Speaker Bios

Welcome and Opening Speaker - 8:30 AM
Leading with Purpose - Focusing on What Matters Most

Keynote Speaker: 

Roger D. Ali
AFP Global Board Chair

In times marked by economic uncertainty, changing donor behavior, rapid technological advancement, and rising expectations, nonprofit leaders are navigating extraordinary change. Yet in moments like these, the most important question is not how to control the future — but how to remain grounded in purpose and focused on what truly matters.
 
In this inspiring and reflective keynote, AFP Global Board Chair, Roger D. Ali, explores what it means to lead with purpose — approaching leadership with humility, clarity, and trust rather than control or certainty. Drawing on personal experience, sector research, and conversations with fundraisers and leaders across North America, Roger shares practical insights on navigating complexity while staying rooted in mission and service to others.
 
Participants will gain perspective on the current realities shaping philanthropy, the importance of strengthening relationships and community, and how leaders can cultivate resilient organizations during times of change. Most importantly, attendees will leave with renewed confidence and a deeper understanding of how to focus on what matters most — serving others, building trust, and advancing mission-driven work with integrity, courage, and compassion.
Learn more about Roger

Workshop Sessions I - 9:45AM

Joy Is for Mission Builders Too: Stop Surviving the Work You Were Called to Love 

Dr. Lynette Adams

Nonprofit professionals are the heartbeat of mission-driven work. But too often, they are asked to carry that work while
running on empty. Somewhere along the way, exhaustion became normal and joy became optional.
 
This session shifts that.
 
Joy Is for Mission Builders Too reframes joy as a leadership strategy, not a reward you earn after burnout. Rooted in The Formula for Joy™, 
this interactive experience explores how alignment, energy, permission, and intentional practice can
restore capacity, strengthen teams, and deepen impact.
 
Together, we will name the real sources of burnout in nonprofit spaces and walk through practical tools that support resilience
while staying connected to purpose. Participants will engage in a guided Joy Audit to identify what is draining them,
what still energizes them, and what small shifts can be made right away.
 
This session centers a simple truth. You deserve to experience the work you sustain. When leaders are supported,
teams are stronger and communities thrive.
 
Participants will leave with clear, usable strategies to bring more joy into their leadership, their teams, and their everyday work.

Learn more about Lynette

Planned Giving 2.0 - Donors as Investors: How Modern Fundraising
Strategy and Non-Cash Assets Can Transform Giving
Aaron Sheklin & Herbert Kyles

Today’s best fundraisers know that giving isn’t just about cash; It’s about helping donors 
use what they already have to make a bigger difference. 
 
During this session we’ll show participants:
 
1. How to talk to donors about their total wealth & unlock gifts for both today and the future
2. Best ways to help donors work with their financial advisors, estate planners, & tax advisors
3. The road map to long-term independence: How to build & then manage an endowment

Learn more about Aaron and Herbert

Who Pays for Collective Action? Confronting the Hidden Costs

of BIPOC Labor in Philanthropy
Chris Talbot and Lucas Land
Collective action requires courage, and courage requires honesty about who bears the cost. In the nonprofit sector, BIPOC professionals 
are routinely asked to contribute their expertise, networks, and lived experience without fair compensation, under the banner of 
mission alignment or shared values. This session names that pattern directly and challenges white fundraising professionals to 
examine their own organizations, professional associations, and peer networks and how they may contribute to this extractive behavior.
Using real-world case studies drawn from our own experiences in the field (including one regarding this very event), we'll explore how the 
extraction of free BIPOC labor shows up in philanthropy — from speaking requests and committee work to "advisory" roles and 
DEI initiatives — and why this undermines the very collective action our sector claims to pursue. We'll also discuss what white fundraising 
professionals can do as active accomplices, not just allies, to interrupt these patterns when they see them.Attendees will leave with 
concrete language and frameworks for advocating for equitable compensation in their organizations and professional communities, 
and a clearer understanding of how resource equity connects to the Community-Centric Fundraising (CCF) principles many of us say we hold.
Learn more about Chris          Learn more about Lucas

 

