Morning Keynote
Wholesale Audacity: Leadership Courage in Action
Dethra U. Giles, The Audacity Broker®, 5x TEDx Speaker, ExecuPrep CEO, and Author of That’s Not What I Said

Leadership is no longer just about competence. It’s about courage.

Wholesale Audacity is the discipline of acting decisively when the stakes are high, the answers are incomplete, and the pressure to play it safe is real. In this keynote, Dethra Giles challenges leaders and high-potential executives to rethink audacity; not as bold talk, but as strategic action that shapes culture, performance, and trust.

Through real leadership scenarios and hard-earned insights, this session explores what it takes to speak up in rooms that matter, make decisions without perfect information, and lead with clarity when comfort is no longer an option. Attendees will examine where hesitation, over-consensus, or fear of disruption quietly limits their impact and how to move forward without burning bridges or losing credibility.

This keynote is designed for leaders who carry responsibility now, and for those preparing themselves to step into it next.

Leaders will leave able to:

• Practice audacity as a leadership discipline, not a personality trait
• Make high-stakes decisions without waiting for certainty or permission
• Communicate with authority while preserving trust and relationships
• Recognize when playing it safe is costing the organization more than risk
• Lead with confidence, clarity, and conviction at the moments that matter most

This keynote is for leaders ready to operate at the level their role and their future demands. Join us!

Enjoy a delicious boxed lunch with purposeful, table networking.

Audacious Leadership: You are Bigger Than You Think – Leading Self & Serving Teams
Tiffany Tavarez, Vice President, Community Impact and Strategic Partnerships for Jefferson’s Office of Community Health and Impact

Great leadership begins within. When you identify and fully own your personal mission and values, you unlock the power to lead others with clarity, courage, and authenticity. The alignment between who you are and how you serve becomes the foundation for meaningful impact. This session explores how leading yourself well directly strengthens your ability to champion the mission and values of your team—both individually and collectively. You’ll discover that your influence is greater than you realize, and with intention and a clear plan, you can step into that impact boldly and thrive.

Bold in the Crosswinds: Courageous Advocacy When the Stakes Are High
A Panel Discussion with Community Leaders
Obed Arango, Executive Director, Centro de Cultura, Arte, Trabajo y Educacion (CCATE)
Phyllis Chamberlain, Executive Director, Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania
Dr. Jeannine L. Lisitski, President & CEO, Mental Health Partnerships
Julie Platt, Director of Policy and External Affairs, Mental Health Partnerships, and Adjunct Instructor, Thomas Jefferson University
Jon Rubin, CEO, Penndel Mental Health Center
Moderator: Yocasta Lora, Associate State Director of Advocacy & Community Engagement, AARP Pennsylvania

Leaders are being asked to do two hard things at once: meet urgent demand today and protect the conditions that make dignity possible tomorrow. This session will focus on courageous advocacy—the kind that is values-driven, collaborative, and strategic, even when the environment shifts quickly.

This panel of local and statewide experts will provide practical, frontline-to-policy insight across immigrant rights, behavioral health, basic needs, and housing security.

Together, we’ll explore what “smart risk” looks like right now, including how to speak publicly with clarity, build strong narratives, sustain coalitions that hold under stress, safeguard clients and staff, and move from program impact to systems change.

Bold & Ready: A Leader’s Guide to AI for Mission-Driven Organizations
Brian Pickell, Chief Executive Officer, KPInterface

AI is already showing up in nonprofit organizations — but often without a plan, a policy, or anyone at the top steering the ship. This session is about changing that. It’s designed to help leaders take ownership of AI with the same intentionality they bring to every other part of their mission.

