October 25, 2011

What: 2011 Independent Sector Annual Conference

When: October 30-November 1, 2011

Where: The Fairmont Chicago Hotel, 200 North Columbus Dr., Chicago, Illinois  60601

Who:  More than 100 speakers including Mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, IS President and CEO Diana Aviv, and Ashoka: Innovators for the Public founder Bill Drayton will address thought leaders in the nonprofit and philanthropic sector. Attendees include a wide array of professionals, including more than 200 chief executives of nonprofits and foundations. About 30 percent of the attendees will be from the Chicago area.

Highlights include:

• Sunday, Oct. 30, 2-3:30 p.m., Opening Plenary: Risk, Failure, and Breakthrough: This session offers risk, failure, and breakthrough as a path to achieving our highest potential both individually and collectively. Attendees will how to learn from their struggles and harness their own wisdom and creativity to work together more effectively and unleash possibilities. Welcoming remarks: Victoria Dinges, Allstate Insurance Company. Speakers: Andrew Hargadon, How Breakthroughs Happen: The Surprising Truth About How Companies Innovate; Deepak Bhargava, Center for Community Change; Mari Kuraishi, GlobalGiving

• Sunday, Oct. 30, 6-9:30 p.m., Host Reception: An Evening at The Art Institute of Chicago: Conference attendees are encouraged to wear Halloween costumes and join Redmoon Theater for a procession across Millennium Park, departing the Fairmont Chicago Hotel lobby at 6 p.m. The procession will end at the Art Institute of Chicago where Allstate Foundation invites attendees to network and celebrate Chicago’s dynamic multicultural community. The event includes a music performance by Inclusion Ensemble of Chicago Sinfonietta.

• Monday, Oct. 31, 9-9:45 a.m. Conversation with a Sector Leader: Dr. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, will be interviewed by Stephanie Strom, New York Times journalist. 

• Monday, Oct. 31 10:15-11:45 a.m. CEO Summit: Revealing the Financial Security/Success Matrix: Join Roger Ferguson, president and CEO of TIAA-CREF, as he shares the latest results of a collaborative TIAA-CREF Institute and Independent Sector study examining the issue of financial and retirement security among employees of the nonprofit and philanthropic sector and its effect on the lifecycle of leadership. Lorie A. Slutsky, New York Community Trust, will moderate.

• Monday, Oct. 31, 12-2 p.m., 12 Luncheon Plenary: Of, For, and By the People: Rewriting the Social Compact: Part one of this event will feature Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Part two will feature Diana Aviv’s keynote address, which will focus on the social compact, the role and responsibilities of government to its citizens, and vice versa. A panel discussion will follow with Darren Walker, Ford Foundation; Cobus de Swardt, Transparency International; and Eric Tanenblatt, Corporation for National and Community Service.

• Monday, Oct. 31, 2:30-4 p.m., Changing Lobbying Rules for Nonprofits and Foundations: Opportunities and Political Realities:  Engage with Bridgespan authors Tom Tierney and Dickie Steele for an interactive dialogue examining the donor/grantee relationship. The conversation will cover the different perspectives of the individual donor, foundation, and nonprofit on issues ranging from the challenges of the power dynamic to developing shared definitions of success and creating a true donor/grantee "partnership."

• Monday, Oct. 31, 6:30-9 p.m., The John W. Gardner Leadership Dinner: We will honor Bill Drayton, founder and CEO of Ashoka with the John W. Gardner Leadership Award and Ai-jen Poo, director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, with the 2011 American Express NGen Leadership Award. The Gardner program is available online.

• Tuesday, Nov. 1, 9-10:30 a.m. Democracy and the Arab Spring: Join international experts as they discuss the Arab Spring phenomenon, what’s behind the movement, its international and national implications, and if democracy is now a certainty in the Arab world.  Speakers: Annette Heuser, Bertelsmann Foundation; Robert L. Gallucci, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; and Ahmed Rehab, CAIR-Chicago

• Tuesday, Nov. 1, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., Closing Plenary: Aligning for Greater Impact: You will hear from organizations that have adopted an integrated approach to solving social problems by involving partners from the nonprofit and philanthropic community, as well as from government and business. Speakers: David O. Egner, Hudson Weber Foundation and New Economy Initiative; Emmett D. Carson, Silicon Valley Community Foundation; Paul S. Grogan, The Boston Foundation; Maria P. Hibbs, Partnership for New Communities; Terry Mazany, The Chicago Community Trust; Julia M. Stasch, The John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
  

To see the entire program, visit IndependentSector.org/ac2011_schedule.

Independent Sector is a nonpartisan leadership network of 600 nonprofits, foundations, and corporate philanthropy programs, collectively representing tens of thousands of charitable groups in every state across the nation. Its mission is to advance the common good by leading, strengthening, and mobilizing the nonprofit and philanthropic community. To learn more about Independent Sector, please visit: IndependentSector.org.