Join us on Thursday, January 30th, from 2:00 to 3:00 PM for an engaging session on the current state of the nonprofit sector. We’ll be joined by Dr. Akilah Watkins, President & CEO of Independent Sector, who will provide us with insights from their recent report on the nonprofit workforce and lead an interactive conversation about the 2025 legislative landscape.
Our discussion will cover how nonprofits are navigating today’s challenges, the innovative ways they are stepping up, actionable recommendations for fostering partnerships between the charitable sector and the federal government, and how funders can be ready to move due to policy changes.
Don’t miss this opportunity to gain valuable insights and contribute to the dialogue!
Resource
=> The Case for Partnership: Building a Healthy Charitable Sector to Ensure a Thriving Nation (published by Independent Sector, Nov 2024)
Speaker Bio
Dr. Akilah Watkins is the president and CEO of Independent Sector, the only national membership organization that brings together a diverse community of changemakers, nonprofits, foundations, and corporate giving programs working to strengthen civil society and ensure all people in the United States thrive. Since joining in 2023, Dr. Watkins has been a key voice on policy and practice in the charitable sector and an advocate for the nation’s 1.8 million nonprofits and philanthropies.
With over 25 years as a national thought leader, community organizer, and nonprofit executive, Dr. Watkins’ expertise spans nonprofit leadership and advocacy, equity in the nonprofit sector, and community development. She has led initiatives that have transformed vacant properties into vibrant community spaces, tackled systemic inequities, and helped hundreds of communities across the country thrive. Her thought leadership on racial equity and community development has been featured by CNN, The New York Times, and Essence.
Prior to Independent Sector, Dr. Watkins was the president and CEO of the Center for Community Progress, the nation's leading nonprofit dedicated to helping state and local governments turn vacant properties into vibrant places. Her work began at the age of 14 when she led efforts to convert a vacant lot and abandoned home into a community center in Roosevelt, New York. Since then, she has served as an executive leader for nonprofits and community development initiatives with NeighborWorks America, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the Center for the Study of Social Policy.
Dr. Watkins holds a Ph.D. in Sociology and an MA in Sociology from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She also holds two MS degrees in Education and Community Economic Development from Southern New Hampshire University, and a BS in Community and Human Services from the State University of New York, Empire State College. She currently serves on advisory boards with the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy at Grand Valley State University and the Maryland Chapter of CISV International.