Guest post by Tessie Guillermo, president and CEO, of ZeroDivide

Today I began my very first Independent Sector conference experience, by attending the Monday morning plenary, "Conversation with a Sector Leader", featuring Robert Wood Johnson Foundation President Risa Lavizzo-Mourey being interviewed by Stephanie Strom from the New York Times. In social sector circles, RWJF is considered one of the"heavies," so having Risa open the first full day was a good tone setting move. Stephanie suggested to Risa that she might be in for a "grilling" but the conversation was more collegial than hard-nosed.

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Guest post by Kristin Hurdle, director state policy, of the YMCA of the USA

Thinking ahead to next year, the Public Policy Action Institute wrapped up this morning with a Presidential Debate. No, there wasn’t Rick Perry, Herman Cain, or Mitt Romney on stage.

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Guest post by Elizabeth Snyder, director of advocacy & public policy at the American Fraternal Alliance

My advocacy website vendor is awesome – which doesn’t matter as much when the Fraternal Alliance isn’t running an advocacy campaign and pushing members to use web forms, talking points, etc. Keeping advocates engaged and motivated to build relationships with elected officials is a constant challenge, especially at a small staff association where time and resources are limited.

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Guest post by Jeannie Fox, deputy director of public policy at the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits

Early risers to this morning’s first session of the Public Policy Action Institute titled, "Building Authentic Left-Right Coalitions" were treated to a conversation as stimulating as the Starbuck’s coffee being served. Three panelists, aided  by a skilled facilitator, attempted to outline the goals, process and rewards of building diverse coalitions of unlikely allies.

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Guest post by Danielle Hirsch, director of advocacy of The Chicago Bar Foundation

The topic of the first session for the 2011 Public Policy Action Institute was, as always, provocative and engaging.

The two speakers, Rob Reich, co-director for Philanthropy and Civil Society at Stanford University and Evelyn Brody, professor of Law at Chicago-Kent College of Law spoke to the many challenges facing the nonprofit sector.

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