Workshop Sessions II - 11:00 am 
Seasons of Story: How Fundraisers Build Real Relationships Through Seasonal Storytelling
Max Kringen
Most fundraising advice hands you a funnel. A straight line from stranger to supporter that assumes people move in one direction and never look back.
Real relationships don't work that way. They cycle. They deepen. They require you to show up again and again before trust takes root.
Seasons of Story is a practical framework that aligns your fundraising communication with four natural rhythms: 
Spring (Introduce), Summer (Educate), Fall (Engage), and Winter (Remind). 
Each season has a specific purpose, a specific posture, and a specific set of storytelling tools that help you meet your donors 
where they actually are. In this session, you'll learn how to identify which season your organization is in right now and what to prioritize. 
You'll see how to craft asks that feel like invitations instead of transactions. And you'll walk away with a seasonal storytelling rhythm 
you can put to work the following Monday.
 
This session connects directly to the conference theme of Creating Community with Courage & Collective Action. Seasonal storytelling 
is how we move beyond transactional fundraising toward genuine partnership, where donors, staff, and communities build something together.
 
Grounded in over a decade of work with nonprofits, higher ed, and mission-driven organizations.
Learn more about Max

DAFs – What Fundraisers Need to Know About Them and Their Donors
Sarah James, Andrea Shultz and Catherine Bucholz

 

Session Description coming soon

Learn more about Sarah

More about Andrea coming soon

More about Catherine coming soon

Collective Action to Level Up Philanthropy & Protect Race Explicit Grantmaking
Jodeen Olguín-Taylor
The Level Up campaign inspires and supports collective action in the philanthropic sector. With so much at stake for communities and democracy, 
this is a critical time for our work to encourage philanthropy to Level Up by committing to:
 
1. Increasing grantmaking budgets by 20% and/OR deliver an endowment payout of at least 8% or higher
2. Moving resources flexibly and nimbly to directly impacted communities and power-building strategies
3. Advancing and defending race-explicit grantmaking.
 
Leaders in the philanthropy sector are using the Level Up pledge commitments to increase grantmaking budgets, payout rates, 
and advance race-explicit grantmaking. You’ll leave this session with tools, resources, and access to a network of philanthropic leaders 
who share these commitments to Leveling Up the philanthropic sector.    
 
Learn more at: LevelUpPhilanthropy.org 

Learn more about Jodie

Luncheon - 12:00 PM

Workshop Sessions III - 1:15 PM

Leading Across Difference: A Masterclass in Unlocking Your Team’s Best Ideas
Jon Wheeler
Your most valuable asset isn’t your endowment, your database, or your branding—it is your talent. Your organization is a living ecosystem 
of staff, board members, and supporters who exist to advance your mission. But in a rapidly changing world, the traditional 
management models are no longer enough to scale your impact. To truly level up, you must master the art of leading across difference
to unlock your team’s true potential.
 
Led by Jon Wheeler, Global Head of Talent at Fastly, and former Global Head of Inclusion & Diversity Learning at Visa, this Masterclass
bridges the gap between Silicon Valley talent strategy and the nonprofit heart. 
 
In the world of global tech, innovation rules because leaders have learned to treat difference as a competitive advantage. 
Learn how you can create a team culture where everyone is able to do their very best work every single day.
Learn more about Jon

From Contacts to Community: Activating Mentorship in Your Career Journey 

 

Emma Byers

In today’s competitive and often isolating job market, success is rarely a solo endeavor. This session explores how fundraisers at 
every stage of their career can leverage mentorship as a powerful, community-driven strategy for navigating a job search with 
intention and confidence. Grounded in the conference theme of creating community with courage and collective action, we’ll 
reframe mentorship from a passive relationship into an active, reciprocal network that accelerates opportunity.
 
Participants will learn how to identify, approach, and engage mentors in ways that feel authentic and mutually beneficial—even 
when asking feels uncomfortable. We’ll discuss how to move beyond transactional networking to build meaningful professional 
relationships rooted in shared values and trust. Through practical frameworks and real-world examples, attendees will gain tools 
to expand their circle of support, uncover hidden opportunities, and position themselves more effectively in the fundraising field.
 
