2025 Central Nebraska Nonprofit Conference (Kearney)

Nonprofit leaders face relentless challenges: systemic constraints, mission-driven pressures, and the pervasive risk of burnout. This session offers practical tools to transform these challenges into opportunities for sustainable leadership. Through the lens of radical acceptance and values alignment, participants will explore how to focus on what’s within their locus of control, shifting from reactive to intentional energy management. Attendees will learn strategies to realign organizational policies with mission-driven values, fostering communication that energizes teams and reignites purpose. The session concludes with actionable steps to create a customized miniblueprint for their organizations, empowering leaders to meet their missions while sustaining themselves and their teams. Whether you're grappling with systemic limitations or seeking to inspire resilient leadership, this session will equip you to lead with clarity, purpose, and sustainability

Liz Mayfield | Hope Harbor, Executive Director
Liz Mayfield has been a leader at Hope Harbor since 2014, stepping into the role of Executive Director in 2016. She brings over a decade of experience in nonprofit leadership, fundraising, and community advocacy. Liz holds a Bachelor’s degree in Organizational Communication from Doane University and a Master of Public Administration – Nonprofit Management from the University of Nebraska-Omaha.
In addition to her role at Hope Harbor, Liz is the founder of Tether & Torch, a consulting venture focused on reimagining leadership. She’s passionate about sustainable, community-centered change and believes in doing the work differently.
She also serves on the board of Big Brothers Big Sisters and mentors as a Big, because investing in people (especially future world-changers) is kind of her thing. Her past adventures include seven years as Project Connect chair, five years on the Grand Island Community Youth Council board, and more grant-writing marathons than she cares to count. A graduate of Leadership Tomorrow, the Nonprofit Excellence Institute, and the T.E.A.M. Building Culture Executive Leadership program, Liz is always looking for new ways to challenge the status quo and build something better—one bold step at a time.

Dr. Sarah Griess | Rising Hope, Licensed Psychologist
Dr. Sarah Griess is a psychologist and the owner of Rising Hope Counseling & Consulting, where she specializes in working with individuals who have experienced trauma and provides immigration-related evaluations. In addition to her clinical work, Dr. Griess offers trainings and workshops on mental health topics across the state and provides consultation services for several local nonprofits.
Dr. Griess earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Counseling from the University of Nebraska at Kearney and completed her doctoral degree in Counseling Psychology at the University of Northern Colorado. Before returning to Nebraska and transitioning into private practice, she held various roles within university systems, including adjunct professor, Director of Psychological Training, and Assistant Director of a university counseling center.
Beyond her professional practice, Dr. Griess is deeply engaged in nonprofit leadership. Dr. Griess serves on the boards of the YWCA and the Grand Island Area Coalition on Trafficking, where she supports efforts to advance equity, safety, and well-being within the community. She and her husband also founded the Daim Fund, a fund that seeks to support the journey of immigrant individuals by removing the financial barriers associated with citizenship, for those in need.

Data overwhelm is real. You want data to drive decision-making in your community -- whether as part of a community needs assessment, strategic planning, or in creating spaces for community organizing. But how do you move from all the data that you could share to the data that is best to share, while considering the complex needs of multiple partners? Join this presentation to learn a structured yet flexible approach for identifying and sharing data that you and others can use to drive decision-making to continually improve your community. The presentation will include an introduction to a process for identifying data points and a list of often-used population-level data sources.

Dr. Catherine Brown is the Founder and CEO of CBES, LLC, which provides evaluation capacity building services to clients who are committed to advancing the public interest, value inclusion, and appreciate the power of data. Prior to launching her consulting business, Dr. Brown held positions at the Nebraska Children and Families Foundation, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO), Booz Allen Hamilton, the Brookings Institution, and the Smithsonian. She holds degrees from the University of Nebraska at Omaha (PhD, Public Administration), the University of Kentucky (MA, International Relations; MA, Anthropology), US Naval War College (MA, National Security), and Mount Holyoke College (BA, Anthropology; BA, English). 

Mindy Anderson-Knott is the President of Partners for Insightful Evaluation (PIE). Prior to working at PIE, Anderson-Knott was employed by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) from 2006-2018 where she served as the Director of Evaluation and Development of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Research Consortium and co-established the Methodology and Evaluation Research Core Facility. During her tenure at UNL, she also served on the Institutional Review Board, a position she continues currently. Prior to working at UNL, Anderson-Knott co-established the Survey Research Center at The Pennsylvania State University, where she directed a variety of research projects. Anderson-Knott’s educational background includes a Certificate in Evaluation Practice from George Washington University, M.A. in Sociology from UNL and B.A. in Sociology from Doane University.
Mindy will be contributing to the presentation preparation but not presenting day of the conference.

