likely? Dr. Roderick Logan, Senior Faculty with the Arizona Trauma Institute, will share a simple but profound idea that many have reported has helped them to regain their momentum and renew their mission.

Strengthening Volunteer & Board Engagement

Speaker: Ben Burke

Ben Burke, Director of Operations at Manzanita Outreach, will show how tools such as culture-building activities, communication strategies and a strong digital infrastructure can help organizational leaders engage volunteers more effectively. He’ll also provide nine proven methods to foster greater participation from Board members.

“Our current economic conditions provide us the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be societal leaders of change, in a world where people desire sound leadership,” Ben said, adding that the work of nonprofits isn’t just about service; it’s about love, presence, hope, faith and dignity.

Creating Your Organization’s IDEA Action Plan

Speaker: Angela Palmer

You’ve been asked to lead the inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility (IDEA) journey at your organization. Have no fear! Like all journeys, it’s not an easy process — there are many different steps you’ll need to take along the way. But with proper planning and active listening, you can develop a structured plan that will ensure everyone arrives at their destination of inclusiveness and equality. This plan, with clear action items and metrics will provide indicators of success as well as help to determine future needs throughout the organization.

Join this interactive session, to

-Define the best practices in developing an IDEA Action Plan

-Identify the steps to creating an IDEA Action Plan

-Begin developing the right questions for your own listening sessions

-Integrate known issues in the Action Plan Template

-Determine measurable outcomes

Be the Chief Storytelling Officer for Your Brand

Speaker: Matthew Clyde, IDEAS Collide

Whether you run a large non-profit or starting to get your idea off the ground, we all have a compelling story to tell. This session, ‘How to be the Chief Storytelling Officer for Your Brand,’ will arm you with strategies and tactics to embody the traits and mindset of a Chief Storytelling Officer (CSO). The proven framework will inspire you and your essential stakeholders, members, supporters, investors, and advocates to action. In addition, this informative and interactive discussion will also include practical examples and steps where you will workshop your brand story and content.

Using the 3P’s to Create Innovative Solutions

Speaker: Kevin Holt

In this workshop, you will learn how a team-size group can use the “3Ps” to do a better job of thinking together when creating an innovative solution to a problem or a new or improved product or service. The first P is to use proven PROCESSES, both group processes, like the nominal group technique, and task processes, like the jobs-to-be-done method for identifying innovation opportunities and analogical thinking for generating creative ideas. The second P has to do with new collaboration PLATFORMS, like collaborative workspaces and combining electronic brainstorming technology and AI tools like ChatGPT. (Electronic brainstorming technology was largely developed by the University of Arizona and IBM.) The third P is about PEOPLE–using a meeting facilitator to help assemble a team of people who have the needed knowledge and to manage the meeting. In this workshop, you’re going to have the opportunity to apply what you learn. Some of the PROCESSES you learn will be mapped to the electronic brainstorming PLATFORM, which the workshop group will use to brainstorm a solution to a problem that is common to nonprofits. Remember to bring your laptop so you can participate!

Creative Reflective Leadership: Improve Self-Awareness & Authenticity

Speaker: Genein Letford

Being able to understand yourself is an integral part of understanding and leading others.Improving reflective practices that develop self-awareness and emotional regulation is now acritical skill in this VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous) environment.Learn how to develop your self-awareness so you can better understand how others see youand better align your actions with your intentions. In this course you will learn tangiblestrategies for reflective and creative leadership.

Successes and Challenges of Using Trust-Based Philanthropy

Speakers: Panel

Love the Ones You’re With

Speaker: Kim Madrigal

There are approximately 260 working days in a year. Taking into consideration personal time off, that’s 60-70% of the year that people will spend at work. This equates to approximately 2,000 hours teams spend with one another at work. If you lead teams, this can seem exhausting to consider, if you don’t love the ones you’re with. Imagine if you could cultivate a diverse and inclusive team that engages efficiently and productively, honoring the strengths of the collective, and actually having fun together while creating a sense of belonging throughout your organization.

The most important advantage in an organization, alongside money, is people. Intentionally investing just 30 minutes a week in your team increases trust, communication, collaboration, and decreases conflict, all of which greatly influences the success and impact of the organization. Most importantly, simple investments in cultivating a diverse team can increase the joy people will have serving alongside one another.

This workshop will explore what it means to cultivate diverse teams and build a sense of belonging within the organization. First, we will explore what it means to cultivate a diverse, inclusive team. Then we will assess and analyze the current state of one team within your organization looking for opportunities to cultivate more diversity and inclusion within the team. Finally, you will create an implementation plan, which will provide practical tools you can use to cultivate teams and a sense of belonging within your organization. Imagine the joy that comes from loving the ones you’re with.