Part I — Lead First: The 8 Pillars of AI-Ready Leadership
Before AI can deliver real, sustainable, mission-serving impact, organizations need more than tools — they need a foundation. We’ll walk through eight critical elements every leader should have in place, including:

1) Leadership Buy-In & Championship. AI needs active leadership from the top, not just a head nod.
2) Vision. A clear, mission-anchored picture of what AI looks like in your organization.
3) Strategy. A phased roadmap for how AI will be evaluated, piloted, implemented, and scaled.
4) Security & Ethics. Ensuring AI is used safely and responsibly, especially with vulnerable populations.
5) Baseline Impact Assessment. Measuring where you are today so you can prove where AI takes you tomorrow.
6) Training & Learning. Equipping every level of the organization with the right knowledge.
7) Guardrails & Policy. Written boundaries on how AI is and isn’t to be used.
8) Business Process Assessment & Prioritization. A structured method for identifying where AI should be deployed, and in what order.

Part II — AI in Action
Let’s get practical with real-world use cases built for mission-driven organizations. We’ll explore three types of AI through the lens of real nonprofit challenges:

Generative AI. How organizations serving high-risk clients can tell powerful visual stories without compromising client safety or identity.
Agentic AI. How a development team can automate personalized donor acknowledgments while keeping the human touch.
Analytical AI. How to surface donor giving trends, identify gaps, and uncover opportunities hiding in your data.

The session will be interactive with practical takeaways, including an AI Readiness Self-Assessment, an AI Policy Template, and a Process Prioritization Worksheet.

MINEE Your Career
Dethra U. Giles, The Audacity Broker®, 5x TEDx Speaker, ExecuPrep CEO, and Author of That’s Not What I Said

Career advancement is not about working harder—it’s about working smarter and more strategically.

In this interactive breakout session, participants will learn how to MINEE their career using a practical, proven framework designed to help professionals gain clarity, increase visibility, and move intentionally toward their next level.

MINEE stands for Manage, Invest, Network, Explore, and Execute—five essential actions high-performing professionals use to advance, often without being taught how. This session pulls back the curtain on the unspoken rules of career growth and equips participants with tools they can apply immediately, regardless of role or industry.

This is a working session—not a lecture—focused on real-time reflection, practical insight, and clear next steps.

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

• Manage their career by understanding how they are currently perceived and how that perception impacts opportunity;
• Invest intentionally in skills, relationships, and experiences that support their long-term career goals;
• Network with purpose, learning how to build authentic, strategic relationships that create access and visibility;
• Explore career possibilities beyond their current role by identifying transferable skills and untapped opportunities;
• Execute a focused, realistic career action plan aligned with where they want to go—not just where they are;
• Recognize common career myths that keep high performers busy but stalled; and
• Leave with at least one concrete action they can take within the next 30 days to move their career forward.

The Conflicted World Is in the Room: Leading Through Conflict and Restoring Trust
Quaiser Abdullah, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Communication, Temple University Klein College of Media and Communication

The pressures shaping our communities — scarcity, polarization, uncertainty — don’t stay outside the door. They show up in our teams, our meetings, and our decisions. And when conflict goes unaddressed, it doesn’t disappear; it erodes the trust that makes bold, mission-driven leadership possible.

This interactive session helps leaders recognize when broader polarization is fueling team conflict, and introduces practical tools to respond with clarity rather than reactivity. Participants will learn to diagnose conflict patterns, distinguish what’s emotionally charged from what’s decision-relevant, and use inquiry-based communication moves to keep teams functional and focused — even when the room is divided.

But navigating conflict is only half the work. This session also addresses what comes after: how leaders repair rupture, rebuild trust, and create the conditions for teams to move forward together. Leave with concrete tools and a bold commitment to lead through — not around — the conflicts shaping your organization right now.

Share your mission, bold priorities, and asks and offers with peers through facilitated networking.

Closing Keynote
R.E.F.I.L.L.®: Audacious Soul-Care to Lead Boldly
Dr. Veirdre Jackson, Deputy Chief of Training, Development, and Multicultural Initiatives for Montgomery County, PA

This keynote invites you to reclaim your fullness, even in times of scarcity and uncertainty.

Through the six principles of R.E.F.I.L.L.®—Rewire, Emotional Health, Find Strength, Influence, Let Go, and Level Up—you’ll learn that audacious soul-care is not indulgence; it is leadership strategy. When you stabilize your mind, protect your emotional peace, and honor your growth habits, you rise boldly, lead authentically, and flourish without apology.