Wednesday, July 15 | 3:45 PM - 5:00 PM Workshops

Please note that workshops, their dates and times are subject to be changed. 

Multiply Your Impact: Designing ROI-Driven Alumni Engagement • Amie Morgan | Leadership Winter Park

What if alumni engagement could strengthen your program, serve your alumni, and support your community without overwhelming your staff?

Community leadership program leaders care deeply about their alumni, their mission, and their community, yet often lack the staff capacity and resources to sustain meaningful alumni engagement. This workshop is designed for leaders who want alumni engagement to be a true win-win for the program, alumni, and the community without adding more to an already full plate.

In this practical session, participants will learn a new way to analyze alumni engagement through a return-on-investment (ROI) lens, considering both the value alumni receive and the measurable impact alumni provide to the organization. Attendees will explore how to evaluate current alumni offerings, identify what is worth sustaining or changing, and focus energy on strategies that deliver the greatest return.

The workshop includes an in-depth, real-world case study that walks participants through the transformation of a low-return, high-effort alumni event into a scalable, alumni-led virtual Day of Giving. This shift resulted in significantly increased alumni participation, revenue, program pride, and staff efficiency demonstrating how intentional design can unlock the true power of alumni engagement.

Participants will leave with a clearer framework for decision-making, practical ideas they can apply immediately, and renewed confidence that alumni engagement can be impactful, sustainable, and worth the investment.

About the Speakers: Amie Morgan is passionate about leading people, building community, and creating programs that help people learn, grow, connect, and belong. 

As Vice President of Programs for the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce, Amie has spent the past eight years strengthening the Leadership Winter Park program and innovating alumni engagement initiatives to not only drive a sense of belonging but also support the overall health of the program.

Prior to joining the nonprofit sector in 2018, Amie honed her strategic and analytical skills during a decade in Fortune 500 corporations, where she spent time selling, managing sales teams, and providing solution-based selling data.

A two-time graduate of the University of Florida, Amie holds a bachelor's degree in Business Marketing and an MBA. Recognized as one of Winter Park Magazine's 'People to Watch Under 40', she is committed to sharing best practices and inspiring others in the field of alumni engagement.

Delivering Programs That Actually Move the Needle • Kevin Hensel | BetterCulture

Workforce has become the defining challenge for organizations - but many leaders are still asking the same question: What does effective workforce programming actually look like?

This highly interactive session goes beyond theory to demonstrate how local programming can directly influence workforce outcomes such as leadership capability, engagement, retention, and professional readiness. Led by Kevin Hensel, former chamber executive and Senior Consultant at BetterCulture, the session uses BetterCulture's 20 Tenets of Culture as a practical anchor to show how chambers across the country are translating culture into teachable, scalable workforce programs.

Participants won't just hear about programs - they'll experience one. Through guided discussion, peer reflection, and a live simulation of a culture-based workforce program, attendees will see how local conversations can be structured to create real value for business leaders, participants, and the broader community.

Attendees will leave with practical insight, real-world examples, and a clear path from conversation to implementation - making this session ideal for chamber leaders, program directors, and partners looking to deliver measurable workforce value in their communities.

About the Speaker: Kevin Hensel is a nationally experienced speaker, leadership coach, and Senior Consultant with BetterCulture, working with organizations ranging from entrepreneurial startups to Fortune 500 companies. 

He is deeply committed to the belief that people are an organization's greatest asset and has spent his career helping for-profit and nonprofit organizations improve performance through leadership development, culture-based training, and strategic coaching initiatives.

Kevin brings direct, hands-on experience to the leadership program community as a former Board Member and President and CEO of the Bellevue (NE) Chamber of Commerce. Having both led a chamber and implemented workforce-focused programming firsthand, Kevin offers a practical, realistic roadmap for chambers and community-based leadership programs seeking to create measurable impact in their local business communities.

He is a certified John Maxwell coach, speaker, and trainer, holds a master's degree in organizational leadership, and is a member of SHRM and HRAM. Kevin also served as an adjunct faculty member at Nebraska Wesleyan University, teaching leadership and communications to adult learners.

Outside of work, Kevin and his wife, Laurie, enjoy time with their two kids and their families, two grandchildren, and their Cairn Terrier, Archie.

The Party's Quest: Leveraging TTRPG Simulations to Navigate Systemic Leadership and Team Dynamics • Susan Sims | Blue Pen Rose | Leadership Fairfax Programs Director

In this highly interactive 90-minute workshop, participants step out of their traditional professional roles and into a rules-light Tabletop Role-Playing Game (TTRPG) simulation. Through an ethos of co-creation and resourcefulness, learners navigate a fantasy-themed community crisis where every decision carries systemic weight. By adopting the aesthetic distance of a character proxy, participants can experiment with high-stakes behaviors in a zero-risk environment.

