Explore Upswell Chicago
Welcome to Chicago! Get warmed up for a great Upswell with our pre-conference event. Atlas Corps and Scott Beale, founder and CEO, invite to a meetup to meet some of our Chicago friends, Host Organizations, and Fellows. If you know Atlas Corps, join us for this reunion! If you are new to Atlas Corps, we look forward to meeting you! In short, Atlas Corps is a12-month professional fellowship in the United States for global professionals. We have supported over 750 Fellows from 97 countries serving at more than 250 organization (like American Express, American Red Cross, CreatingITFutures, Heartland Alliance, Microsoft, …
The Power of Building Supportive Communities for Young Children and Families
Across the country, there is a growing movement of diverse leaders and advocates who are charting the course for how to build inclusive, equitable communities that support young children and families. These change makers are collaborating across programmatic silos and working across sectors to create a strong system of support for young children and families, strong enough to transform lives. We will share and celebrate stories of success, talk about what makes for compelling storytelling that can amplify the impact of community-generated change, and inspire others to undertake similar efforts. Presented by Ounce of Prevention
How must we change the social sector to tackle tomorrow’s challenges? Much has been said about the shortcomings of philanthropy and social innovation, but what steps can we take to improve how we work for social change? This session will move beyond the hand wringing and criticism, toward building and action. Hosted by IDEO’s open innovation practice — OpenIDEO — this hands-on, collaborative, solutions-oriented workshop will harness the room’s creativity and expertise to prototype cross-sector solutions. The workshop will begin with a panel of sector leaders from GHR Foundation, Obama Foundation, the Chicago Community Trust and Chicago Beyond. Then we’ll …
Designing and Building Inclusive Entrepreneurial Ecosystems
Workshop
Big Ideas
Issues surrounding capacity building, inclusion, and diversity are challenging policymakers seeking to cultivate entrepreneurial ecosystems to rebuild postindustrial economies. Best practices gleaned from experiences in Detroit, Pontiac, and Fort Wayne can help. They include redefining the traditional label of “entrepreneur” to explicitly include and welcome marginalized and non-conforming identities pertaining to gender, race, location, or kind of work; negotiating changing funding landscapes, and mapping and building community assets to help diverse entrepreneurs thrive. Presented by Wayne State University
Strong communities don’t just happen. They are built and strengthened by people (Weavers) with time, skill and love. David Brooks of Weave: The Social Fabric Project and the New York Times will be in conversation with Deepti Doshi of Facebook around what motivates people to become Weavers and how they learn these weaving skills.
A Decade of Lessons Learned Serving Nonprofits as a Social Venture
Spotlight Stage
Big Ideas
Jitasa founder, Jeff Russell, will share his (sometimes painful) leadership and organizational lessons learned, which should be applicable for every Executive Director who has tried to do something new, groundbreaking or creative at their nonprofit. Jeff will share about their journey and all of the lessons learned over the past decade as Jitasa has become the largest B-Corp in the nation serving nonprofits with bookkeeping and accounting services. Presented by Jitasa
Almost everything we do in changework is predicated on the ability to talk about what we believe and why it matters. And how we talk about democracy has become as charged as the complex issues at the heart of it. This is the basis of a new project aimed at understanding what our language means to everyday Americans. Join Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement (PACE) for an immersive discussion about this project and what the findings mean for your work. Presented by Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement (PACE) More about this workshop: Understanding the Language of Democracy
Rekindling and Reconnecting through a Year of Service
Spark Talk
Big Ideas
Service to country isn’t a new idea, but with societal divides overshadowing the values that unite us, and trust at an historic low – the urgency for it has never been higher. Service Years is encouraging more of us to commit to a year of service to reconnect and rekindle a sense of shared responsibility and purpose, to empower communities by connecting people of different backgrounds to solve public problems together, and to inspire the next generation of young Americans to become the leaders our nation needs. Presented by Service Year Alliance
Propelling Financial Dreams for Low-income Families
Spark Talk
Big Ideas
Poverty in America is a problem, and we have failed to create viable solutions. Our current welfare system uses punitive measures that discourage families from seeking higher wages or more employment. Additionally, while welfare programs might cover a portion of food and housing costs, families have other basic needs like children’s school expenses and putting gas in their car to get to work. The Magnolia Mother’s Trust is a guaranteed income pilot supporting low-income African American mothers in Jackson, Mississippi disrupt this system by providing $1,000 of monthly unrestricted, no-strings-attached cash for 12 months to 20 different mothers. Don’t miss …
The Donor Base You Can’t Afford to Ignore
Spotlight Stage
Big Ideas
Grassroots donors are not just a feel-good idea or an unattainable myth: They are fueling real change across all advocacy issues and making it possible for nonprofits to create inclusive, flexible, and sustainable fundraising programs! Come see data that demonstrates how small-dollar donors are building momentum for the causes they love and learn about the latest grassroots fundraising trends in this spotlight talk from ActBlue, the home of small-dollar donors. Hosted by ActBlue