Harness the Power of Your Mission

During this breakout session, you’ll explore the importance of aligning your personal motivation with your team’s collective mission to achieve success. You’ll discuss how to find purpose in your work and stay motivated by connecting your role to the broader goal. Learn effective strategies for collaborating with people who have different values and beliefs to foster a unified, high-performing team. Through practical exercises and insights, this session will help you embrace diversity, strengthen teamwork, and contribute meaningfully to your mission. 

About Joe Lugo

As a community leader, proud Puerto Rican, and inclusion and leadership coach, Joe Lugo empowers individuals to reevaluate the filters through which they see the world, helping people shape a more inclusive and empathetic outlook.

Joe founded J^3 Creations, a consulting firm that helps organizations embrace inclusion, build equity, and focus on leadership development to unlock their full potential. He also serves as the director of foundation and entrepreneurial services for AMPLIFY Clearwater, where he works to elevate businesses through strategic support, community engagement, and inclusive economic development.

Joe is a published author, co-founder of the first-ever Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Pinellas and serves in leadership and consulting roles with The Hispanic Leadership Council. He currently serves on the board of directors for The Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg and the Hispanic Outreach Center. He also serves on the Pinellas Council for the Community Foundation Tampa Bay.

Joe has completed three degrees and is pursuing a fourth, constantly striving to grow so he can better serve others. He also founded a nonprofit that provides educational services, giving back to the community that shaped him.

More Than a Paycheck: Creative Ways to Delight & Retain Your Team 

Discover creative, cost-effective ways to engage and delight your employees without financial incentives. During this breakout, you’ll learn the five key pillars that drive motivation and satisfaction more than money. Through practical examples and interactive discussions, you’ll learn how to implement low-cost strategies that enhance employee well-being, retention and commitment. You’ll leave with actionable ideas to boost engagement and morale in your organization. 

About Jennifer Currence

Jennifer Currence is a senior partner of HR Soul Consulting where she delivers talent, culture and strategy results through customized training and coaching programs for leaders. Jennifer is the content creator for the Society for Human Resource Management’s People Manager Qualification (PMQ), was named Tampa Bay’s Consultant of the Year in 2017, and was listed as one of the nation’s top 100 Influential HR professionals in Leadership and Development in September 2023. 

Jennifer earned her MBA with an emphasis in management and holds nationally accredited advanced certifications in coaching (PCC) and human resources (SHRM-SCP). She served as a professor of management at the University of Tampa’s college of business for 11 years. Jennifer has been published in several industry magazines and is the author of three books on behavioral business competencies in HR.  

High Impact Starts Here: The Nonprofit Audit You’ve Never Been Taught to Run

You’ve accepted the mission, but is your organization truly equipped to carry it out?

Your nonprofit tracks grants, budgets and outcomes, but when was the last time you audited your people power?

This session reframes what an “audit” can be: less about numbers and more about the people systems that fuel your mission. Behind every nonprofit is an invisible infrastructure of staff, volunteers and donor relationships that either drives impact or quietly drains it. In this eye-opening session, Kadian Douglas introduces The Human Balance Sheet™, a diagnostic tool designed to help leaders at every level evaluate what spreadsheets can’t: morale, alignment and an organization’s collective capacity to deliver results.

This isn’t another team-building or culture talk. It’s a bold, strategic framework to uncover hidden gaps, expose operational blind spots, and build the kind of human equity that sustains long-term impact.

You’ll walk away with:

• A visual map of your organization’s strengths, gaps, and people systems to support smarter decisions
• A repeatable tool to guide team development, engagement, and leadership strategy

Whether you’re scaling, stabilizing or navigating internal fatigue, this is the audit your mission has been waiting for.

About Kadian Douglas

Founder of The Human Balance Sheet, Kadian Douglas is a powerful leadership and peak performance strategist, speaker, and champion for maximizing human capital.  

Drawing from her background as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), she developed The Human Balance Sheet framework to help mission-driven organizations identify hidden “leaks” and amplify the assets they already have — time, talent, and donations — for greater impact. 

Kadian serves as the director of information security at the second-largest travel company in the world, leading global initiatives around digital transformation, emerging technologies and governance. 

An international speaker, Kadian has delivered impactful talks across the globe, from entrepreneurial summits in Africa to major U.S. stages. A former All-American track and field athlete and professional football player, she brings the discipline, focus and resilience of an elite athlete into every room she steps into — helping others lead with clarity and confidence. 

Kadian serves as chair of the Tampa Bay Chamber Minority Business Accelerator, where she supports diverse entrepreneurs in building scalable and sustainable ventures. She is also a board member and the Finance Committee chair for the Nonprofit Leadership Center, advancing the development of high-performing nonprofit leaders and organizations across the region. 

Next-Gen Board Members: Driving Growth, Impact & Sustainability

A strong, engaged board is one of the most critical assets a nonprofit can have — but what does it take to cultivate high-impact board members who drive real strategic growth, long-term sustainability, and meaningful impact?  

During this panel discussion, we’ll explore the essential qualities of high-performing boards, the key roles and responsibilities of board members, and how they can go beyond governance to become true strategic partners. 

Moderator 

Katie Shultz, Vice President of Communications, Community Foundation Tampa Bay  

Panelists

Chris Hackney, President of SBA & USDA Lending, BayFirst National Bank

Jerrica Peets, Program Manager, LEAP Tampa Bay College Access Network

The Honorable Alex Sink

How to Fortify Your Nonprofit

In a climate of uncertainty, nonprofit organizations must prioritize resilience and ethical integrity. During this engaging workshop, you’ll receive actionable strategies to strengthen your organization from within. You’ll participate in a brief risk assessment and begin strategic planning through a predictive analysis exercise. Attendees will explore internal alignment, emphasizing transparent communication and staff well-being, while reinforcing core values. This session will also acknowledge the institutional imperatives of maintaining open communication with communities through strategic messaging while helping to build powerful coalitions, ensuring your nonprofit not only survives but thrives in challenging times. 

About Nestor Ortiz

A seasoned advocate for social justice, Nestor Ortiz brings more than 30 years of experience in organizational and community development work, empowering marginalized communities and the organizations that serve them. Through his firm, 16 Point Compass, Nestor provides strategic planning and alignment, consensus facilitation, leadership coaching, internal strengthening, and community engagement to nonprofits, community-based organizations, government agencies, and educational institutions nationwide. Guiding them through some of the most complicated internal and external challenges facing organizations today, Nestor’s work emphasizes restorative institutional practices and collaborative dynamics, ultimately building bridges and fostering understanding across diverse levels of institutional engagement and investment. Driven by a deep commitment to equity and justice, Nestor leverages his extensive expertise to create substantive positive and sustainable change now and into the future.