Agenda: Monday, April 11

9 am – 10:15 am         Welcome/Opening Roundtable Program: It’s All Local/You Decide the Outcome!

 To say “all politics is local” takes on new significance in a time when the local, state and national political system is experiencing a dramatic sea change, with new movements and parties colliding with a radically changing way of doing business on the federal level. While elections decide some outcomes, you must think more comprehensively about ways you can advocate for disability issues, finance services for the disabled and create strong, broad coalitions to ensure a life without limits for people with disabilities for decades to come.

This session creates a “lab” for Affiliates, organized by topic and budget size, to consider the ideas and solutions to these core challenges and opportunities and to discuss what questions they would like explored more in-depth during the conference. These questions will be funneled to conference speakers in plenary sessions throughout the conference to guide the conversation on topics that matter most to affiliates.
Moderator:
• Stephen Bennett, President & Chief Executive Officer United Cerebral Palsy
 

10:30 am – 12 pm           Plenary: Health Care & Education Reform Aren’t Political Buzz Words, It’s About How You’re Going To Do Your Work 

The Health Care debate took on new meaning when Congressional leadership changed hands in November. Discussions abound about whether the landmark legislation will be preserved or dramatically altered. Concurrently, there is a huge debate on the future of education and employment for people with disabilities. But outside the Beltway, affiliates are struggling to make sense of what the laws and possible reforms mean for them in their respective states and local communities. This session explores implications for the network and ways the entire network might think creatively to change the conversation for the future.

 Panelists:
• Connie Garner, Executive Director of the CLASS Act and former Policy Director to Sen. Edward Kennedy focusing on Disability and Special Populations (discussing issues at the federal level) 

•Daryn Demeritt, President, D2 Public Affairs. A View from the States

• Jane West, Vice President of Policy, Programs and Professional Services, American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. Education Issues

William Kiernan, Director of the Institute for Community Inclusion and research professor in the Graduate College of Education, University of Massachusetts, Boston. Employment Issues

1:30 – 2:30 pm Breakout sessions

Executive/Program: Federal reforms and record state budget deficits are creating new realities for your long-term services and supports programs.  There are challenges and opportunities in this new environment, join this session for further discussion on how your affiliate can best navigate the changing landscape.

Panelists:

• Connie Garner, Executive Director of the CLASS Act and former Policy Director to Sen. Edward Kennedy focusing on Disability and Special Populations 

• Daryn Demeritt, President, D2 Public Affairs

Executive/Program: How does health care and education reform impact programs in employment and training? How do I design current and future programs to ensure success? 

Panelists:

• Jane West, Vice President of Policy, Programs and Professional Services, American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education 

• William Kiernan, Director of the Institute for Community Inclusion and research professor in the Graduate College of Education, University of Massachusetts, Boston

Emerging Leaders: Communications and Marketing: Framing Complex Conversations

 How can my UCP affiliate frame the conversation about health care and other important issues in my community through dynamic media relations, partnerships and by infusing messages throughout my communications cluster? 

Moderator:

 • Gloria Johnson-Cusack, Senior Vice President, GMMB

Emerging Leaders/Development: Measuring Your Success and Benchmarking Your Future   What are the most recent fundraising trends? How does your affiliate measure and monitor success of your fundraising programs? How do you determine if different fundraising programs are topping out or just waiting to grow? How can you use this information to make informed decisions to determine where to focus your time and energy? Are you as effective as you can be? As government funding shifts, local and national fundraising efforts will be required to fill the gap. This session will present the most recent data about fundraising trends overall, and in the health sector. With trends as the baseline, you will learn about how organizations look at specific program performance – what types of metrics they use – and how it translates into maximizing fundraising potential within your affiliate.

Panelists:
• Kristin McCurry, Founder, MINDset direct
• Mindy Gumb, Vice President, MINDset direct

2:45 pm – 4 pm Marketing Your Story: The Power of Building a “Purpose” Brand

Thinking comprehensively about how to tell and sell your organization’s story The explosive growth of technology and communications has resulted in an info-saturated public, making it increasingly difficult to get your message in front of and heard by people that can help you succeed: funders, civic leaders and the mass media.

Join one of the nation’s most successful branding experts in a session that explores ways to get the UCP message front and center in your local market. Read the White Paper on Marketing Transformation.

Moderator:
• Emilio Pardo, Chief Branding Officer, AARP (CONFIRMED)

4 pm – 5 pm Breakout sessions

Executive: Rebranding an Institution: How do you remake an entire institutional identity. Explore the ways that the Spastic Centre transformed itself into Cerebral Palsy Alliance, complete with a new name and a new way of telling the story of disabilities in Australia. From hard-hitting national PSAs to recreating the organization’s entire identity, UCP affiliates will debate how best to tell the story of disabilities in their own towns and cities.

Moderator:
• Marcus Blease, General Manager, Cerebral Palsy Alliance, Australia 

Executive/Program: UCP Ad Hoc Committees:  The nature of conducting business as a UCP affiliate is undergoing dramatic change.  Join the chairs of four special ad hoc committees looking at core areas of our business and receive updates on the work of their committees and future exploration to be conducted.

Program Advancement

Resource Development

Panelists:

• Diane Wilush, Executive Director, UCP of Georgia, on Community Impact and Policy
• Glenn Harger, President & CEO, UCP of Mobile, on Program Advancement
• Marie Polinsky, President & CEO, Alleghenies UCP, on Resource Development

Emerging Leaders/Development: Learning Lab:

This session is geared specifically for development professionals.  Through fun and innovative techniques, participants will share fundraising challenges and work through solutions with other.  This is an opportunitiy to gain new insight and ideas that participants can take back to their affiliates.

Moderator:

• Giselle Pole, Director of Development, UCP National