• 2025: Leading with Grit and Virtue
  Join UNA to gain valuable lessons and insights from seasoned Executive Director and UNA Board Member, Mayra Cedano, on navigating leadership through challenging times. As we all know and have experienced, nonprofits have recently been impacted by various challenges. Decisions have forced many organizations to navigate the tough realities of shutdowns, funding freezes, and the heartbreaking necessity of furloughing staff. These obstacles have created a sense of uncertainty and have taken both an emotional and operational toll. Decisions are weighty, and sometimes we just need a little support and guidance as we face these tough moments.
  
• Accessing the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program: 

  Fall 2021, the Department of Education announced an overhaul of the PSLF program designed to allow millions of public service workers who have been struggling under the weight of student loan debt a path to relief. In short, borrowers who were previously ineligible because they had the wrong loan, were making payments on the wrong payment plan, or were knocked off track due to processing errors can now receive credit toward forgiveness for those years worked in public service. https://protectborrowers.org/ - https://studentaid.gov/ - https://forgivemystudentdebt.org/ - Find employer EIN's https://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/

• Office of Legal Services Innovation Program - The Sandbox (2022) - The Office and the Sandbox Program are the product of research into legal regulatory reform led by the Utah Supreme Court.  In August 2018, the Court established a Work Group on Regulatory Reform, led by Justice Deno Himonas and John Lund, former Utah State Bar President. The Work Group submitted a report the following year, “Narrowing the Access to Justice Gap by Reimagining Regulation.”  The report recommended implementation of a legal regulatory sandbox to develop and test new legal services in Utah.  The Court approved the report and formed a Task Force to implement the recommendation. In August 2020, the Utah Supreme Court issued Standing Order No. 15 which launched the Innovation Office and the legal Sandbox.  What is a sandbox?  A regulatory sandbox is a policy tool used to assess the marketability and impact of new models or services in order to inform future policy-making. The sandbox tool was first put to use in the financial services industry, where a highly regulated market was grappling with significant technological advances that did not fit traditional regulations (think cryptocurrency). The sandbox model offers similar advantages in the legal space, a traditionally restricted market in which services driven by technology outstrip the traditional regulatory approach. The sandbox allows for relaxed regulations, data collection, and ultimately, policy improvements. The Sandbox provides a space for innovative service models that cannot otherwise be offered under the present Rules of Professional Conduct or are considered an unauthorized practice of law. The Office of Legal Services Innovation, Application for Sandbox, Recording

• Simple Strategy: Turbocharging your Strategic Plan (2021) - Your strategic plan is a powerful tool designed to communicate the strategies and methodologies you've established to guide your organization toward its desired future. Join UNA and Ron Woodbury Consulting for a hands-on workshop to explore strategic planning for your nonprofit organization. Slide Deck -  Strategic Planning Approach - Start With 'Why' - TED Talk from Simon Sinek

• Is Your Organization Ready to be REDI (Race, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion)?: Ready or not, the need for creating diverse and inclusive workplaces is front, center, and essential for your nonprofit and our community. Advancing your organization’s Race, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (REDI) goals begins with a clear unflinching look at your nonprofit’s formal—and informal—culture. Participating in the panel discussion, "Is Your Organization Ready to be REDI?" will give you a better vantage point from which to understand and advance an organization that embraces diversity and inclusion.

• Rethinking diversity: we need equity to stop oppression: Dr. Atyia Martin at TEDxSuffolkUniversity; Diversity helps to improve our thinking and outcomes, but diversity alone is not enough. It takes equity to stop oppression. Our default ways of thinking are biased so we need to manage our thought process. In her powerful talk, Dr. Martin explores new ways of reducing our unconscious bias and understanding the forms of oppression we experience today. Dr. Atyia Martin is a Certified Emergency Manager with a diverse set of experiences in public health, emergency management, intelligence, and homeland security. Mayor Martin J. Walsh appointed her as the Chief Resilience Officer for the City of Boston as part of the 100 Resilient Cities initiative pioneered by the Rockefeller Foundation.

