We Produce Our Own Energy A portrait poem by Na Mee (All the words that appear in this poem were heard at some point during The Foraker Group’s 2025 Leadership Summit, April 14 & 15, 2025. They have been lifted out of their specific context and written into this found poem, intended as a group portrait. You can watch the video of the performance here.) All of the leaders across Alaska owe at least eight people here an email. We did our list! It’s get shit done week How many hyper achievers are in the room?                      I don’t need to see hands. I know it’s over half of you   We know you’re wearing many hats. We’re all spread really… Read more »

This conversation between Laurie Wolf (CEO, The Foraker Group) and Senator Lisa Murkowski was held at the 2025 Leadership Summit on April 14, 2025, at the Dena’ina Civic Convention Center in Anchorage, Alaska. The Leadership Summit is a nonprofit leadership conference held every two years by The Foraker Group. You can watch a video of their conversation here.  Laurie Wolf: We are so incredibly grateful that Senator Murkowski has taken the time to be with all of us today. Just so much gratitude for you and your staff. You’ve been so wonderful taking all of our phone calls, all of our emails, all of our “Oh my goodness, what’s happening next?” moments. Thank you so much. I know you have an amazing staff as well. So an extra shout-out to… Read more »

Opening the 9th Foraker Leadership on April 14, President/CEO Laurie Wolf called for nonprofits to reach deeply and explore ways to better support their missions through collaborations. Below is a transcript of her remarks. To know Foraker is to know our Nonprofit Sustainability Model. This is not a recipe but rather a way of making the right decisions for your mission, so you keep moving toward success. We know this is a journey and not a destination, and as board and staff stewards of your mission, we hope that your collective decision making leaves your mission in a better place than you found it. As we look through the lenses of sustainability, we could have encouraged you to simply focus on your own core purpose and values and your own… Read more »

Never let a crisis go to waste. Find the opportunity in the chaos. Look for the connections to make things better. Find a new way to see what is happening by joining together. Find our own ground and help others find theirs. These are the things I have been thinking about as we create ways to keep you informed, keep you connected, and keep us moving forward during these incredibly turbulent times. We are leaning all the way in with trusted tools, new data turned to action, lots of communication, and a bunch of tried and true ways to help you feel less isolated. In a few weeks, we present again one of our signature opportunities to draw you together – The Foraker Leadership Summit. This is the largest gathering… Read more »

One of the highlights of the Summit is connecting with amazing nonprofit and tribal leaders from Utqiaġvik to Ketchikan and everywhere in between. If traveling to Anchorage isn’t in your budget, you can apply for a travel scholarship! Don’t wait—applications close tomorrow, March 7. Apply for travel assistance. … Read more »

What’s Next? If you are a West Wing fan, you hear that question when the voice of Martin Sheen as President of the United States takes on one big thing after another. And so, that is what we will also do as this election season draws to a conclusion. For some of you, this election was a high point, and for others, a low point — certainly, it brought a response that resonated deeper than a person or a political party. Regardless, I feel certain that not everyone experienced the election the same, nor will we experience the consequences of the decisions made by the American people the same. During the pandemic, it was an often-used metaphor that “we are swimming in the same ocean, but we are not in the… Read more »

You’re invited to the 2025 Foraker Leadership Summit! Join us on April 14 & 15 at the Dena’ina Center in Anchorage to stretch your thinking and discover ways to put new ideas into action. Stay tuned for information on registration, speakers, and more…. Read more »

We are grateful for a thoughtful and dedicated community of nonprofit leaders. Thank you for making the 2023 Leadership Summit a place of reflection and learning. Together, we are creating a resilient and reimagined Alaska! How will you take the concepts you learned back to your organization? For starters, you can log back into the conference app for the next 3 months (until August 12) to watch the recorded sessions and download the handouts. We have posted the slides we have available from the speakers. We encourage you to review what you have learned with your team – board, staff, and volunteers. If you took a professional portrait with Photo Emporium, you can find your photos to download here. Here are some additional ways you can continue to connect and integrate what you’ve learned: Executive Directors – join us for the next CEO… Read more »

A new season is upon us. April brings us many variations of religious holidays – Ramadan, Easter, Passover – reminders of new beginnings and a time to reimagine what is next for ourselves and our communities. I have been doing my own reflection as we work to prepare for the upcoming Leadership Summit happening virtually May 4 and in person May 11 & 12. Our Leadership Summits aren’t ordinary conferences where a group of experts stands at the front of the room to tell you what you should know. Instead, you are at the center of the space – holding and owning, thinking and talking, and reimagining together, from the thoughts being shared, what might come next. The genesis of this year’s Summit is actually found in a newsletter article… Read more »

You’re invited to the 2023 Foraker Leadership Summit! Join us on May 11 & 12 at the Dena’ina Center in Anchorage to stretch your thinking and discover ways to put new ideas into action. We’ll also host a virtual pre-conference on May 4. What’s the conference about? Each Summit has a theme to inspire and grow nonprofit and tribal leaders. This year the theme is Reimagining the Way We Work. The uncertainty of the last few years has tested our long-held assumptions about how and where we make mission work. And it has us thinking “Why are we doing it this way? Is there a better way?” Our time together will be spent with the intention that we cannot simply “go back” to how we used to do things, but rather we must take what we have learned and move forward with strength. We… Read more »