Whether you are entering the profession, seeking your next role, or pivoting within the sector, this session will equip you to harness 
the collective wisdom of your community—and remind you that courageously asking for guidance can open doors you didn’t know existed.
Learn more about Emma

Engaging Latine/o/x Donors

Dolores Garay and JoAnna Citron
Join us for a lively workshop about engaging Latine/o/x donors, from grassroots givers to HNW major donors. How is your 
fundraising program leaving out this critical and growing Colorado population? This session will: examine how stereotypes 
are impeding your fundraising success, discuss if there are cultural differences among donor communities, share success 
stories about fundraising from Latine/o/x communities and more.
Learn more about Dolores and JoAnna

Workshop Session IV - 2:30 PM

From Transactional to Transformational: A Bold Shift to Human-Centered Fundraising
Susan Kramer
For too long, fundraising has relied on transactional models that treat donors like sources of revenue rather
than human beings with values, passions, and purpose.
 
If we continue treating donors like ATMs, we should not be surprised when engagement plateaus.
 
This session challenges that paradigm.
 
Susan’s session is designed to be experiential and memorable. The live donor conversation is a core differentiator and offers 
attendees a rare opportunity to observe and learn from a real-time example rather than a scripted case study.
 
Drawing on more than 30 years of nonprofit leadership and 10+ million in annual fundraising, Susan Kramer introduces a bold, 
human-centered approach to donor engagement that aligns donor identity with organizational impact. When done well, 
this shift does more than increase giving. It unlocks transformational philanthropy.
 
This is not a theoretical session.
 
Participants will experience a live donor discovery conversation conducted in real time, demonstrating how to move 
beyond surface-level asks and into meaningful, values-driven engagement.
 
Attendees will leave with a practical framework to deepen relationships, inspire larger gifts, and fundamentally 
rethink how they approach fundraising.

Learn more about Susan

Why We’re Burned Out (and How to Fix It): A Design Lab for Finding Your Genius

Tamara Wheeler

 
Let’s be honest: even in the best nonprofits, most teams feel like they’re running on a treadmill that won’t stop. This isn't 
because you aren't working hard enough—it's because of a hidden "Leadership Tax." This is the literal cost of the time, 
energy, and good people you lose when your team is forced to work against their natural strengths. While we’ve leaned 
into AI to save us time, we’ve never been more exhausted. 
 
This 60-minute Design Lab gives you a practical roadmap for building a better, more energized way to work. Using a 
simple tool called the Working Genius, we’ll look at the science of why some tasks give you a spark while others drain 
you dry. Using the Stanford d.school method, a human-centered problem-solving approach, you will map your team's 
workload and find exactly where your energy is leaking out.
 
You’ll leave this lab with a ready-to-use roadmap for having the honest conversations your team needs. You will gain 
the tools to stop fighting operational friction and start leading a team that is more energized, aligned, and focused 
on your most important strategic goals.
Learn more about Tamara

Beyond Inspiration: Disability-Conscious Fundraising That Builds Trust, Equity, and Results 

Chanda Hinton

Fundraising for disability-focused work—and with disabled communities—often relies on outdated narratives rooted in pity, 
deficit, and “inspiration.” While these approaches may drive short-term revenue, they can erode trust, reinforce harmful 
stereotypes, and ultimately limit long-term donor engagement.
 
This interactive workshop introduces a disability-conscious fundraising framework that centers dignity, autonomy, and equity—
without sacrificing performance. Participants will explore how ableism shows up in messaging, donor engagement, and program 
design, and how to shift toward approaches that are both ethically grounded and strategically effective.
 
Through real-world examples and hands-on exercises, attendees will learn how to reframe storytelling, redesign donor 
experiences, and align fundraising practices with the lived realities of disabled individuals and communities. The session 
will also address the intersection of disability with poverty, healthcare access, and systemic inequities—critical context 
for fundraisers working in health, human services, and beyond.
 
Participants will leave with practical tools they can immediately apply, including messaging frameworks, accessibility 
checklists, and strategies for engaging donors as partners rather than saviors.
 
This session is designed for fundraisers at all levels seeking to strengthen both the integrity and impact of their work 
in an increasingly equity-driven philanthropic landscape.

Learn more about Chanda