Summit Encourages Non-Profit Practitioners To Collaborate To Create Change
Summit Encourages Non-Profit Practitioners To Collaborate To Create Change
By Tia Carol Jones
The Office of Civic Engagement at the University of Chicago recently hosted its third annual South Side Strong Summit. The theme of this year’s event was “Connecting Community. Catalyzing Impact.” The goal of the event was to provide collaborative strategies to individuals and organizations in the nonprofit sector, focusing on violence intervention and prevention.
The aim of the summit was to connect local nonprofit professionals with each other and the University, while also promoting an exchange of knowledge of the sector, best practices and available resources. The hope is that the attendees would make a positive impact in their communities through their work in their organizations.
Break out sessions were broken into categories that include organizational governance, emerging areas, leadership development and accelerator fundamentals. The topics included leading through change, building a data driven culture, nonprofit financial management and engaging a nonprofit board.
Dorri McWhorter served as the keynote speaker for the event, which had 165 people in attendance. During her speech, the former president and CEO of the Metropolitan YMCA, talked about her career as an accountant and moving to working in nonprofits at the YWCA and the Metropolitan YMCA. She said that in order to make the change people want to see in the world, it will take connecting community and catalyzing impact, which was the theme of the summit.
McWhorter said in order for the work the organizations do to be effective, the individuals in the collective have to be whole. She acknowledged that the work is hard, and it takes everyone.
“Because of who we are, we leave it all on the table. But, we also recognize that just because we do this work, we can’t lose sight of who we are while we do this work,” she said.
She shared a quote from Max Lerner about being a possibilist and said that to be in the work in the nonprofit sector, a person has to be a possibilist and understand what is possible with humanity. She also said the quote describes her as a person. She said that people should have a sense of expectation that people they interact with could unlock “beautifulness” for everyone else in the world.
“I was trained to look at systems and processes and people and the impact and all of those things. I just applied that to the social sector,” she said.
She encouraged the audience and told them that the work they are doing creates an impact. She also encouraged them to focus on the solutions, and if they did, there would be more outcomes of people living happy, thriving, successful lives in their own way.
McWhorter was presented with the South Side Strong Summit Impact Award. Sharon Grant, Executive Director, Community Programs Accelerator, Office of Civic Engagement. Grant said that McWhorter has been using her platform to expand access and amplify voices and create real lasting impact.
“Your leadership, it inspires us, and your legacy empowers us,” Grant said. “You inspire us to encourage this next generation to dream bigger and do more.”
For more information about the Office of Civic Engagement at the University of Chicago, visit https://civicengagement.uchicago.edu.
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