AI isn’t the future—it’s here, and it’s already helping nonprofits do more with less. In this interactive session, discover practical, easy-to-use AI tools and strategies designed specifically for nonprofit professionals to free up time, reduce workload, and make day-to-day tasks easier. Learn how to leverage ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Beautiful.ai, and other AI-powered platforms to simplify communications, generate fresh ideas and initiatives, and craft compelling proposals and presentations for funders and stakeholders—all without adding extra work to your plate. Whether you’re a nonprofit leader, fundraiser, direct service provider, or administrator, this session will provide hands-on, actionable strategies to help you save time, increase efficiency, and amplify your mission's impact—so you can focus on what matters most.

Albert Varas | Nonprofit & Foundation AI Trainer | Nonprofit CEO
Albert Varas understands the realities of leading a nonprofit with limited time, staff, and resources. As CEO of the Latino Center of the Midlands since 2017, he has led a 450% budget increase, doubled the team, and expanded programs. He also serves on multiple Omaha boards, giving him a broad perspective on the challenges nonprofits and foundations face.
After seeing firsthand how AI helps organizations save time and refocus on mission-critical work, Albert and his partners launched Orchard AI to help nonprofits and foundations lighten the workload, secure funding, and scale impact—without losing the human touch. His hands-on training provides practical AI strategies leaders can apply immediately.
Whether you're a grassroots nonprofit, a growing organization, or a foundation, Albert helps teams leverage AI. His approach ensures AI assists—not replaces—the people driving social impact forward.

For business owners navigating the complex landscape of Human Resources solo or with limited HR resources, the key to sustained success lies in unlocking the potential of your HR strategy. Join us for an in-person, interactive presentation led by Lutz Talent experts Steph Hand and Laurie Cradick as they explain the role of HR in today’s business landscape and provide transformative HR practices to help small to mid-sized organizations.

Laurie Cradick - Talent Director, Lutz
Laurie Cradick is a Talent Director at Lutz. She began her career in 1997. She is responsible for assisting business leaders in finding the best long-term talent to reach their business goals.

Stephanie Hand - Chief Human Resources Officer/Shareholder, Lutz
Steph Hand, Chief Human Resources Officer and Shareholder, began her career in 1998. After nearly two decades of building Lutz's internal HR function, she established and now leads the firm's Outsourced HR and Consulting services. Her vision and leadership have been instrumental in shaping both Lutz's award-winning culture and its comprehensive HR offerings.

Have you ever wondered how your organization’s fundraising efforts relate to your constituents from different generations? Odds are your Gen Z and Baby Boomer donors are learning about and engaging with your nonprofit in very different ways. Your organization’s outreach should be optimized through a generational lens to ensure the right audience is being reached with the right message. In this session, you’ll learn how to lead your development team to unlock hidden potential with your donors based on generational giving trends. 
In Bloomerang’s 2024 Generational Giving Report, over 1,000 donors of all ages were asked to tell us how they discover nonprofits to support, how they stay connected to those nonprofits, their fundraising event habits, donor retention preferences, and more! Join us for a deep dive into some of the report's findings, including tactics to inspire your team as they engage with donors across generations.

Wendy Mercurio is the Market Research Specialist at Bloomerang. As a former Development Officer and Development Director, Wendy draws upon her nonprofit experience to create informative and inspiring content for the Bloomerang audience and beyond. Wendy’s professional efforts have focused on fundraising events, corporate relations, donor acquisition, and donor relations.

It is time to remove the concept of ‘Work/Life Balance’ from our mindset. As much as we want (and try!) to maintain balance, we know it is a challenge for many of our employees. Our younger generations are redefining what balance means, creating an upward influence within our organizations. It is no longer a balancing act—we must fit work into our lives, not the other way around. In this session, we will discuss best practices to find accommodations, policies, and practices to better suit our employees. This in turn creates dynamic, cultural shifts, and strong employment loyalty.

Courtney Thorson -  Zelle HR Solutions, Director of Training and Development
Courtney’s unique background and positive outlook serve her well in her role as the Director of Training and Development with Zelle Human Resource Solutions. Courtney’s skills allow her to make meaningful cultural impact, develop others personally and professionally, implement strategic HR initiatives, and create lasting connections. Courtney focuses on non-traditional HR functions including employee engagement and retention, customized training and development, establishing organizational change, and facilitating recruitment processes. She also provides guidance and implementation of all traditional HR functions including compliance, processes, and procedures and employee relations. Courtney graduated from Iowa State University majoring in business and entrepreneurship. She has also received her Human Resources certification from Cornell University, SHRM-CP and Inclusive Workplace Certificate through the Society of Human Resource Management, and Professional Certified Marketer® in Marketing Management from the American Marketing Association.

