A coalition for nonprofit leadership • Est. 2026

Elevating social impact leadership on the North Shore.

A peer-learning community for social impact professionals across the nonprofit, philanthropic, and civic sectors.

What We Do

We convene nonprofit leaders across the North Shore to foster collaboration, share ideas and best practices, and deliver high quality professional development and training.

The Impact Network brings together social impact professionals from across the nonprofit, philanthropic, and civic sectors — people who are often solving the same problems in isolation. Our workshops create the room where those conversations happen.

Each session pairs subject-matter expertise with peer dialogue, so leaders leave with practical tools and a stronger network of colleagues to call on afterward.

About the Network →

The 2026 Curriculum

Upcoming Workshops

September 22, 2026

Fundraising & Development: Building a Balanced Funding Portfolio

A forward-looking discussion on diversified revenue strategy, major gifts, donor-advised funds, development and staffing infrastructure, and multi-year fundraising roadmaps grounded in recent giving trends. This session focuses on aligning development investment with long-term financial sustainability and organizational growth.

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November 19, 2026

Banking & Finance Best Practices for Nonprofit Leaders

A governance-informed overview of financial leadership, including board oversight, risk management, banking strategy, and executive financial accountability. Designed to strengthen partnership between staff leadership and board officers.

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Past Workshop Insights

April 23, 2026Mariana Dalto, Dalto AI Advisory

Artificial Intelligence: Next Practices for Nonprofits

  • A practical, values-driven approach to integrating AI into core nonprofit operations.
  • Application, governance, risk considerations, and leadership oversight.
  • Moving organizations from experimentation to intentional, mission-aligned adoption.
June 2, 2026NextGroup Panel

HR Strategy: Next Practices in Staffing & Capacity Models

  • Evolving workforce models: outsourcing, fractional leadership, and staffing structure decisions.
  • Board alignment around new staffing and capacity models.
  • Building sustainable capacity in a changing labor and funding environment.

Convened By

Aries Consulting
Founder
First Bank Chicago
Presenting Sponsor
NextGroup
Strategic Partner

Led By

The partners behind the network.

Anna Assenmacher

Anna Assenmacher

Aries Consulting

Courtney Olson

Courtney Olson

First Bank Chicago

Candance Chow

Candance Chow

NextGroup