The goal is for every attendee whether they lead a Chamber of Commerce or a University department to walk away with a new toolkit for engagement. By showing how a simple dice roll and a narrative "proxy" can reveal deep truths about team dynamics, this workshop will empower facilitators to bring more creativity and nuance back to their own organizations.

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Analyze Team Dynamics: Use TTRPG to reflect on and explore the Tuckman Model (Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing) in real time within a collaborative group setting.
• Experiment with Leadership Styles: Utilize specific, pre-defined leadership archetypes to solve non-linear problems, identifying how different styles impact team morale and efficiency.
• Think Systemically: Map game mechanics to real-world stakeholder management and organizational integrity. 
• Apply Proxy-Based Learning: Discuss how to implement low-fidelity simulations and role-play "proxies" within their own leadership development programs to lower learner defensiveness.

About the Speaker: Susan Sims is a multidisciplinary Leadership Practitioner and Curriculum Developer who bridges the gap between creative narrative and institutional accountability. She is a Certified Community Leadership Practitioner, a graduate of the Center for Inspired Teaching, the Points of Light civic leadership program, and Wizards of the Coast's Dungeon Master University, who brings a unique approach to adult learning.

With an MFA in Creative Writing and a background as a published author of over 20 branching-narrative titles, Susan specializes in simulations where participant choices trigger complex, non-linear outcomes. Her experience in non-profit management and compliance has provided the opportunity to successfully navigate board governance, multi-sector logistics, and the rigorous regulatory requirements of non-profit systems. This foundation in structural leadership allows allows Susan to bridge the technical with the creative, the simulation with real-world scenarios.

Recognized for her high-impact facilitation of Friday Night at the ER and Open Space Technology, Susan fosters equitable engagement and creative ways to support systemic health. Whether partnering with businesses or non-profits, her mission is to empower facilitators to use creative proxies to solve adaptive leadership challenges.

Cultivating Youth Leaders Through Multi-Year Pathways • Mallory Riesberg | Lead DSM

The Youth Leadership Initiative (YLI) at Lead DSM brings an authentic youth-centered approach to leadership development, treating young people not as future leaders, but as current contributors to their communities. Through YLI, leadership programming extends beyond participation and toward shared ownership, intentionally inviting students to shape experiences, lead peers, and influence decision-making at multiple levels. 

This session highlights YLI’s multi-year leadership pathway that moves students from program participants to peer mentors and ultimately into student representative roles with real organizational power. YLI graduates return as peer mentors, supporting sessions, experience days, and planning teams while continuing to practice and deepen their leadership skills. Peer mentors who return for an additional year step into student representative roles, mentoring the peer mentors, helping shape program design, and serving as voting members of the Lead DSM Board, ensuring youth voice directly informs programming, governance, and decision making. 

Participants in this workshop will examine how multi-year engagement strengthens leadership identity, sustains community relationships, and embeds youth leadership into program culture. Attendees will leave with insights and practical strategies for designing adaptable multi-year pathways that elevate youth voice, deepen civic engagement, and create more innovative, youth-driven leadership programs across various organizational contexts.

About the Speaker: Mallory Riesberg (she/her) serves as the Learning and Programs Director at LeadDSM, where she leads the design, delivery, and growth of leadership development programming for emerging and established community leaders. Known for her collaborative approach and passion for empowering others, Mallory oversees curriculum development, participant experience, and partnerships that strengthen leadership capacity across the Greater Des Moines community. She is committed to creating learning environments that are inclusive, engaging, and deeply impactful.

The Mirror Effect: How Self-Accountability Shapes Stronger, More Resilient Leaders • Porscha Jackson, PhD | PJ & Co | Leadership Houston Alumni

In an era of rapid change, heightened workplace tension, and evolving leadership demands, leaders can no longer afford to overlook the impact of how they show up. This interactive session draws from Dr. Porscha Jackson’s (Dr. PJ’s) book It’s Me, Not You: How I Survived Toxic Work Environments to reframe leadership development around self-accountability, emotional intelligence, and reflective practice.

Participants will engage in a guided self-assessment, group activities, and hands-on exercises designed to strengthen self-leadership, build resilience and adaptability, and cultivate emotionally intelligent leadership behaviors. Through a blend of lecture, experiential learning, and peer reflection, attendees will gain practical tools to immediately apply in their organizations, teams, and communities.

