Progress through Advocacy: From Issues to Action

Progress through Advocacy: From Issues to Action
Monday, June 3 | 1:00 PM-4:00 PM | Urban Affairs Coalition, 1650 Arch Street, 21st Floor Conference Room, Philadelphia, PA 19103

Offered in Partnership by: Department of Public Administration at Villanova University (Villanova) | Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations (PANO) | Urban Affairs Coalition (UAC)

Facilitators: Arun Prabhakaran, President, Urban Affairs Coalition | Anne Gingerich, Executive Director, PANO

Sponsored by: Humanitarian Social Innovations (HSI) | My Benefit Advisor (MBA) | Schooley Mitchell | Temple University-Harrisburg | Your Part-Time Controller (YPTC)

In an ever-evolving social landscape, nonprofit advocacy stands as a beacon of change, a vital force for fostering progress and shaping policies – inequitable policies that are the reason many nonprofits exist in the first place. And yet this important tool for driving our missions forward is often overlooked, misunderstood, and even avoided.

If you’re ready to ignite progress through advocacy, this half-day program is for you! The purpose of this gathering is two-fold:

• To bring people together who share similar responsibilities in their day-to-day work, because we all need “our people” when we face challenges. Come find yours at this gathering!
• To demystify the “how” of advocacy and get clear on the why so that we can move our efforts from issues to action

Join PANO, Villanova, and the Urban Affairs Coalition for this insightful session starting with community insights gathered from the Urban Affairs Coalition 2023 Listening Session Report and Public Sentiment Survey and ending with an Advocacy 101 Workshop.

Arun Prabhakaran, President of the Urban Affairs Coalition, will dive into the results of their 2023 Listening Sessions and Public Sentiment Survey, offering a profound glimpse into the sentiments of Philadelphians regarding the city’s most critical issues and proposed policy solutions. Then, as a group, we will prioritize those results and create a focused policy agenda together. Following this, Anne Gingerich, Executive Director of PANO, will provide a comprehensive exploration of the ins and outs of doing advocacy, uncovering the practical tools needed to amplify impact. Specifically, we’ll use the issues identified from the 2023 Listening Sessions as our examples on how to come together as a community to advocate and make progress in Philadelphia, learning not only from Arun and Anne but from each other.

So if part of your job – whether it’s written into your official job description or not! – includes advocacy, invest in yourself and your mission and join us! When you register, you’ll have the opportunity to inform content by letting us know what you need most in the advocacy space.

What can we accomplish for our communities when we find and use our voice? Let’s find out!

Agenda:

1:00 PM – 1:20 PM | Registration & Networking
1:20 PM – 1:30 PM | Welcome
1:30 PM – 1:45 PM | Community Insights: Recap of 2023 Listening Session Report & Results of Public Sentiment Survey
1:45 PM – 2:15 PM | Prioritizing Our Focus: Breakout Discussions & Reporting Back
2:15 PM – 2:30 PM | Networking Break
2:30 PM – 3:55 PM | Advocacy 101 Workshop
3:55 PM – 4:00 PM | Closing & Adjourn

Cost:

$15 PANO Members | $30 Not Yet Members

By signing up for this event, you authorize PANO to use any photos, videos, or recordings from this event in which you may appear. If you would like to request that PANO not use your image, likeness, and/or voice in publications and communications following this event, please reach out to Christina Spadaro | Christina@pano.org.

Location & Other Logistics:

Urban Affairs Coalition
1650 Arch Street, 21st Floor Conference Room
Philadelphia, PA 19103

While we designed this event so that most can travel to the event in the morning, we also understand that some may want to spend the night before or after. Please let us know when you register if you plan to stay one of these nights so we can book a room block at a local hotel.

Light refreshments – including coffee and tea for those who want (or need!) a little afternoon pick-me-up – will be available upon your arrival at the event.

And finally, this event is in-person only – with intention.  We have heard from those coming to post-pandemic events the importance of personal connections made over coffee or meals.  If you are not able to attend this convening, we hope you will be able to attend others coming up.

About the Facilitators:

Arun Prabhakaran, Urban Affairs Coalition

As President of the Urban Affairs Coalition, Arun oversees all of the $46M organization’s operations.

Most recently, he entered the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office (DAO) to serve as Chief of Staff to Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner in January 2018, following an historic election in 2017 that saw record-high turnout for Philadelphia District Attorney. Arun planned and directed the administrative, financial, and operational activities for the DAO, the fifth largest prosecution office in the U.S., serving 1.5M citizens of the City and County of Philadelphia with an annual budget of $48M.

Formerly, Arun was the Senior Vice President and Chief External Affairs Officer for the Urban Affairs Coalition, where he oversaw UAC’s External Affairs work in fund development, new business, government relations, strategic partnerships, board development and relations, marketing and communications, and community affairs. Other professional experience includes founding the city’s first youth-oriented harm reduction drop-in center serving homeless, drug-addicted youth, working as an independent consultant to nonprofits, government, political candidates, and other institutions; and a decade of grassroots organizing experience working to advance human rights and end poverty.

Currently, Arun serves in a variety of leadership capacities in the community, including Maternity Care Coalition and Philadelphia Works.

Learn more about Arun here.

Anne L. Gingerich, MSW, Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations (PANO)

With a firm belief in the abundance of resources available, Anne loves to don her visionary hat and consider what might be possible for PANO members, the nonprofit community and PANO in partnership with various organizations, companies, and government entities.

Anne takes a systems approach to her work, engaging multiple individuals and groups to identify and implement collaborative solutions to community problems. At PANO, she “walks alongside” community benefit organizations, increasing their effectiveness, efficiency, and financial stability through the planning, training, facilitation, and referral services available at PANO.

Starting in her current position as PANO’s Executive Director at the end of 2013, Anne brought with her a long history in the nonprofit sector, including time spent as director of Nonprofit Resource Network at Millersville, adjunct professor with Millersville University Masters of Social Work Program, and Senior Development Officer at the Lancaster General Health Foundation.

Anne earned her Bachelor of Arts in Social Work at Millersville and her Masters of Social Work at Marywood University. The owner of a beautiful Victorian home in Lancaster County, Anne enjoys cooking, Rails-to-Trails biking, reading, and good coffee.

Learn more about Anne here.

PANO is trying something a little new this year.

Here is why:

• We are celebrating 40 years of PANO by focusing on connections – because relationships form the basis of all that is PANO today. So…in honor of 40 years of PANO connections, we are “shaking up” our in-person programming slightly, using concepts from affinity groups and communities of practice to deepen the connections already in place and to make the space for new relationships to form.
• With this in mind, we are starting with community-building at the core, and then developing content around those connections – rather than the other way around.

We are leaning into concepts gleaned from:

• The Art of Gathering, by Priya Parker, a keynote speaker at our 2020 conference. Priya planted the seed of what it means to create meaningful gatherings, including but not limited to the idea of “generous exclusion” – meaning that a gathering intentionally designed around a purpose could and maybe should exclude those who may not fit the purpose for which that gathering was designed. By doing so, those invited and engaged with intent may find the best value.
• Impact Networks: Create Connections, Spark Collaboration, and Catalyze Systemic Change, by David Ehrlichman. Specifically, we want to create learning or knowledge networks where information is exchanged, innovation is sparked, coordination is increased, and members are better able to adapt knowledge to their local challenges, and promising practices are spread, resources are more easily distributed where they are needed most, messaging comes into greater alignment, and the actions of those involved begin to reinforce each other.

We invite you to read either/both of these books with us as we engage on a journey toward more meaningful gatherings.

This is new for us – so we ask from you, grace, wisdom, and help as we experiment with you.