Meet Danielle Holly, VM Summit 16 Speaker

On October 25, 2016, CSR and nonprofit professionals will come together in Chicago at VM Summit 16 to talk corporate volunteerism. In this series of Q&A blog posts, I’ll introduce you a few of the experts who will make an appearance as Summit speakers. Get your VM Summit 16 ticket.

Name: Danielle Holly

Title: CEO

Organization: Common Impact

VM Summit 16 Session: Continue the Conversation: Corporate & Nonprofit Panel

What is your session about? And what do you hope attendees will get out of it?

The session is focused on developing meaningful partnerships between the corporate and nonprofit sector. We’ll have a cross-sector panel that is asked to respond in real time to the questions, challenges, and ideas shared by the audience. The idea?  Bring the concepts of what makes a great, balanced partnership to life. The deep dive sessions that will follow will take the key ideas and challenges shared in the opening session and provide clear action steps for both companies and nonprofits to do once they leave the conference.

What is the biggest misconception people have about the nonprofit sector? The corporate sector?

While Common Impact is technically a nonprofit, we work every day with both companies and nonprofits, so we don’t take sector sides! One of the biggest misconceptions that I see about nonprofit organizations is that they just need to operate more strategically or “like a business” in order to be effective, when really the symptoms that lead people to say that have more to do with the nonprofit sector being significantly under-resourced in capacity building areas. And then one of the biggest misconceptions I see about companies is that they’re monolithic, with one culture and one perspective, when really they’re a much more nuanced collection of individuals with different perspectives, motivations, and backgrounds – all of whom want to be a real part of their community.

What are you most looking forward to about VM Summit 16?

The Summit is one of my favorite events each year! I’ve found it to be such a great group of like-minded practitioners who are working hard to drive change through their companies and organizations – and honestly sharing what’s working and what’s challenging. Looking forward to another year!

To learn more about Danielle, check out her bio on our Summit speakers’ page. And if you haven’t yet, register today for VM Summit 16!