For nearly 400 nonprofit leaders, foundation representatives and philanthropic partners, a day at The Ritz-Carlton Bacara in Santa Barbara was about more than networking.
It was an opportunity to consider how better communication, stronger partnerships and new ideas can help build a more vibrant community.
The gathering was the annual Partnership for Excellence, a conference that for more than three decades has brought together the people working to address some of Santa Barbara County’s most pressing needs.
Hosted by The Foundation Roundtable, the event provides nonprofit staff, board members, funders and other philanthropic partners with an opportunity to learn from one another and explore the challenges and opportunities facing local communities.
This year, the focus was on the power of storytelling, particularly how nonprofit organizations can use stories to bring the data they collect to life.
For organizations accustomed to measuring their impact through numbers, outcomes and statistics, storytelling can provide another way to help donors, community members and decision-makers understand the human impact behind the data.
“My father, Palmer Jackson Sr., helped launch the Partnership for Excellence with Mike Towbes, Tom Parker and a few other local philanthropists back in 1993, so it means a lot to me to see it still thriving more than 30 years later,” conference chair Palmer Jackson Jr. said.
“There’s something pretty powerful about putting nearly 400 people who care deeply about this community in one room. Funders learn from nonprofits, nonprofits learn from one another, and everybody leaves with new ideas and new connections. That’s the magic of PFE.”
Keynote speaker Michael Kass explored the role storytelling can play in leadership, community building and planning for the future in his presentation, “Story as Strategy: Shaping What’s Next.”
Kass challenged participants to consider how stories can influence the way people lead, connect with their communities and navigate differences.
“How might we harness the power of story to enhance leadership, build community and shape the future?” he asked.
The theme carried into the afternoon, when participants could choose from sessions addressing a range of issues relevant to nonprofit organizations today.
Topics included Storytelling with Data, Finding Your Best Time, Energy and Focus, Communicating Across Differences, Partnering with AI, and Leading Through Ongoing Crises.
The topics reflected the rapidly changing environment in which local nonprofits operate, from new technologies and ongoing community challenges to the need to communicate effectively with people who may hold different perspectives.
But the Partnership for Excellence is about more than a single day of presentations.
Bringing nonprofit organizations and funders together in the same room creates opportunities for relationships that can extend well beyond the conference.
Those connections can lead to new collaborations, shared solutions and a deeper understanding of the work being done throughout the county.
At a time when community needs are complex and resources are often limited, collaboration has become increasingly important.
For more than 30 years, the Partnership for Excellence has provided a forum for that collaboration, reminding participants that strengthening Santa Barbara County often begins with people coming together to listen, learn and share their stories.