From Mindset to Tactics: Financial Strategies for Nonprofits

Speaker: Joan Hubele

This workshop will not be about nonprofit accounting; it WILL be about financial tactics to help your nonprofit move beyond compliance to forward-thinking financial strategies that help your nonprofit achieve financial stability and sustainability. It will include a core component of most nonprofits: If, when, and how to apply for grants, and whom should be included in that conversation. Finally, we will discuss communication tools and Board engagement strategies.

Perennial Differentiation

Speaker: Emily Soccorsy

Being different is a necessity in the crowded, noisy world we live in. While every brand is unique, few are able to confidently express what makes them different. Brands that can express their uniqueness to their defined audience and can create memorable experiences are the ones that remain in the heart and mind long after you’ve left the room. Differentiation includes the key disciplines of articulating your differentiators, knowing your audience, designing your customer experience and owning your brand category.

MORE SESSIONS TO COME!

Days until the big event

INDIVIDUAL

$149

(1 person)

Admission to All Sessions & Keynotes

Breakfast and Lunch

Networking

SAVE YOUR SEAT!

GROUP

As low as
$140

(Per person. Rates vary depending on size of group)

Admission to All Sessions & Keynotes

Breakfast and Lunch

Networking

SAVE YOUR SEAT!

INDIVIDUAL

$199

(1 person)

Admission to All Sessions & Keynotes

Breakfast and Lunch

Networking

SAVE YOUR SEAT!

GROUP

As low as
$190

(Per person. Rates vary depending on size of group)

Admission to All Sessions & Keynotes

Breakfast and Lunch

Networking

SAVE YOUR SEAT!

*Only Alliance members qualify for discounts. Interested in becoming a member? Click here.

Thank you to Vitalyst Health Foundation and Abbett Family Foundation for providing scholarships the the conference.

Important Notes on Registration:

Registrants who are unable to attend the 2023 UNITE conference may substitute someone to attend in their place; please submit the change via your account or email our Events Team. Substitutions must be received by August 15.
Registrants who are unable to attend the conference may substitute someone to attend in their place; please submit the change via your account or email our Events Team by August 15th. Cancellations received by July 31 will reach a full refund less a $25 cancellation fee. No refunds will be provided after July 31.

Virtual Conference Orientation Sponsor – ~~0/1 available~~ – $5,000 (SOLD)

Nonprofit Networking Sponsor – ~~0/1 available~~ – $5,000 (SOLD)

Keynote Introduction Sponsor – 2/4 available – $2,500

Commercial Break Sponsor – 1/1 available – $2,500

Session/Speaker Introduction Sponsor – 12/16 available – $1,000

Conference Supporter – $500

Member Scholarship Supporter – $500 (supports 5 attendees)

2023 UNITE Nonprofit + Grantmaker Conference offers a unique opportunity for you to get your brand in front of Arizona’s nonprofit audience. Connect with nonprofit professionals in a way you never have before with our sponsorship opportunities!

If you have any questions about these or other sponsorship, exhibiting, or advertising opportunities, please contact Jennifer Purcell, Chief Impact Officer, at JenniferP@arizonanonprofits.org or call 602-279-9166.

Arizona Nonprofit + Grantmaker Conference

Date and Time

August 24th

Conference Location

Conference About Us

Strengthen

Discover

Connect

32+ Hours of Content!

Hotel Accommodations

Sustainability & Accessibility Matter To Us

Conference Gallery

Our Speakers

Kristen Merrifield

Carolyn Sechler

Kathy Foster

Bianca Buliga

Dr. Jeff McGee

Michael Barry

Laura Dillingham

Beth Jo Zietzer

Terri Shoemaker

Keith Yaskin

Torrie Taj

Laurie Liles

Claire Louge

Keith Perske

Tiffanie Dillard

Ellis Carter

David Martinez

John Scola

Jennifer Bonnett

Laura Ingalls

Darlene Newsom

Brandy Petrone

Chris Sower

Kristiana Fox

Tara Bethell

Lisa Deane

Jeffrey Wilcox

Julie Euber

Kay McDonald

Tom Ralser

Tom Egan

Penny Allee-Taylor

Beverly Browning

Donita Douglas

Steve Browning

Jerry Houston

George Heiler

Brianna Klink

Todd Vigil

Michael Barry

Conference Schedule

Conference Pricing

Days until the big event

INDIVIDUAL

GROUP

INDIVIDUAL

GROUP

Conference Sponsors

Thank you to our 2023 Sponsors!

Conference Location

Mesa Convention Center

Conference
About Us

32+ Hours
of Content!

Conference
Gallery

Our
Speakers

Conference
Schedule

Conference
Pricing

Conference
Sponsors

Conference
Location