Boston Digs In To New Report on Social Sector’s Future

On June 3, more than 70 social-sector leaders and professionals gathered at the City Year headquarters in Boston’s Back Bay. On the agenda? What the next 20 years will bring for the nonprofit sector, in light of new research on key trends shaping our world and our work.

Independent Sector (IS), a leadership, public-policy, and service organization for the nonprofit and philanthropic communities, conducted in-depth research in 2014 to identify these key trends. This year, IS set out to convene community conversations, called “Threads,” in cities across the country to explore these trends’ implications for our sector and society.

Independent Sector

Download the full report (PDF 777 KB)

Barr was pleased to work with IS and eight other partners to host Threads Boston. Participants represented a cross-section of nonprofits, philanthropy, consulting, education, and B corps—from chief executives to development and communications directors to evaluation, program, and policy officers and associates. Significantly, Threads Boston drew more millennials than any other Threads event thus far.

This was a particularly timely conversation in Boston, given the amount of change taking place here and across the Commonwealth, particularly leadership changes in government, schools, and a host of nonprofit and philanthropic institutions. As Barr Foundation President Jim Canales noted in his brief remarks to open the day, these and other changes present great opportunities for new conversations and ways of working together.

In addition, check out this Storify to see what people were sharing on Twitter using #ThreadsBOS.