Thriving in Changing Times Webinar Series
- Start: July 30, 2025 2:00 pm
- End: October 8, 2025 4:00 pm
Learn how to thrive in changing times! With recent changes in Washington, many grant-funded organizations are now facing significant challenges and uncertainties, but opportunities also exist. Register today and join your fellow grants management professionals for this all-new, four-part Thriving in Changing Times webinar series from July 30-October 8, 2025.
We have an exiting new webinar series for summer and early fall of 2025 to help organizations successfully navigate the current changes affecting the grant-funded community. The Thriving in Changing Times webinar series will tackle the biggest concerns facing grant-funded organizations and offer practical solutions that will help you succeed despite recent challenges. During the first installment in the series, you will learn how organizations can diversify their funding streams for these turbulent times. The second installment will explain how you can still develop a strategic plan even when everything seems up in the air. The next installment in the series will discuss how organizations can build both a strong board and a strong staff in today’s challenging times. In the final installment, you will learn how organizations can balance values, support staff, and maintain funding, in light of recent Executive Orders concerning Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts. By attending all four installments, you will learn what organizations need to know to prosper in the current grants environment.
The Thriving in Changing Times webinar series for grant-funded organizations will feature monthly sessions with a new topic each session. Sessions will be held every three weeks on select Wednesdays from 2:00 to 4:00 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time starting July 30, 2025, and finishing October 8, 2025. However, registration opportunities for this series are strictly limited to maintain a small group dynamic allowing for maximum attendee participation in each session’s question-and-answer period. Your registration also includes access to a recorded version of each session to review on-demand for 30 days. Sign-up today to learn how your organization can not only survive but thrive in these challenging times.
TOPICS
Learn how your grant-funded organization can overcome current challenges to prosper in times of change. During this four-part series, you will learn about funding source diversification, strategic planning despite uncertainties, developing a strong governing body and staff, and navigating recent Executive Orders about DEI mandates. When you participate in the Thriving in Changing Times webinar series, you will learn about the following:
- Importance of diversifying your organization’s funding streams;
- Alternatives to replace Federal and other government grant funds;
- Proven methods for funding source diversification;
- Steps for developing an effective strategic plan;
- Accounting for uncertainty when creating a strategic plan;
- Avoiding common pitfalls in implementing a strategic plan;
- Requirements for building a strong board or governing body;
- Key characteristics needed for an effective staff;
- Addressing challenges in maintaining a strong board and staff;
- Impact of Executive Orders about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI);
- Legal challenges to DEI and anti-DEI mandates; and,
- Current legal status of DEI efforts for grant-funded organizations.
The webinars will explore these important issues facing grant-funded organizations and more. Each webinar will also include a dedicated audience question-and-answer period. You will be able to ask your individual questions during each session in the series.
SCHEDULE
Join us this summer and early autumn to learn how grant-funded organizations can thrive in challenging times. All webinars start at 2:00 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time (1:00 P.M. Central Daylight Time, 12:00 P.M. Mountain Daylight Time, and 11:00 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time). Each webinar is two hours long, including a live audience question-and-answer period. All paid registrants will also receive complimentary access to an on-demand recording for 30 days following each live webinar.
Changes to Federal financial assistance and uncertainty over future budgets have many grant-funded organizations worried. For organizations that traditionally have relied on Federal grants and cooperative agreements, now is the time to diversify their funding sources. Where (and how) to start, though?
This initial session in the Thriving in Changing Times webinar series will explain how organizations can diversify their funding streams and secure their financial futures. You will learn about alternatives to Federal funding (including private and corporate grants), use of traditional fundraising techniques, and even opportunities for social enterprise. The webinar will also explain common problems organizations encounter when trying to diversify their funding sources for the first time. After attending, you will be able to list at least three ways that your organization can diversify its funding streams and outline a plan for achieving successful funding diversification.
Grant-funded organizations understand the importance of strategic planning. However, undertaking strategic planning in uncertain times can be daunting. The second installment in the Thriving in Changing Times webinar series will explain how to plan when everything seems up in the air.
