The Growing Nonprofits Series is a collaborative effort led by the Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Studies Network (NVSSN) at Luther College, in partnership with the Saskatchewan Community Foundation.
The series is designed to enhance the professional development and capacity of nonprofit professionals through ongoing learning and community-driven research. Participants can take advantage of a variety of complimentary learning experiences aimed at equipping nonprofit professionals with the skills and knowledge to thrive in today’s ever-changing landscape.
The Growing Nonprofits Series begins September 23, 2026!
Collaboration in Action: Working with Municipal Governments: A Case Study from Saskatoon
Wednesday, September 23 (Noon – 1:15 p.m.) via Zoom
Can nonprofits and municipal governments collaborate to improve the delivery of community services? In this presentation, we share early insights from an ongoing evaluation project that assesses how social enterprises can help provide meaningful employment to their participants and also help municipalities improve their service standards while building organizational capacity to further work with social enterprises. The Canadian Centre for the Study of Co-operatives partnered with the City of Saskatoon and Quint Development for the evaluation of two social enterprise models aimed at improving community safety while offering employment opportunities and wrap-around supports to people exiting incarceration: Build Up Saskatoon (BUS) and Saskatoon Wellbeing Employment Enterprise Program (SWEEP). In addition, we will reflect on the barriers and enablers for this collaboration.
Dr. Manuela Valle Castro has over 20 years of experience in community-based research, program evaluation, and education. Originally from Chile, she has a PhD on Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice, and a Master in Women’s and Gender Studies from the University of British Columbia. She is currently a researcher and program evaluator at the Canadian Centre for the Study of Co-operatives at the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Saskatchewan. She lives in Saskatoon with her 2 teens and 8 pets.
Aaron Timoshyk, Program Manager of social enterprise at Quint. Aaron brings a unique background to the role of Program Manager, with his experience working closely with marginalized communities as a teacher originally drawing him to the position. With a desire to support community building, and economic development, Aaron brings his combination of experience in a variety of fields, including construction to the program, and looks to continue supporting crew members in their growth both personally and professionally.
Conflict in the Non-Profit Sector Workplace
Tuesday, October 20 (1:00 – 3:00 p.m.) in person at the mâmawêyatitân centre
Where you have people together, conflict is inevitable. Destructive conflict isn’t. This workshop will help you mitigate and address conflict by understanding why conflict happens and how we each respond in conflict situations. You will come away with a practical and useful model to handle difficult conversations and resolve conflict in a way that preserves relationships, trust, and the mission of your Non-Profit Organization. During our time together, you will have the opportunity to practice these new skills and workshop conflict examples from your workplace.
Sara Lambert is a Qualified Mediator and a Workplace Investigator. Sara mediates all kinds of conflict in families, communities, and workplaces. She is committed to supporting people and community to confidently address conflict in a respectful and productive way to create a peaceful ripple effect into our society at large.
AI Judgement Literacy for Nonprofit Organizations
Wednesday, October 28 (Noon – 1:15 p.m.) via Zoom
Remember our first session? We mastered the “how-to,” but now we face a bigger challenge: keeping the human in control. As GenAI becomes a daily sidekick, the real skill isn’t just knowing the tools; it’s Judgement Literacy—the critical eye you bring to make sure AI actually matches your values. Without active oversight, we risk flooding our sector with “gray literature” that:
- Strips away the authentic lived experiences that make our work unique.
- Removes the local context that connects with our community.
- Sacrifices the deep narrative impact that donors actually care about.
Who this session is for:
- Nonprofit Leaders: Balancing the need for efficiency with the requirement for genuine empathy.
- Communication Pros: Tired of “”gray literature”” and ready to reclaim your authentic voice.
- Knowledge Mobilizers: Professionals who need actionable, ethical frameworks to guide your team through the AI noise.
In this session, you’ll learn to act as an “AI Orchestrator.” We’ll walk through my T.O.R.C.H. framework—a step-by-step evaluation tool to stress-test your AI, verify accuracy, and align results with your mission.
Key Takeaways
- Lead, Don’t Just Use: Move beyond basic prompting to ethically govern AI, ensuring the “”human in the loop”” stays in the driver’s seat.
- Safeguard Your Voice: Defeat the “”gray literature”” trap and keep the authentic stories that make your work resonate.
- Master the T.O.R.C.H. Framework: Walk away with concrete strategies to verify, align, and trust your AI outputs.”
