see you soon, grand junction!

Thursday, September 17, 2026 8:30 AM- 4:30 PM

Grand Junction Convention Center, 159 Main St. Grand Junction, CO 81501

Colorado Nonprofit Association, in partnership with the Western Colorado Community Foundation, Rocky Mountain Health Foundation, United Way of Mesa County, and the Community Impact Council, invites you to join us for Connecting Colorado in Grand Junction, where nonprofit professionals and community leaders come together to share ideas, build relationships, and spark new possibilities. As we celebrate Colorado Nonprofit Association’s 40th anniversary, we’ll explore what it takes to build durable, resilient organizations equipped to meet today’s challenges and tomorrow’s opportunities.

Expect impactful sessions, motivating speakers, and practical tools you can bring back to your team as we learn from one another, strengthen regional partnerships, and explore strategies that will help nonprofits across Western Colorado thrive for the next 40 years.

Conference Agenda

Explore the agenda below and discover a day of learning, connection, and inspiration designed to help nonprofit leaders build organizations that are both durable enough to withstand disruption and resilient enough to adapt and thrive.

View the agenda

Breakout Sessions That Meet the Moment

Explore timely topics, practical strategies, and fresh perspectives from nonprofit leaders and experts. From leadership and fundraising to governance, artificial intelligence, organizational culture, and more, each session is designed to help you navigate today’s challenges and strengthen your organization’s impact.

BREAKOUT SESSION 1 | 9:15-10:15 AM

Every nonprofit wants a healthy organization, one marked by trust, alignment, and a culture
that can hold weight. But organizational health is a result, not a strategy. It’s built through the
everyday repair work most leaders and teams avoid; naming what’s gone unspoken, rebuilding
trust, restoring the relational capacity accountability depends on. That work is organizational
healing, the practical “how” behind the health people want. Under the sustained pressure of
limited resources, funder demands, staff burnout, and constant change, unaddressed wounds
distort organizational culture, decision-making, and staff wellbeing. This interactive session
names how wounds form, makes room for reflection, and puts one practical tool in your hands
to move toward organizational health.

Presented by Kali Mincy, Bruno Ford Consulting Group LLC

BREAKOUT SESSION 2 | 10:30-11:30 AM

Your development team is stretched thin. AI can help—without replacing the human relationships that
drive giving. This session shows fundraisers how to use free AI tools for prospect research, personalized
appeal writing, grant narrative drafting, and donor stewardship communications. Live demonstrations
with nonprofit-specific prompts you can use immediately. We’ll cover the practical mechanics and the
ethical questions: How do you maintain authenticity when AI assists your writing? When should you
disclose AI use to donors? Participants leave with a Fundraising AI Toolkit containing tested prompts,
templates, and an ethical framework for AI-assisted development work.

Presented by Deborah Sherman , AIEZ.ai

This session helps nonprofits better understand and communicate the full cost of delivering their
programs, including infrastructure and administrative support. By shifting the conversation around
overhead, organizations can improve financial transparency, strengthen funder relationships, and
position themselves for more sustainable funding models.

Presented by Aimee Pourciau & Nathan Oberle, Your Part-Time Controller

BREAKOUT SESSION 3 | 2:00-3:15 PM

Everyone agrees stories matter. They fuel fundraising, animate social media, and transform newsletters
from updates into invitations. Yet most nonprofit leaders scramble just to keep up, leaving little time to
search for compelling stories. Rebecca Mullen shares a practical framework from The Nonprofit
Storytelling Accelerator so you stop chasing content and start finding stories that inspire. Using Toilet
Equity as a case study, you’ll learn how to spot story moments, ask better questions, and turn everyday
work into narratives that move donors, volunteers, and partners. The stories are already there. You just
need to know where to look.

Presented by Rebecca Mullen, Rebecca Mullen Coaching