By participating in this webinar, you will learn how your organization can develop a strategic plan while taking into account current uncertainties. The webinar will explain a simple but effective process for strategic planning. Following the webinar, you will be able to outline and follow this strategic planning process at your own organization.
Strong boards (governing bodies) and staff are important assets that can help guide organizations through challenging times. However, those same challenges can make building and maintaining a strong governing body and a strong staff a difficult task. Join attorney and nonprofit expert Kate Weaver Patterson to learn how you can build and maintain outstanding boards and staff, even when everybody is anxious and cranky. You will also learn about the key roles that boards and staff play and the differences between governance and management. After participating in this webinar, you will be able to outline a strategy for your organization to develop and sustain an effective board (or other governing body) and staff.
In recent years, many grant-funded organizations have taken steps to address Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). Some funding sources and programs have even encouraged or required DEI efforts. However, the new Trump Administration has issued a series of anti-DEI Executive Orders designed to dismantle DEI initiatives. Join Attorney Kate Weaver Patterson for a look at the current legal status of DEI for grant-funded organizations. During this webinar, you will learn how organizations can balance their values, support their workers, and maintain their funding. After attending, you will be able to outline the recent Executive Orders and describe their effects on DEI efforts.
During the Thriving in Changing Times webinar series, you will learn about current challenges facing grant-funded organizations and how organizations can not only survive these challenges but prosper. This series will provide practical advice for all types of grant-funded organizations. Following the webinar series, you will be able to:
- Identify opportunities to diversify your funding streams;
- List at least three methods for diversifying funding sources;
- Describe common challenges to funding diversification and sustainability;
- Outline steps for developing a strategic plan;
- Distinguish long-range planning from strategic planning;
- List common pitfalls in implementing strategic plans;
- Identify the key roles of the board (governing body);
- Identify the key roles of the management team;
- Distinguish between governance and management;
- List at least three ways organizations can build strong boards;
- Outline recent Executive Orders addressing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI);
- Describe the current legal status of DEI efforts and related litigation; and,
- List at least three strategies for organizations in light of the DEI Executive Orders.
AUDIENCE
This four-part webinar series is intended for all grants management professionals. Whether you are new to the world of grants and financial assistance or you are an experienced practitioner, this webinar series will provide information to assist you in addressing important challenges facing grant-funded organizations.
CONTINUING EDUCATION
Each webinar in this series is recommended for 2 hours of Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credit in the field of specialized knowledge. Credit is available only for the live events; credit is not available for recorded webinars. Attendees will need to actively participate by answering at least 8 of 10 questions during the webinar to receive credit. The experience level for all webinars is basic. There are no prerequisites for attendance. No particular educational background is required, and advance preparation is not required.
SPEAKER
An experienced litigator, non-profit executive, and mediator, Kate Weaver Patterson brings her deep commitment to empowerment, community and transformation to each client of KWP Consulting. Since launching KWP Consulting in 2023, Kate has worked with numerous nonprofits across the country, helping them to plan effectively, navigate difficulties, and manage turbulent times.
Prior to launching KWP Consulting, Kate started the Second Chance Justice Collaborative in 2019, a program of national non-profit Root & Rebound, whose mission is to help people navigate reentry after imprisonment and mitigate the harms caused by mass incarceration. She is licensed to practice law in South Carolina, New Mexico, and New York. Kate lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with her husband and their three children, and works with consulting clients across the United States.
Before moving into nonprofit work, Kate worked as a litigation associate at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton in New York and then clerked for four federal judges around the country. Following her clerkships, she spent five years as a domestic violence, child abuse, and sex crimes prosecutor in Greenville, South Carolina, handling hundreds of cases and multiple trials. As a prosecutor, Kate learned the importance of thorough investigation and thoughtful deliberation to bring fairness to all involved.
Kate grew up in Greenville, South Carolina. She received her Bachelor of Arts in History and French from Duke University and earned her Master’s Degree in International Affairs, with distinction, from the University of Hong Kong. She returned to Duke University School of Law, receiving her juris doctor, magna cum laude.
BONUS: All paid registrants will receive free access for 30 days to on-demand recordings of each live session.