Leading the Way: Strategies for Being an Innovative Nonprofit Leader

Marc is the founder of Concord Leadership Group and has served as its CEO for 20 years. In that time, he has presented trainings and keynotes to over 25,000 participants in North America, Europe, Mexico, and New Zealand; coached more than 120 CEOs, C-suite executives, directors, and owners; and in the last two years has certified an additional 24 Quadrant 3 Leadership Coaches, who have gone on to coach and train more than 14,290 leaders in corporations, government, associations, and nonprofits. Marc holds his masters in organizational leadership from Regent University. He is a Certified Franklin Covey Coach, a Certified Speaking Professional of the National Speakers Association, and president of the South Carolina chapter of the International Coaching Federation. He has appeared in or been recognized by media outlets and publications including NBC, Fox News, Al Jazeera, Success magazine, Real Simple, and the Chronicle of Philanthropy. Marc is the author of Ask Without Fear!^®, which has been translated into Dutch, Polish, Spanish, and Mandarin. His latest book is The Surprising Gift of Doubt: Use Uncertainty to Become the Exceptional Leader You Are Meant to Be. Marc speaks nationally and internationally on leadership, influence, storytelling, and fundraising and is the voice behind FRC, one of the longest-running blogs in the nonprofit sector (est. 2003). He is executive director of The Nonprofit Academy; an advisory board member of innovative fundraising platform Pennybridge in Orebro, Sweden; and a former advisory panel member of the Rogare Think Tank at Plymouth University, Plymouth, United Kingdom. He is married to his best friend and is the father of three amazing kids, who, if he’s belting ’80s tunes, will deny they know him.

Mallory Erickson is an executive coach, fundraising consultant, and host of the podcast What the Fundraising, aimed at supporting nonprofit leaders to fundamentally change the way they lead and fundraise. Through her signature framework, the Power Partners Formula™️, Mallory provides unique tools to help nonprofits fundraise more from foundations, corporate partners, and individuals. She has trained over 40,000 fundraisers using her unique win-win framework, which combines best practices from executive coaching, science-backed behavior design, and fundraising strategy. If you want to feel differently about fundraising as well as clear and excited about your next steps, Mallory’s work is for you. Find out more at: malloryerickson.com/powerpartners

Catherine Ashton is the CEO of Giant Squid Group. She's on a mission to change the way nonprofits raise money, that's why she started Giant Squid Group--to help start-up and small nonprofits land donors, win grants, and fund their missions. Catherine is proud to say that each year, her clients raise millions of dollars and have an incredible impact on their communities. She fell in love with fundraising right out of college, and is as energized by asking a prospect for $50,000 as she is creating an Excel dashboard. Today, Catherine helps nonprofits increase revenue while creating authentic relationships with constituents.