“Hi, I’m Bonnie Zink! I’m the person who takes the scary out of tech. Known as the “”AI Lady”” at conferences far and wide, I’m on a mission to make sure technology serves you, not the other way around. I help nonprofit leaders stop feeling intimidated by the “”tech stuff”” and start using it to amplify their impact.
My secret sauce boils down to three things:
- People First: We move from “”AI-curious”” to “”AI-governed,”” ensuring your unique human voice is always the lead, never the afterthought.
- Clear & Actionable: I’m a translator for complex ideas, turning overwhelming data into strategies that move the needle.
- Values at the Core: Tech changes, but your values don’t. I make sure your ethical standards stay in the driver’s seat.
When I’m not coaching, you’ll likely find me geeking out on the latest AI trends—or helping teams trade their ‘tech overwhelm’ for the clarity and confidence they need to truly shine. Ready to make the shift? Let’s turn that AI potential into real-world impact together!”
Working with the Media to Advance Community Change
Wednesday, November 4 (Noon – 1:15 p.m.) via Zoom
Strong media relationships remain one of the most effective tools nonprofits have to raise awareness, influence public conversations, and advance meaningful community change. In an era of social media, streaming platforms, and fragmented audiences, earned media continues to play a critical role in building credibility, amplifying advocacy efforts, and reaching decision-makers.
In this interactive session, participants will learn how nonprofit organizations can work effectively with journalists to tell compelling stories that inspire action. Drawing on experience as both a former reporter and communications professional, the presenter will explore what makes an advocacy issue newsworthy, how to build productive relationships with reporters, how to craft an effective media pitch, and how to prepare for interviews with confidence. The session will also examine how social media complements traditional media strategies, particularly for smaller organizations with limited communications capacity.
Designed for nonprofit professionals, community leaders, and students, this session combines practical strategies with real-world examples that participants can immediately apply within their own organizations. A presentation will be followed by an interactive question-and-answer discussion, providing opportunities to explore current media challenges and opportunities facing the nonprofit sector.
For more than a decade, Alex Brown has been delighting audiences across Canada with her bubbly personality and quick wit as a host, news anchor, and social media personality.
Born and raised in Regina, Saskatchewan, Alex now calls Saskatoon home. She moved to Pickering, Ontario with her family in 2004, and attended Toronto Metropolitan University (formally known as Ryerson University) for Radio and Television Arts from 2010 to 2014.
From 2014 to 2024, she worked as a producer, web writer, reporter, weather presenter, social media host and news anchor with CTV News in Regina, Winnipeg, and Saskatoon. In those ten years, she cultivated a trusted relationship with her audience, both on television and online.
She then made the jump to radio in 2024 as a show host and reporter at Rawlco Radio’s 650 CKOM in Saskatoon, hosting “”Talk Shots with Alex Brown”” on Saturday mornings.
Alex now lives with her fiancée Brad, their curious cat Luna, and goofy dog Frank.
Most recently, she works as the marketing manager for Wanuskewin Heritage Park, leading marketing and communications for a national Indigenous cultural and tourism destination.
Coercive Control Framework in the Context of Non-Profit Safety
Wednesday, November 25 (Noon – 1:15 p.m.) via Zoom
Nonprofit organizations are workplaces, community spaces, and places of trust. Boards, executives, and managers have an important role in creating environments where employees, volunteers, and community members experience dignity, respect, and safety.
In this session, Sagesse will explore the value of using a coercive control framework rather than an incident-based approach to understanding violence and risk.
Participants will examine four key areas:
- Recognizing coercive control.
- Empathizing with people impacted by coercive control.
- Asking helpful questions to somebody impacted by coercive control.
- Listening to people impacted by coercive control (any why that might seem more difficult than it sounds).
By exploring how narratives about violence and coercive control shape organizational decision-making, participants will gain insight into how nonprofit leaders can recognize their responsibilities while respecting the role of specialized community organizations.
Jodi Hartung is the Saskatchewan REAL Talk Coordinator with Sagesse, a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering people, organizations, and communities to disrupt systems and patterns of domestic abuse. With over a decade of experience in the non-profit sector, Jodi brings a wealth of experience in community building, program development, and education. She is passionate about creating spaces where individuals feel informed, empowered, and heard. Outside of work, Jodi is a proud dog enthusiast and an avid fan of the television show Survivor.