Kelly Kleiman
Principal, NFP Consulting
Founder, Association of Consultants to Nonprofits

I was inspired by the ability of a pair of nonprofits to adapt to the pandemic. Seguin, where I was interim major gifts officer, figured out how to continue to care for people with disabilities in small-group homes without spreading COVID, though two heroic caregivers succumbed.

Care for Real, where I was interim Executive Director, figured out how to keep feeding people—and more people than ever, in multiple locations—throughout the pandemic, making sure at least one basic need was met consistently.

Nonprofits: we get the job done!

John Pfeiffer
Partner, Open Door Advisors

I have been deeply inspired by the vision and tenacity of Open Door Advisors' partner, North Lawndale Employment Network (NLEN). In 2019, we began working with a team headed by CEO Brenda Palms Barber to develop and raise capital for business plans that will enable the organization and its social ventures to reach new levels of impact, reducing unemployment and reincarceration on Chicago's West Side. In 2020, NLEN launched a $10 million capital campaign to develop a new campus at 1111 S. Homan Ave. that will open in June 2021, bringing together all of NLEN's innovative workforce development, financial capability and technology programs. With passion and determination, NLEN persisted through the pandemic and recession, raising more than $10.4 million to date to reduce the racial wealth gap and create economic mobility for community residents.

Amy Wishnick
Principal, Wishnick & Associates, LLC

This past year has indeed been challenging. My inspiration came from my clients, which is not so different from other years. This year though, they delivered on their missions with breathtaking creativity and adaptive capacity.

In two engagements, we worked together to design a strategic plan that built on the nonprofit's strengths and leveraged new found capacity. In each organization, sophisticated, devoted leadership (staff and volunteer) envisioned a compelling future state for those they serve and their organization.

Jessica Catlin
President & CEO, Pivot Solutions
Annual Meeting Bronze Sponsor

I'm a longtime mental health patient and recent cancer survivor, so my priorities were already starting to shift before the year of COVID. To see the most of the world come to a halt at the start of the pandemic, embrace its humanity, and elevate what's truly important continues to be inspiring. From philanthropists making transformative investments, to companies reimagining work culture, to laid off individuals like me launching new consultancies (fundraising for nonprofits who had to lay off fundraisers), I believe this realignment of our attention is a silver lining of an otherwise very scary year.

Brian Banks
Director, BAC Partners

"In a blog post Tuesday announcing over $4.2 billion in donations to organizations across the country, writer and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott referenced the work of a 19-year-old Chicagoan as an example of how neighbors are looking out for each other amid the coronavirus pandemic.

That woman was Alycia Kamil, a now 20-year-old activist, poet and educator who organized a program over the summer to fund and deliver groceries to Chicagoans in need.

"In March, a 19-year-old girl in Chicago sent a group text to her friends suggesting they buy supplies for people in their neighborhood who had lost their jobs," Scott, the former wife of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and the third wealthiest woman in the world, wrote in her Medium post. "She posted two Google forms — one for people who needed help and another for people with help to give — and by two days later they’d raised $7,000."

MacKenzie Scott:Donates $4.2B to organizations helping under-resourced, marginalized groups"

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/12/17/mackenzie-scott-donation-chicago-teen-alycia-kamil-referenced-post/3939232001/

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