Blueprint for Success - March 2015 - The Nonprofit Centers Network

Building Opportunities 2015 Conference

Vancouver, BC Canada | June 1-3 2015

We can’t wait to see you in Vancouver for Building Opportunities, co-presented with the Social Purpose Real Estate collaborative. The conference will offer 40 technical workshops, case studies and panels on topics that you’ve asked for: evaluation, business modeling, advanced tenant selection, and our popular “mistakes to avoid.” Plus, hear the new State of the Sector data on what’s happening in shared space and services across North America. Check the website for details on speakers, site visits, Boot Camps and networking events. Take advantage of member savings and register now before April 23rd!

If you are an American citizen and you need to obtain a passport, please visit the US Department of State website.

Staff Transitions

NCN has decided to consolidate its operations in Denver. Denver boasts a thriving local shared spaces ecosystem and key collaborative partners including Denver Shared Spaces. We have loved living in The Alliance Center and working with Denver’s wider community of like-minded practitioners.

As part of this consolidation, we are also pleased to announce that Lara Jakubowski, Director of National Programs, will assume leadership of NCN and will continue to work in Denver alongside Katie Edwards in pursuit of NCN’s mission.

Our current director, Sarah Eisinger, will leave NCN in June to pursue her career in her new home state of Massachusetts. Sarah successfully led NCN through the transition from an affiliation with Tides over to Third Sector New England, and has laid the groundwork for our work in Denver. She assures us she will stay connected to the NCN family. To that end, she is co-authoring a new book on shared space, along with NCN co-founder, China Brotsky, under the direction of Professor Diane Kaplan Vinokur of the University of Michigan.

Sarah, Lara, and Katie look forward to seeing our members in Vancouver and to sharing updates on NCN’s plans for next year.

NCN also welcomes four new members to our new Steering Committee:

Vicki Jay, Midland Shared Spaces; Midland, TX
Jennifer Pedroni, North Penn Community Health Foundation; Colmar, PA
Doug Vilsack, Posner Center for International Development; Denver, CO
Rima Zabian, 25OneCommunity; Ottawa, ON

These four practitioners have already added deep and practical expertise and we appreciate their service. We also want to thank our many members who’ve expressed interest in joining our committee. Over the coming months, we’ll be reinvigorating a committee structure and we’ll have lots of opportunities for you to join us to support our work. Stay tuned for details.

Welcome to Karen Hart, Fulbright Scholar

This summer, NCN will welcome Fulbright Scholar Karen Hart to our Denver office. A trained child protection and youth justice social worker, Karen now serves as General Manager of the largest fully independent co-located nonprofit youth center in Melbourne, Australia. Karen’s summer research will explore the success factors of co-located youth centers in North America and inform third sector business productivity in Australia. Karen will visit several nonprofit centers in the Network so if you are interested in participating in this research please contact her directly at karen@nonprofitcenters.org. Karen will also be at the Building Opportunities conference so you can find her in Vancouver. Learn more about Karen and her center here.

Training in New Orleans last month

Thank you to the National Performance Network (NPN) in New Orleans for hosting our High Impact Shared Space training in February. A dozen practitioners from across North America joined NCN for a day of in-depth group work, discussion and networking. National Performance Network is a national organization supporting artists in the creation and touring of contemporary performing and visual arts. Begun in 1985, NPN was founded to address the issues of artistic isolation and the economic constraints of moving art around the country and the sharing of artistic and community voices. We love working with our NCN members and Denver Shared Spaces trainer Megan Devenport to bring high-quality training to you. Check out photos on our Facebook page.

Help us meet our challenge grant!

The Lodestar Foundation has made a three-year investment in NCN through a challenge grant that we are working hard to match. We are almost there! If your organization would like to help us meet this challenge at the $5,000 or above level, please contact Sarah Eisinger at sarah@nonprofitcenters.org.