Have you ever spent two days creating a perfect strategic plan, returned to your day-to-day, and quickly lost track of the plan? In this session, explore the flow from vision to a practical action plan.  Walk away with more confidence that your strategy will become real for your stakeholders and will stay alive and relevant through execution. 

Allison Dahl | Econic, Principal Consultant
Allison Dahl joined Econic more than five years ago after more than 15 years of experience in strategy, innovation, sales, and talent development in several leading Nebraska organizations.  She is certified  in Emergenetics and as a StrengthsFinder coach, has degrees in math, psychology, and finance, and specializes at the intersection of talent and solving strategic business problems.

Melissa Taylor | Econic, Principal Consultant
Melissa Taylor joined Econic in 2021 after 25 years in strategy development & execution, culture, and innovation work at a Fortune 500 organization.  She is a certified executive coach and specializes in strategy and leadership behaviors.

Advocacy is a powerful tool for nonprofits to drive meaningful change, yet many 501(c)(3) organizations hesitate to engage due to misconceptions about legal restrictions. In this breakout session, we’ll break down what advocacy truly means, what activities are allowed under IRS regulations, and how your organization can effectively advocate for your mission while staying compliant.
Whether you're new to advocacy or looking to enhance your efforts, this session will equip you with the knowledge and confidence to advocate effectively while protecting your nonprofit’s tax-exempt status.

Hannah Young | Nonprofit Association of the Midlands
Hannah is NAM's Public Policy Manager. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science from Northwest Missouri State University in December 2013 and her Master of Public Administration degree from University of Nebraska Omaha in August of 2016. While at Northwest Missouri State, she completed an internship for Missouri State Senator Jamilah Nasheed. She is currently involved in ynpnGO, Women’s Fund Circles, League of Women Voters of Greater Omaha, and HomeDish. In her free time, Hannah enjoys cooking, reading, listening to podcasts about true crime, and gardening. Hannah lives in Omaha with her husband and two dogs.

Laurie Ponce, Director | Coalition for a Strong Nebraska 
A North Platte native and University of Nebraska College of Law alumna, Laurie Ponce serves as the Director of the Coalition for a Strong Nebraska (CSN). With a background in legislative affairs, Laurie served as legal counsel for three committees and nine committee chairpersons during her time in the Nebraska Legislature. Laurie was responsible for advising the Legislature on policy and legal aspects of legislation and recommending a course of action. Her relationships with legislators, state officials, and industry groups have enhanced her ability to be a collaborator for communities seeking to influence policy.

Nonprofits are notorious for tasking various members of the team with event planning and execution. It makes sense, you can't afford an experienced planner or you've done the event year after year with success -- so why would you do anything different? But are you truly leveraging your events to make the highest impact for your organization? Let's find out with pro tips from seasoned a seasoned planner who has planned hundreds of events, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars!

Natalie Wallace
Natalie Wallace is the Event Coordinator at The Kim Foundation. A well-rounded strategic thinker, Natalie is always engaging her diverse experience in collaborative environments. Fueled by a professional career spanning theatrical arts, intensive care, senior living, real estate, venue management, event planning, fundraising, ministry and large-scale production, she’s ready to share your story! Natalie is the proudest of her three boys, co-Pastoring Dwell Church with her husband, founding PJ Morgan Event Management with an amazing team and serving as the Omaha Chapter Host of CreativeMornings.

Join Matthew Hansen with Flatwater Free Press as we explore the dynamic relationship between nonprofits and the media -- and how, increasingly, nonprofit newsrooms are seen as the next chapter in American journalism. In this closing session, we’ll dive into the founding and growth of the Flatwater Free Press, how it and other nonprofit newsrooms are different from the media organizations we grew up with, and the impact these new newsrooms are having in Nebraska and around the country.

Matthew Hansen is the editor of the Flatwater Free Press, Nebraska's first independent, statewide nonprofit newsroom. Hansen spent 16 years at Nebraska newspapers, as a reporter at the Lincoln Journal Star and then a reporter and metro columnist at the Omaha World-Herald. The native of Red Cloud and one-time intern at the Red Cloud Chief and the Hastings Tribune now lives in Omaha and is married to Sarah Baker-Hansen, a longtime Nebraska food writer and restaurant critic.

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