2024 Topics

Unveiling Solutions to Societal Challenges Through Computer Simulation

Paolo Gaudiano, Co-Founder, Aleria

Most societal problems are too complex for us to understand fully, and often cannot be solved with traditional analytical and data science approaches. Explore an approach to analyzing societal problems using computer simulations that capture the behaviors of individual 'agents' and their interactions with one another and with their environment. With a range of applications, computer simulations can make it possible to combine domain expertise and data to achieve superior accuracy and better understanding of a wide range of problems.

An Ethical Future for AI in Nonprofits

Ryan Harrington, Director of Strategy and Operations, Tech Impact

Join us for a fun moderated and audience-involved debate to explore the intricacies and arguments around AI in the nonprofit sector. Hear the perspectives from a pro-AI enthusiast along with a concerned AI ethicist that will help educate and enlighten attendees around the different arguments for the use of artificial intelligence for greater social impact. 

Leveraging Cloud Infrastructure and AI for Malaria Control in Ghana

Derek Asamoah-Amoyaw, IT Infrastructure Officer, AngloGold Ashanti's Malaria Control (AGAMal) Initiative

Examine how cloud computing and AI are transforming malaria control in Ghana, focusing on their role in improving data analysis, predictive modeling, and resource allocation through examples from AGAMal to illustrate the impact of these technologies on public health strategies and outcomes.

Accelerating Advocacy: AI for Immigrant Justice

Rodrigo Camarena, Director, Justica Lab

As Artificial Intelligence brings transformative changes to our world, immigrants and their advocates have the unique opportunity to harness these new technologies in the service of immigrant justice. Learn more about the Justicia Lab’s AI initiative, the world’s first AI innovation lab for immigrant justice. Launching this Spring, Justicia Lab AI seeks to bridge the digital divide between immigrants, their advocates, and AI industry leaders.

2024 Nonprofit Landscape Discussion

Patrick Callihan, CEO, Tech Impact, David Spriggs, CEO, Infoxchange, Sarah Davies, CEO, Alannah & Madelina Foundation, & Marnie Webb, CEO, Tech Soup

Join us for an audience-directed, group discussion led by a panel of cross-sector nonprofit executives to talk about the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that organizations are facing, or anticipate the sector facing, in today’s age of technology. We’ll discuss how the economy, upheaval in the tech sector, struggles of digital poverty and equity, and changes in community needs provide a setting for cautious optimism, curiosity, and concerns.

Bridging the Gap: How mRelief is Revolutionizing Access to Public Assistance Through Technology

Nezia Munezero Kubwayo, Operations Director, mRelief

In an era when technology touches every facet of our lives, mRelief is pioneering innovative solutions to address a critical societal challenge: access to public assistance. This presentation will highlight mRelief's mission and impact, focusing on the significant barriers to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and how we leverage cutting-edge technology to overcome them. 

Participants will discover how mRelief’s user-centered design and streamlined digital tools simplify the SNAP application process for millions of eligible individuals. We will explore our strategic approach that combines data-driven insights with empathetic design and effective people management to remove obstacles and enhance the efficiency of social services. 

Whether you're a strategy leader or a technical expert, this session will provide valuable insights and inspire collaborative efforts to drive systemic change.

Technology for Social Justice: Navigating New Digital Frontiers and Our True North

Sarah Davies, CEO, Alannah & Madeline Foundation 

As a nonprofit navigating tech, how do we think about tech and social justice as it relates to the change we want to see in the world, and how does it affect us as a user of tech in pursuit of our purpose?

Utilizing Identity Management To Keep Your People, Data, Community, and Systems Safe

Taylor Whitfield, Manager, Tech for Good, Okta & Joaquin Campos, Program Manager, Nonprofit Success, Okta

Modern security and remote access require focus on Identity and Access Management, or the method of verifying digital identities and level of access. Okta's Identity Maturity Model (IMM) is a framework for assessing the current state of your organization’s identity capabilities and effectiveness, creating a plan to improve them, and measuring ongoing success and value at each stage. Join this session that will review a high-level roadmap for IT leaders to identify what they should be doing, when, and why.

Disaster Recovery/Incident Response

Linda Widdop, Chief Innovation Officer, Tech Impact 

Having a plan to follow in the event of computer system outage is necessary to reduce downtime, recovery costs and chaos. Join us as we discuss how to build a DR Plan that fits your organization’s computing environment. We will define the elements that go into creating a successful plan, and then walk the group through the necessary information to be included in the plan. Participants will work through sections of a spreadsheet designed to capture relevant information and receive a sample DR Plan template to use after the conference. 

Intune to Endpoint – Exploring Functionalities For Streamlined IT Support

Karl Jones, IT Manager, SNJPC & Francis Johnson, Chief Technology Officer, Tech Impact 

Managing remote access is a crucial element of a modern IT operation. If your organization supports data access from anywhere, you should be utilizing the functionalities of software like Microsoft’s Intune and Google’s Endpoint Management. 

Hear from two nonprofits on how they improved mobile device management, overhauled security postures, and allows better control over services, security, and applications. Learn how you can streamline the setup of new devices, preload computers using Autopilot, and setup conditional access for more secure sharing.

Navigating the New Threat Landscape - Nonprofit Cyber Trends and How To Prepare

Daniel Galacia, Product Specialist, Kaseya & Chris Gerritz, Director, Endpoint Security

Most nonprofits need to worry about phishing and brute-force attacks, but some need to worry about much more. Join a discussion about the current threat landscape and the challenges and vulnerabilities nonprofits specifically need to be aware of. Gain the perspective and experience of cybersecurity leaders from Kaseya who see, and help thwart, millions of cyber-attacks every day. This session will not only educate but cut through the fearmongering.

