Independent Sector Annual Conference 2013

Published on: by Gene Takagi Category:EVENTS

 

Marsalis - IS
 Wynton Marsalis performing and delivering an amazing plenary at IS Conference.

 

Here are a collection of tweets from the 2013 Independent Sector Annual Conference:

  • Opening Plenary: Wynton Marsalis playing Now's the Time with NextGen accompanists talking about innovation, collaboration, arts & advocacy – #amazing
  • Truly great opening plenary IndSector: Marsalis was engaging, intelligent, thought-provoking. One of the best I've attended. (Jim Canales)
  • Marsalis on traits of New Orleans that cultivate culture of innovation: diversity of perspectives + culture of resilience (Community Wealth)
  • Recombinant innovation – a great discussion with Marsalis who examines this from a jazz perspective.
  • Check out Let Freedom Swing. Conversations on Jazz and Democracy. http://letfreedomswing.org/  Justice O'Connor & Marsalis
  • "Jazz is constructed in a balance of power that forces the reconciliation of opposites." – Marsalis (Cynthia Dodd Adcock)
  • Innovation + impact + scale — transformation – Judith Rodin
  • Types of partnerships may be the groundbreaking innovation – Rodin
  • Radical change: American Cancer Society moved from 14 governing bodies w/ >500 trustees to 1 board w/ 21 directors
  • Michael Smith of White House Office of Innovation states 5 Be Fearless values 
  • Big risks, need to manage & mitigate, downside may include loss of great people. No one noted huge failures.
  • Your change leader may be a different person from the transformational leader you need to implement the changes [Ed. Senior official from The Boy Scouts, who discussed his organization's radical change, used the example of Moses and Joshua.]
  • Collective impact: Aligning organizations AND movement building both needed for collective impact – timing is critical too.
  • Trust comes from volleys of communications going back and forth.
  • Philanthropy should dive deep & invest & engage intentionally & patiently for collective impact to work.
  • Philanthropy can find & connect community leaders and provide resources to stimulate collective impact.
  • Fundraising – a collaborative vehicle may be right for participants. Consider a great fiscal sponsor.
  • Garlinghouse: Mentality in Silicon Valley: if it doesn’t scale now, not worth doing. U need to make long-term investments.
  • Having data scientists as resource has huge potential to change behavior. And aggregating data is key across small ors. (Measuring Success)
  • Aggregating data among smaller orgs – need repositories with data scientists – Liz Maw – philanthropy opportunity
  • NextGen of Change: See YNPN pillars of leadership
  • See Developing Successful Multigenerational Leadership
  • Incentivize collaboration – NextGen values collaboration and are focused on solutions >>> organizations
  • Provide seed funding for experiments/innovation; allow for failure/learning.
  • Overhead: Here's the Blue Avocado article Jan Masaoka mentioned. Re:overhead & charity ratings. Genius stuff!  (Kelly Reid)
  • Data is not overhead! It is the nerve system of any org(anism). (Dosomething.org)
  • Harvard's 'overhead' is 62% – and people give without caring. Why not the same with other nonprofits? (Laura Zumdahl)
  • Our Common Purpose: Engaging, powerful words. Read the transcript. (Rockefeller Brothers Fund)
  • The more we filter our data using tech apps, the more we can become disconnected & isolated. [Ed. Great point as we increasingly turn to curated sites for news, receiving information from trusted sources that share our views and not from other sources that challenge our views.]
  • Connections: Nonprofit mergers: consider dating before marriage; use a consultant to understand various options early; set ground rules 
  • Good resource – Nonprofit collaboration database (Foundation Center)  
  • Gardner Leadership Awards: Learn your opponent, learn their life, and help them walk through it. – Connie Rice. Amen. (Marie Leblanc) [Ed. Check out Connie's organization, The Advancement Project.]
  • 'You can't have a meeting & hold a press conference & go back to your sector. You must go to your opponent's sector.' – Connie Rice (Gerrard Jolly)
  • Big Data: 2 elephants in rm: "some nonprofits are better than others. Some donors are better than others." (Will DeKrey)
  • The 990 doesn't answer questions about effectiveness, community feedback. Its just first layer of data – Jacob Harold (Victoria Vrana)
  • Nonprofit sector needs to start with "medium data" before getting to big data – GuideStar (Measuring Success)
  • Presentation Skills: Think about the headline you want the audience to walk away with, then drill down.
  • Storytelling must feel genuine and not manipulative.
  • Re-stimulate audience every 10 minutes (eg, change positions, ask questions, dramatic visual).
  • Closing Plenary: Well, @IndSector – I dont know how you got these two amazing leaders on stage at once, but am so glad you did! WOW (Margaret Coady)
  • The role of a leader is to define reality and give hope. Add integrity and accountability. – Kenneth Chenault 
  • "People confuse celebrity w leadership. A leader is the person often taking the biggest risk w the least support." – Geoff Canada (Trish Tchume)
  • Leaders need to give real feedback & ensure the tough feedback is understood. Don't let performance slide just to be nice.
  • Leaders need to have a high level of self-awareness incl of how they perceive others & how their actions are impacting others. 
  • Leaders acknowledge failure, accept the heat gracefully, share it with the field & start again. – Canada
  • Some of our leaders have lost sight of who they're serving. – Chenault on #shutdown (NY Community Trust)
  • Nonprofits have to go out of their comfort zone and reach out to different sectors! (Independent Sector)
  • Don't let the 1% of things you don't agree on get in the way of the 99% that you do. (Marie LeBlanc)
  • Ladies and Gentlemen as our 2013 #ISConf in NYC comes to a close we look forward to seeing you all for "Imagine" our 2014 conf in Seattle! 
  • Miscellaneous: 80% want immigration reform, 90% background checks on guns but nothing happens. NGOs need to get involved in politics. (Michael Smith)
  • Shah: Boundaries btw sectors are the most permeable they have ever been, poses opportunity for talent pipeline spanning sectors (Presidio Institute)
  • Cost of turning over a nonprofit executive: 213% of salary. Overwhelming. Nonprofit sector must invest in retention of leadership. (Kristen Cambell)