Unpacking Complex Workforce Realities

Description

Navigating layoffs or the possibility of closing your nonprofit is one of the hardest challenges you'll encounter as a leader—but you don’t have to go through it alone. This training will equip you with the knowledge, tools, and strategies to handle difficult transitions with confidence, clarity, and compassion.

We’ll cover everything from legal compliance and communication plans to alternative paths like partnerships, mergers, or restructuring—ensuring you have a roadmap for every scenario. You'll also learn how to responsibly manage assets, grants, and organizational transitions if closure becomes the only option.

What You'll Learn:

• Legal and Compliance Considerations: Understanding labor laws, severance policies, and workers' compensation requirements.
• Effective Communication Strategies: Crafting internal and external messaging for layoffs and organizational changes.
• Planning for the Future: Engaging your board in scenario planning and exploring alternatives to closure, such as mergers or downsizing.
• Preparing for a Shutdown: Navigating legal and financial obligations, asset transitions, and managing existing grants during a closure.

This session will provide practical guidance, real-world insights, and expert advice to help you make informed, ethical, and strategic decisions—no matter what your organization is facing.

Who Should Attend?
This training is designed for nonprofit leaders, executive directors, board members, HR professionals, and others involved in decision-making processes at mission-driven organizations. It’s ideal for anyone who may face layoffs, organizational changes, or even the difficult decision of closing down a nonprofit. If you are responsible for the legal, financial, or emotional aspects of such processes—or if you're looking to better understand how to handle these challenges with empathy and compliance—this session will provide the guidance and tools you need.

Cost
UNA Members: Free
Not-Yet-Members: $50

About the Speakers:

Brent Andrewsen serves as a trusted advisor to his clients, both individuals and organizations, in all aspects of charitable planning, wealth management, and business planning. His practice focuses on nonprofit and tax-exempt organizations, assisting them with their board governance, qualification and maintenance of exempt status, and legal audits when necessary. Additionally, Brent offers clients sophisticated estate planning and tax-efficient strategies to manage their wealth and reduce their potential tax liabilities. Brent often assists clients in a general counsel role, advising on a variety of legal needs, including tax planning, integration of estate plans, and charitable wishes. He counsels clients on business matters and helps them form various business entities and transactions.

Brit Merrill is an experienced legal professional specializing in employment law, providing strategic counsel on issues such as compensation, performance management, discrimination, and workplace compliance. She works closely with clients to proactively resolve issues and minimize liability. Brit drafts and reviews employment agreements, conducts investigations, and monitors employment law developments. When necessary, she advocates for clients in state and federal courts. Before joining Holland & Hart, Brit worked in commercial litigation, employment law, and immigration law at a large Utah-based firm and gained experience as a community organizer in the nonprofit sector. Brit was recognized in Utah Business Magazine’s Utah Legal Elite (2020-2022).