Using your Financials to Justify Technology Investments and ROI

Lawrence A Fischer, Nonprofit CFO & Sean Hale, Nonprofit Finance Leader

The ability to measure ROI, evaluate expenses for delivering services, or justifying technology investments can come down to sifting through an important set of data we all have – finances. Through cost accounting modeling, nonprofits can create reports used to support your tech strategy by showing clearer financial and supporting data often required for building funding and community confidence. Join this session to learn tools and techniques that to help justify tech investments, find efficiencies and/or areas of improvement, and find hidden costs that can help you get more from your federal grants (NICRA rate).

Experiment with Generative AI/Prompting Workshop

Ryan Harrington, Director of Strategy and Operations, Tech Impact & Narindi Chhan, Go To Market Industry Lead, Microsoft Tech for Social Impact

AI Readiness – Assessing Your Organization’s Tech, Data, and Staff Capacities to Leverage AI

Linda Widdop, Chief Innovation Officer & Erica Blake, Senior Consultant, Tech Impact

There is more to AI than asking ChatGPT to summarize your board meetings. AI and its cousin Automation promise to lower our manual labor effort, improve our bottom lines, and increase our social impact. But, in order to realize these promises, your organization has to be AI Ready. In this workshop, Tech Impact’s Data and Strategy team will walk participants through the layers of AI Readiness. 

Participants will work in small groups to complete sections of the AI Readiness Assessment to gain an understanding of the culture, computing technologies and data ecosystems that are the foundation of getting the most out of AI and Automation. Participants will then complete the assessment offsite and submit, where then Tech Impact will create and deliver a customized report with scores and recommendations that the organization can use to start or continue their journey toward leveraging AI.

Power Automate and Its Possibilities

Mat St. Cyr, Application Architect, Tech Impact

Microsoft’s Power Automate enables you to reduce repetitive tasks by automating your workflow, allowing you to accomplish more with less effort. Coupled with premium connectors, Dataverse, and features like Copilot AI Automation, nonprofits can accelerate and streamline their efforts, tasks, and staff time.

 Join this workshop to build your own automations, experiment with flows, and explore extra functionality you might not be familiar with. *Note, for the full experience, attendees will want to have a Power Automate Premium license available in your Microsoft 365 Admin Center. 

Change Management through Tech Transformations

James Gadsby, COO, Desire Street Ministries

Your organization's capability to lead through change is your biggest secret weapon toward technology transformation. Join seasoned COO, James Gadsby, who has led his organization through multiple implementations and system changes, to explore tools and methods that can aid nonprofit leaders working towards initiating transformation efforts. 

Through group discussions and examples from personal leadership journeys, attendees will leave with practical frameworks and strategic processes to support efficient and effective technology changes. 

The Integration Equation:  CMS + CRM = Data Power!

Marcus Iannozzi, CDO, Tech Impact & Message Agency

Your CRM and CMS are highly powerful platforms on their own, but when they are tightly integrated, it can have an exponential impact on how well an organization tracks users, transactions, and interactions. Data managed in one place can be leveraged in others to create a truly personalized experience where contact, demographic, and behavioral information centrally stored on users in the CRM can be used to customize what they see on a website. 

Join this session to understand how this approach is beneficial, explore the range of options for sharing data across a CMS and CRM, learn practical steps to implement this across your own systems, and know when you need a developer to assist.

From Metrics to Mission: Data Storytelling for Nonprofit Impact

Lena Jennings, People Analyst, Google 

In a world where data speaks volumes, is your nonprofit's voice being heard? Join Google's People Analytics guru, Lena Jennings, as she reveals how to transform dry metrics into compelling narratives that captivate donors, align teams, and amplify your mission.

Discover how to: uncover the heart of your data, craft visuals that make your metrics memorable, and tailor data stories to resonate with funders, boards, and beneficiaries.

 For nonprofit leaders and tech teams alike, this session is your key to turning data into your most powerful advocacy tool. Don't just measure impact—inspire it.

Managing a CRM Makeover: Strategies to Tackle the Refresh Your Users Deserve

Lisa Firnberg, Information and Data Director, National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP)

Without ongoing care and management, a nonprofit's CRM will become stale, underutilized, and ultimately a source of agony and frustration for the staff.  Programmatic needs inevitably change, and an initial implementation often leaves plenty of “we’ll get to that later” assignments that languish and are ultimately left undone. During this session Lisa will outline both a philosophical approach and practical tactics for tackling a CRM refresh process for a system gone stale. Together you will review strategies for making impactful changes and re-energizing staff trust and enthusiasm for their system. 

This session will be most applicable to leaders and system administrators of small-to-mid size organizations who are wondering what to do with their core CRM system that is currently bringing more pain than value to their organization’s mission.

Navigating the Data Governance Maze: A Gamified Workshop

Taj Carson, Inciter

In this engaging presentation and workshop, participants will embark on an interactive journey through data governance, inspired by the classic game of Chutes and Ladders. Through gamification, attendees will experience the highs and lows of data governance, from celebrating victories like completing a data quality dashboard to facing setbacks like losing crucial documentation. By developing their own version of the game, participants will explore what drives their organization's data governance forward or holds it back, ultimately empowering them to enhance their data practices through collaborative exercises and group discussions, regardless of their level of expertise. 

Don't miss this opportunity to revolutionize your approach to data governance in your nonprofit organization!

More Session Topics Announced Soon