By Kim O’Brien, Executive Director, NPLI

The Nonprofit Leadership Initiative (NPLI) is a partnership of Fox Valley-area nonprofits, funders, educational institutions and businesses dedicated to providing resources needed by effective nonprofit boards and executive leaders. We are a program within the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region. 

Our mission is to provide Fox Valley nonprofits with opportunities for leadership development and learning to better achieve their missions. With the coronavirus pandemic altering how we live and work, we are supporting that mission in yet another  way – providing information to help nonprofit organizations during this time of uncertainty. 

Through the past four years we have evolved to become an educational resource hub for our local nonprofit leaders as well. I liken our services to a LEAVEN Fox Cities, where we help when and where our mission allows, and then refer when other entities are best in their particular arena. 

Our partners in this are too many to name here but include a multitude of local nonprofit agencies, support groups, funders, trainers near and far, and many others. A few months back we partnered with Nplace.org. Its missive is to connect the nonprofit community and all who support it. 

We have been posting articles, links to resources, events, and comments to this site for a few months in an effort to share content knowledge with all nonprofits under the Topics sections.   

We created some Closed Groups so our current cohort learners have a safe space to share with each other some of the issues they are facing; for example, closed groups for the Leadership Institute graduates or the Network for Good participants. It has become a way for them to share with each other 24/7 for continued learning. They can upload articles, files to share, and comment on how these were helpful to their leadership and organization. 

Kim O’Brien

With the current COVID-19 health crisis it has become a particularly busy entity as we are posting all things that come to NPLI to this site for all nonprofits to have access. Because I am an avid webinar watcher, you can imagine the amount of webinar invites I have been receiving these days. 

When information like that comes our way, we are posting everything on Nplace.org either by topic, in the events section, or in the Disaster Preparedness group to help navigate through the COVID-19 health crisis.  

It’s free and does not have any geographical barriers so feel free to register and pass along. 

Currently with over 200 members and invites out to another 174, we hope to route traffic to this site for shared learning over the next few months and beyond. You don’t need a personal invite to join and we are still open for business to take phone calls and emails, we are simply using all available tools to keep the nonprofit community informed.  

The Nonprofit Leadership Initiative is a partnership of Fox Valley-area nonprofits, funders, educational institutions and businesses dedicated to providing resources needed by effective nonprofit boards and executive leaders. NPLI offers a wide range of leadership, management and technical skill-building programs, as well as peer learning circles, to the entire nonprofit sector in the Fox Valley.

We support  NPLI with a grant from the Bright Idea Fund within the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region, one among many community partners supporting NPLI. Click here to learn more.