Building Community Network 2023

The Home Depot Foundation Building Community Network (BCN) was inspired by the Foundation’s belief that leaders working together can catalyze community change far beyond individual efforts. Through BCN, the Foundation seeks to engage and support the region’s top leaders in their work regarding critical causes important to the Foundation and the communities it serves.

BCN participation is extended by invitation only to senior leadership at more than 125 of the region’s premier nonprofit organizations. Participants engage in an annual series of impact speaker presentations and seminars organized around topics of critical importance to sector and community leadership in order to build understanding, enhance organizational response, and spur collaborative coordination.

Member engagement in annual leadership gatherings has created one of the longest-standing and most unique executive leadership programs in the country, which continues to drive innovation, understanding, collaboration, and goodwill among the organizations represented in the network. 

The Foundation and GCN welcome the 2023 Building Community Network Participants, and we look forward to engaging with you as we learn and collaborate throughout the program year.

2023 Program Focus

Mega Trends: Impacts and Opportunities for Nonprofits Over the Next 5 Years

Nonprofits have faced huge challenges and have undergone an incredible amount of change over the past few years, and this will not slow down in the near term. Nonprofits will have to continue to deal with the aftereffects of the pandemic and its attendant economic challenges while also navigating the ever-faster evolution of technology, ongoing changes in public support, and seismic shifts in the way work gets accomplished.

The 2023 BCN program presents a look into some of the mega trends we believe will influence the way nonprofits operate and serve community. A series of impact speaker events will provide context for three of the most pressing issues. Additionally, we will present a resource hub with an array of additional research, curated information, and bonus sessions to help BCN leaders build strategies and adapt in an uncertain world.

 

2023 Program Schedule

DateTimeLocation
KickoffThursday, August 10th11:30 am - 1 pmVirtual via Zoom
Session 1Thursday, August 24th10 am - noonGCN Headquarters
Session 2Tuesday, September 28th10 am - noonVirtual via Zoom
Session 3Thursday, October 19th10 am - noonVirtual via Zoom
CelebrationThursday, November 2nd4 - 6:30 pmEventide Brewery

 

2023 Program Details

Kickoff

Mega Trends: Impacts & Opportunities for Nonprofits Over the Next 5 Years   

Thursday, August 10th
11:30am-1pm
Virtual via Zoom

Presenter: Karen Beavor, GCN President & CEO

Over the next half decade – and beyond – a set of major trends will transform the landscape in which nonprofits operate, fundraise, and execute their mission. As nonprofit leaders formulate strategies, leaders must keep these megatrends in mind as they have major implications for almost every functional domain, from talent and technology to client services and fundraising. This session will present an overview of these mega trends and discuss how the various trends may impact the nonprofit sector and transform the organizations within them. The presentation is organized to present context for a series of main-event BCN seminars that will dig more deeply into some of the most pressing topics confronting nonprofit leaders. We will also introduce an online resource hub for participants, produced to provide a suite of the most relevant information, tools, and resources for leaders grappling with transformation as these trends sweep through the sector and society at large.


Session 1

The Future of Work: Challenges to the Workplace Environment and What CEOs and Senior Leaders Need to Prepare For

Thursday, August 24th
10 am – noon
GCN Headquarters @ 881 Memorial Drive

Presenter: Matt Garrett, PhD, PMP, Deloitte Consulting Senior Manager

COVID-19 forced organizations around the world to enact radically new ways of working and operating amid the pandemic’s human and economic impacts. Far from a brief anomaly, new ways of working and continuous change in the workforce itself have revolutionized the workplace. Nonprofits have had to confront all the same issues, with fewer resources, to compete for their most important resource – their people. This session will look at the future of work and the associated people, organizational, and social/public/policy implications that will help nonprofit leaders create human-centered strategies in response to accelerating change.


Session 2

Top Trends Reshaping Philanthropy Across the Southeast

Tuesday, September 28th
10 am – noon
Virtual via Zoom

Presenter: Janine Lee, Philanthropy Southeast President & CEO

Evolving forces, from societal expectations and technology to the global economy, are redefining the way supporters engage with nonprofits, the way nonprofits engage with donors, and the expectations society has of nonprofits and foundations alike. In this session, we will hear first-hand from Philanthropy Southeast, the premier network for the South’s foundation community, on the ways that Southern philanthropy is being reimagined and reshaped for a new era. We’ll explore Leading with Courage, a new report from Philanthropy Southeast that examines the cultural, social, and political forces that are influencing Southern communities while providing an in-depth look at the ways foundations and other philanthropic institutions are adapting to meet the evolving needs of those they serve.


Session 3

How Artificial Intelligence Will Impact Work and Nonprofits

Thursday, October 19th
10 am – noon
Virtual via Zoom

Presenter: Radhika Tripurani, Microsoft

In an era defined by rapid technological advancements, the convergence of cloud computing, big data, artificial intelligence (AI), and 5G connectivity is reshaping the landscape of many organizations. We are here to talk about the profound influence of this technological convergence on nonprofits, shedding light on how it will revolutionize their operations, mission delivery, and community engagement, while also delving into the evolving expectations of the communities they serve.


Celebration

Thursday, November 2nd
4:00 – 6:30pm
Eventide Brewery, 1015 Grant St. SE, Atlanta

Join us to gather and connect, live and in person, with the Home Depot Foundation and your BCN colleagues, representing metro Atlanta’s premier nonprofit leadership, for drinks, dinner, and great conversation!

Questions? Reach out to us at  development@gcn.org.