• Building Communities Through Online Organizing: A Virtual Event Series for the Pandemic and Beyond (TechSoup) Session 1 Recording looks at real-world examples that marry online and offline organizing powerfully with digital organizing tools and tactics that don’t have to break the bank (URLs shared in recording). Session 2 Recording panel of experts working to build technology tools to enable fair voting practices. You’ll hear from Ballotpedia, Democracy Works, Code for America and other tech solutions in this space on their innovative solutions (URLs shared in recording). 

• Come Together – The Road to Nonprofit Merger Success from Bloomerang: Gregory Nielsen will discuss common scenarios that lend themselves to merger, identifying potential partners, and assessing collaborative possibilities.

• The Nonprofit Insurance Crisis: What You Need to Know: Do you know how to position your organization for the best possible renewal outcome? Don’t know what that means? Learn how to understand and prepare for current market conditions which critically affect your organization’s insurance. 

  The market for nonprofit insurance is in crisis. In what could be labeled as ‘the perfect storm’, nonprofits providing health and human services in our communities are battling against what is believed to be the ‘hardening’ of property and casualty insurance markets. (That’s a less competitive market which makes it harder to find options for insurance. During this time insurance markets will enact stricter standards as to what risks they’ll cover—making a high demand for insurance, but a lower supply of available coverage.) With no end to this hard market in sight, this webinar will provide timely and relevant info to help nonprofits navigate the current marketplace. 

  Nonprofit Insurance Crisis FAQ's Brochure -Utah / PowerPoint Slides

  Takeaways 

  • The driving factors behind the current market conditions impacting the nonprofit sector 
  • How to position your organization for the best possible renewal outcome 
  • Risk management best practices overview 
  • How to determine if an alternative solution like a risk retention group is right for your organization  
  • How to get involved in advocacy opportunities

From the 2020 UNA Nonprofit Conference

• Best Practices for Trauma Responsive Organizations: Many individuals are experiencing unprecedented levels of stress and exposure to traumagenic events this year, which can often trigger or compound existing traumas. Understanding the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and toxic stress on the health and well-being of individuals can enable institutions to address challenging client behaviors in ways that are more equitable, socially just and based in respect. This presentation will explore the neuroscience behind physiological and behavioral responses to trauma and offer participants effective strategies and practices for creating safe, caring and accessible spaces. Heather Batchelor, Associate Professor, Westminster College

• We Are Doing a Poor Job at Equity and Inclusion - We Can Do Better: Except for notable exceptions, if you're not uncomfortable with the current status of equity and inclusion at your organization, you're probably not doing the work. During this hour, we promise to tell honest stories about our mistakes, and share a few lessons learned. Join us in discussing how to get started and how to keep things real. Katie Wright, Executive Director, Park City Community Foundation Diego Zegarra, Community Impact Director, Park City Community Foundation

• Want to Succeed as a Leader? Forget the Golden Rule!: It's time to forget the Golden Rule...there's zero room for it in leadership! It's not that your teachers, parents, and religious leaders were wrong. But, when you treat others as you want to be treated as a leader, you miss all kinds of opportunities for great leadership that come from treating people as they want to be treated. Learn how one simple 3x5 card can transform your leadership and create ultimate team loyalty. Jenny Zachry, HR Strategist and Owner, CLP Successory

• Leading in a Crisis: Embrace the Uncertainty: Join leadership from the Bicycle Collective on how the most effective leaders use these five strategies for leaning into crisis, managing fear, and leading through the unknown. Learn how to assess the situation; communicate the volatility, uncertainty, and ambiguity; focus on the mission; engage and inspire your team; delegate, divide, and conquer; develop action orientation; and try, fail, and redesign for tomorrow. Donna McAleer, Executive Director/Kai Cox, Salt Lake City Director/Dustin Eskelson, Ogden Shop Director/Sean Murphy, Board Chair