About the Speaker: Dr. Porscha Jackson (Dr. PJ) is a dynamic speaker and award-winning advocate with over a decade of expertise in career development, workplace culture, and business success. An architect of transformation, Dr. PJ bridges the worlds of corporate, nonprofit, government, and entrepreneurship by designing strategies that help people and organizations detox from toxic patterns, embrace purpose-driven leadership, and build legacies that last. She has earned honors including the 2024 Luna Awards Woman of the Year A/E/C, Houston Business Journal's Outstanding Diversity Champion, and the 2023 Government Advocate of the Year for Minorities in Construction. She is the founder of PJ & Co., a personal development consultancy, and Successful Shoes, a nonprofit supporting women in transition. A published author, her works include It's Me, Not You and Pursuing Legacy, along with academic contributions on career identity.  Whether on stage or in the boardroom, Dr. PJ informs, inspires, and ignites action.

Bridging the Boardroom: Activating Your Board as a Connector Between Program, Mission, and Community • Bindiya Patel & Paola Maranan | Leadership Tomorrow C. Marie Taylor | Association of Leadership Programs

Community Leadership Programs are operating in one of the most demanding governance moments in a generation. Funding is harder to forecast. Demand keeps rising. Staff are stretched. And boards — often meeting just 12 to 18 hours a year — are being asked to do more than oversight. They're being asked to steward organizational health, sharpen decision rights when conditions get fuzzy, and act as a credible bridge between the program and the community it exists to serve.

This 75-minute interactive workshop is built for executive directors, program directors, and senior staff who want their board to do more than approve minutes. Building on the foundation laid in the 2025 "Beyond Governance" session, we'll go a layer deeper — moving from engagement to connection. Through case studies from urban, statewide, and small-budget CLPs, guided peer exchange, and scenario-based exercises, participants will work through three bridges every CLP board has to build and maintain: the bridge between governance and program impact, the bridge between board composition and community authorization, and the bridge between fiduciary stewardship and generative leadership in moments of uncertainty.

Participants will leave with a practical Board Bridge-Building Framework, a one-page decision-rights tool to clarify who decides what (and when), and a self-assessment they can take directly into their next board retreat. Whether you're a one-person shop with a working board or a larger CLP navigating leadership transition, you'll leave with concrete next steps to turn your board into a true catalyst for program success and community impact — not a body that simply meets four times a year.

You'll leave with:

• A three-bridge framework for diagnosing where your board is strong and where connection is breaking down
• A decision-rights tool to reduce friction between board, ED, and staff when conditions shift
• An equity-centered approach to board recruitment and onboarding that authorizes the work in community
• Peer connections with CLP leaders facing similar governance pressures

About the Speaker: Bindiya Patel serves as Executive Director of Leadership Tomorrow in Seattle. She brings over two decades of leadership experience at equity-focused nonprofits, where she has worked toward her lifelong mission to support women and people of color in leading healthy lives and developing their leadership skills. Bindiya spent 19 years at PATH, a global health nonprofit, most recently overseeing strategy and operations as Managing Director of PATH's largest division, where she designed and implemented an innovative approach to center equity across all programming. Earlier in her career, she led advocacy coalitions for new HIV prevention options for women, managed U.S. government-funded TB projects in Tanzania, and led organizational change across technical and country programs. Bindiya also serves part-time as co-director and faculty for Seattle's Global Leadership Forum and teaches at the University of Washington's Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies. She holds a bachelor's degree in environmental engineering from Cornell University and a master's in public affairs from Princeton.

About the Speaker: Paola Maranan (LT Impact '97) is Program Manager for LT Impact, Leadership Tomorrow's flagship 10-month program. Prior to joining LT, she operated her own firm, ArcBend Consulting, and consulted with Imago — work focused on helping organizations strengthen and operationalize their commitment to racial equity, from mission alignment to barrier analysis to action planning. As Executive Director of Children's Alliance, Paola helped build a racial-equity-focused public policy practice that secured health care coverage for every child in Washington, historic investments in early learning, and food security for hungry kids and families. Her work integrated racial equity into every facet of the organization — staff development, board governance, and operations — and earned her the 2019 Florette Angel Award from The Partnership for America's Children. Paola has served on numerous local and national boards and coalitions, including Voices for America's Children Member Leadership Council (Vice-Chair) and the KIDS COUNT National Steering Committee.

About the Speaker: C. Marie Taylor, MBA is Executive Director of the Association of Leadership Programs (ALP), the national network of nearly 300 Community Leadership Programs and 800+ professionals across 47 states, Canada, and Germany. In her ALP role, Marie has a unique vantage point on the governance pressures, breakthroughs, and patterns playing out across CLPs of every size and budget. Prior to ALP, Marie founded Equity Through Action, a consultancy supporting nonprofit leaders and boards on equity-centered strategy and governance. She is a sought-after facilitator on board development, leadership transitions, and equity-driven organizational change.