On Tuesday, May 6, the Community Foundation of Greater Huntsville hosted its 12th annual Navigate Nonprofit Network Conference. This event provides professional development and networking opportunities for the nonprofit community, including staff, board members, and volunteers.

Ann Kvach, Director of Programs for the Community Foundation of Greater Huntsville, spoke with the Huntsville Business Journal to discuss the details of the annual event.

“A lot of our work is very donor-focused, but we know that our donors are supporting the nonprofits in the community,” Kvach said.

“We wanted to provide this opportunity of affordable professional development to help build their capacity because then we know our donors’ dollars are being more effective and going farther when the nonprofits are able to continue doing better at what they do,” Kvach said.

Kvach also shared how the conference fits into the organization’s broader mission to support and strengthen the nonprofit sector in the region.

“Our mission is to mobilize generosity to improve the quality of life in our community,” Kvach said.

The conference featured 12 learning tracks, with sessions led by speakers from other nonprofits, professional organizations, and local businesses.

The tracks at this year’s conference were:

Track 1: Board Governance – Presented by Huntsville Committee of 100
Track 2: CEO & Impact Leadership – Presented by Transcend, The Fearless Company
Track 3: Collaboration – Presented by United Way of Madison County
Track 4: Fundraising – Presented by Association of Fundraising Professionals North Alabama Chapter
Track 5: Grantwriting – Presented by the Community Foundation of Greater Huntsville
Track 6: Integrated Impact – Presented by The ELM Foundation
Track 7: Leadership – Presented by Leadership Greater Huntsville
Track 8: Nonprofit 101 – Presented by The Catalyst Center for Business & Entrepreneurship
Track 9: Nonprofit Finance – Presented by Brand Blackwell & Company, P.C.
Track 10: Personal & Professional Development – Presented by Momentum Leaders
Track 11: Public Relations – Presented by PRCA North Alabama
Track 12: Small Nonprofits – Presented by Free 2 Teach

The event’s keynote speaker was Huntsville’s new Chief Innovation Officer, Larry Lowe. Lowe officially began his new role on May 1.

Kvach spoke about Lowe’s keynote speech and described his talk as encouraging attendees to see artificial intelligence as a force for good.

“The idea behind it is that it can help amplify the work that you do as a nonprofit. It’s not competing for our nonprofit jobs, but it’s helping to assist and amplify,” Kvach said.

This year, the conference continued to expand its reach with 651 individuals who signed up to attend. It also drew nonprofit leaders from across North Alabama and beyond.

“While we service the surrounding five-county area, we love being able to provide this opportunity for a larger audience,” Kvach said.

With over 20 different learning sessions in one day, the conference was full of practical information for attendees to take back and use in their daily nonprofit work. Each session was about an hour long and featured a wide range of topics and speakers.

With so many sessions, how does the Community Foundation choose what topics to feature?

After the conference is over, Kvach and her team collect feedback from attendees about which sessions were effective and what other topics they might want covered.

“We have some longstanding track sponsors and partners, and we work with them to help come up with ideas for the sessions that they think would be informative,” Kvach said.

In addition to this conference, the Community Foundation has several other upcoming events in the Huntsville area.