Program Description:
As nonprofit organizations, we rely on the generosity of our community to keep programs running. Even with the best fundraising strategies and plans in place, we cannot always predict how our community will respond. That unpredictability can leave many fundraisers and leaders feeling stretched and stressed. With the rapid rise of for-profit social enterprises and conscious consumerism, there are more opportunities for nonprofits to think creatively and strategically to meet their revenue goals.
Join WSPN to learn about social enterprises, creative partnerships, and earned income ventures that can help you determine what strategy might work best for your organization. During this panel, peers will share their experiences launching, leading and guiding these strategies, including:
- Assessing what your agency has the capacity to do
- Exploring opportunities
- Determining which stakeholders should be included
And much more!
About Our Presenters:
Brady Gott, Managing Director of Cleanslate
Brady is the Managing Director of Cara Collective’s flagship social enterprise, Cleanslate. Cleanslate creates over 400 jobs annually for Chicagoans affected by homelessness and poverty. Since 2007, Brady has overseen the financial health of the business, growth strategies, and providing meaningful employment for Cleanslate workers. Brady directed Cleanslate’s expansion to more than 50 communities including outposts in suburban Chicago and NW Indiana. Brady earned a BA in Urban Ministry from Moody Bible Institute, MBA at the University of Notre Dame Mendoza College of Business, and was a University of Chicago Civic Leadership Academy Fellow. #@#_WA_-_CURSOR_-_POINT_#@#
Sarah-Jayne Ashenhurst, New Moms
Sarah-Jayne proudly serves as the Social Enterprise Director at Bright Endeavors, a social enterprise of New Moms, providing strategic leadership and business management to a growing workforce development social enterprise and home fragrance brand. Informed by a background in the arts and a deep commitment to racial, social, and economic justice, Sarah-Jayne is a community weaver focused on building an economy that works for workers and puts people and planet over profit. Her professional mission is to advocate for and contribute to the proliferation of unconventional business structures like social enterprises and worker-owned cooperatives as a mode of fundamentally transforming structural power dynamics and creating a just and sustainable economy.
With nearly 15 years of experience in small business leadership, Sarah-Jayne brings expertise in developing sustainable growth strategies with a commitment to ethical, equitable, and inclusive business practices. Outside of work, she spends her time organizing with neighbors in service of social transformation, participating in mutual aid projects rooted in community care, and decorating the Northwest Side Chicago bungalow she shares with her husband, child, and three senior cats.
Sarah-Jayne holds a Bachelor’s degree from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, an MBA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a Certificate in Cooperative Management from Co-Op Cincy and Xavier University.
Meredith Kober, Director of Programs of NAMI DuPage
Meredith Kober is the Director of Programs for NAMI DuPage. She is a Licensed Social Worker and has worked in the non-profit sector for over 30 years, with experience in the areas of community services, developmentally disabled, child welfare, foster care and adoption, supportive housing, Family Self-Sufficiency programming, workforce development and mental health services.
Meredith has experience in direct client service, program development, program management, grant writing, fundraising, and has worn lots of other hats in her non-profit roles.
In her role at NAMI DuPage, Meredith oversees all the programs and services, serves as a community liaison, and assists with fundraising, events, and grant-writing activities.
Meredith is passionate about providing top quality peer-led services to clients and their families. She and the team at NAMI DuPage stand at the ready to meet individuals and families where they are at, to provide resources, education, support, and most of all hope that they are not alone in their journey with a mental health disorder.
8:30 - 8:45 a.m. - Networking and Introductions
8:45 – 10:00 a.m. Program and Q&A Session
