Meeting/Event Information

IT'S TIME FOR OUR ANNUAL MEMBERS MEETING!

[This event is rescheduled from the January date which was cancelled due to inclement weather.]

Members and guests are welcome to this no-cost event.

WHEN:       February 17, 8:30AM - 10:30AM

WHERE:      Calvin University, Hekman Library

PARKING:  Free parking is available in the parking lot around the Covenant Fine Arts Center. 

*** Morning snacks and beverages will be provided. ***

Join us for this annual WMPGG business meeting and networking event. We will take a glimpse back at 2025, introduce your 2026 officers, elect new board members, and launch the year with an engaging presentation, 11 Trends in Philanthropy for 2026, by the experts at the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy.  

This 2026 report is an acknowledgment of the moment we find ourselves in — a moment of hyper disruption, one that combines both great anxiety about where we are headed and great possibility for what could come next. Our future feels more uncertain than ever – but the opportunity to create and scale life-changing innovations for our communities feels present, as well.

Join us as Tory Martin, Director of Engagement and Knowledge Building, with the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy, shares this timely and important exploration of how the philanthropic sector has evolved over the past decade, and what the future might bring. Together, we will:

• Learn about specific key trends and macro-level forces shaping — and being shaped by — philanthropy practitioners and colleagues in other sectors.

• Think about how these trends will affect your work and relationships in the year and years ahead.

AGENDA

8:30 am > Networking & Breakfast

9:00 am > Annual Meeting

9:15 am > Program – 11 Trends in Philanthropy: 2026 Report by Dorothy A. Johnson Center

10:00 am > Networking

10:30 am > Event Concludes

More about the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy:

The Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy is an externally-focused unit of Grand Valley State University. Since 1992, the Johnson Center has been a leader in helping you understand, strengthen, and advance effective philanthropy for strong, equitable, and inclusive communities. We work with nonprofits and foundations, scholars and students, and partners in business and government to connect practitioners to the information and skills they need to make change for good.

The Johnson Center offers:

• Competency-based professional education through public and private courses
• Cross-sector research, evaluation, and strategic services
• Bold thinking and insights to advance the field

We bridge research and practice to ensure community changemakers have access to the knowledge, guidance, and supports they need.

About the presenter:

Tory Martin joined the Johnson Center in October 2017 as director of communications and engagement. In 2022, her role expanded to include strategic partnerships, and in 2025 she was named director of engagement and knowledge building.

Tory's responsibilities at the Johnson Center have always included creative oversight for the Johnson Center’s communications and marketing efforts across publications and digital channels. This work includes overall strategy, content development, and tracking engagement metrics. She also has ongoing responsibility as coordinator and catalyzer for the center’s fund development efforts and funder stewardship, in close partnership with the executive director, senior leadership, and GVSU’s University Development team. She is the primary strategic staff support for the Johnson Center’s Leadership Council.

Previously, Tory served as grants manager for National Public Radio (NPR) and held several roles in the audience and education departments of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History (NMAH), where she was a founding member of the staff diversity advisory council.

THANK YOU to our venue sponsor, Calvin University!