Back by Popular Demand: The Annual WSPN Funders Panel
This engaging session brings together funders from across the region to share candid perspectives on how they set priorities, evaluate partnerships, and view philanthropy’s role in strengthening communities. Attendees will gain practical insights that can sharpen fundraising strategies, strengthen relationships, and enhance organizational impact.
Learning objectives include:
- Insights into funding priorities: Learn how funders are shaping their giving strategies in response to evolving community needs and economic realities.
- Relationship-building best practices: Understand how grantmakers prefer to connect with nonprofits and what fosters trust and long-term partnership.
- Proposal trends and expectations: Hear directly from funders about what they value most in applications.
- Stewardship and communication: Discover how funders define effective reporting, follow-up, and impact storytelling.
Whether you are a development professional, executive leader, or board member, this panel will equip you with practical insights and strategies to deepen funder partnerships and advance your organization’s mission.
Panelist:
Megan Lynch – Executive Vice President, Advancement, Loaves & Fishes Community Services
Megan Lynch is a social impact leader with experience across the nonprofit, private, and public sectors. She serves as the Executive Vice President of Advancement for Loaves & Fishes Community Services, the largest food pantry in Illinois, serving more than 10,000 people each week across DuPage, Kane, Kendall, and Will Counties. In this role, she collaborates with partners to advance food security and ensure neighbors can access the healthy food and resources necessary to thrive.
Prior to joining Loaves & Fishes, Megan managed the Charitable Fund for Duly Health and Care, where she led initiatives in social impact, grantmaking, and volunteerism, with a particular focus on food insecurity, housing, and community health. She previously served as Director of Corporate Relations for North Central College in Naperville and earlier managed corporate partnerships for two global policy think tanks — The Chicago Council on Global Affairs and the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City.
Megan has served on multiple nonprofit boards and advisory committees, including previously with Social Responsibility Chicago, Loaves & Fishes Community Services, Impact DuPage, the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce (NACC), the Next Generation Initiative of DuPage Foundation, and the Young Leaders Fund of the Chicago Community Trust. She received the 2023 Grantmaker of the Year Award from the West Suburban Philanthropic Network and was selected as a 2021 NACC 4 Under 40 Award winner. Megan earned her MA in Politics from New York University, is a Certified Fund-Raising Executive (CFRE).
Julia Callahan – Program Officer, Ronald L. McDaniel Foundation
Julia Callahan is a passionate advocate for children’s well-being, currently serving as Program Officer at the Ronald L. McDaniel Foundation, a family foundation dedicated to helping children reach their fullest potential. In this role, she manages a portfolio of grantees in Chicagoland, Arizona, and South Carolina, with a focus on children’s basic needs, whole-child health, and educational enrichment. She also leads initiatives to strengthen nonprofit capacity and works closely with the foundation’s board to advance impactful philanthropy.
With more than a decade of experience in the philanthropic sector, Julia brings expertise in nonprofit development, grantmaking, and grantee relations. Her career has spanned family foundations and nonprofit organizations in both Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area.
Julia also serves on the Associate Board of New Moms and holds a B.S. in Non-Profit Management & Business from Indiana University Bloomington. Outside of work, she enjoys exploring new hiking trails and discovering the best local bakeries with her husband and young daughter.
Julie Christman, President & CEO, Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley
Julie is the President and CEO of the Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley. She began this role in January of 2020. She has been with the Foundation for ten years, and her prior roles included Vice President of Community Involvement and Partnerships and Director of Community Involvement and Partnerships. She received her master’s degree in social work from Washington University in St. Louis and her undergraduate degree from Saint Louis University. Prior to joining the foundation, she was an Adjunct Professor at Aurora University and the Foundation and Corporate Relations Manager for the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (IMSA). She has thirty years of community engagement and donor relations experience. She is involved with many community organizations and, in 2019, received a Woman of Power award from the Quad County Urban League. She has served on Forefront’s Board of Directors since the summer of 2024. She is also a member of the Alliance for Illinois Community Foundations, the Council on Foundations, and the Fox Valley Estate Planning Association.
Lisa Weier - President of the FT Cares Foundation and Vice President of Philanthropy for First Trust Portfolios L.P.
Lisa is the President of the FT Cares Foundation and Vice President of Philanthropy for First Trust Portfolios L.P. In these roles, she develops and manages FT Cares' strategic initiatives, oversees all aspects of its grantmaking and volunteering, and initiates and maintains corporate philanthropic partnerships for First Trust.
Prior to joining FT Cares, Lisa practiced securities and investment company law with Chapman and Cutler LLP and served as Assistant General Counsel for First Trust. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for CASA Kane County, where she chairs the Children’s Ambassador Panel, and is President of Random Acts Matter, an organization dedicated to spreading kindness and compassion. Most recently, Lisa was nominated to the St. Charles Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.
Lisa received the 2024 Grantmaker of the Year Award from the West Suburban Philanthropic Network. And while she most proudly holds the title of mother to her two college-age sons, Lisa also holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Illinois and a JD from Chicago-Kent College of Law.
Registration is open until October 14, 2025
PENDING APPROVAL for CFRE Credit - Full participation in this session may be applicable for 1.25 points in Category 1.B -Education of the CFRE International application for initial certification and/or recertification.
