Community foundation member gains from Canadian conference

On June 1-2, Imperial Community Foundation member Tyler Pribbeno attended the two-day Reconnect 2023 conference in Toronto, Canada.
Reconnect 2023 community foundation conference was the first one held in-person since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pribbeno was invited to attend along with other members of the Nebraska Community Foundation.
“In years past, board members and staff had the opportunity to attend, but in previous years they’ve also asked community volunteers from across the state, which is why I was invited this year,” Pribbeno explained.
Although the conference was held Thursday and Friday, it began with a pre-conference on Wednesday.
“We got to tour the power plant on the Canadian side of the Niagara Falls,” he said.
That afternoon, the bus took the group to the Heartland Forest Nature Experience.
Pribbeno explained that there was a big group of about 20 or 30 members from Ukraine, members from the Nebraska Community Foundations and many people from all over Canada.
“The way Canada operates their Community Foundations is similar to the way the Nebraska Community Foundation operates in the sense that there’s one overarching statewide organization,” he explained.
“Then each community has their own volunteer boards just like Nebraska’s does, which is apparently not very common,” he said.
Members from Canada have continuously encouraged the Nebraska Community Foundation to attend because of how similar their structures operate.
“It’s an important way for leaders in Nebraska to expand their way of thinking,” Pribbeno said.
Their days began with breakfast and a plenary session with a couple speakers.
Later they were divided into different breakout sessions of in-depth conversations on various topics.
The breakout sessions consisted of a presentation by a speaker or a panel of speakers.
Pribbeno said he enjoyed the discussion in the breakout sessions.
“There was a lot of back and forth between those presenters and the crowd or the crowd and the crowd,” he said.
Pam Abbott, chair of the Nebraska Community Foundation Board, attended along with Pribbeno.
She shared that one of her best experiences was the uncanny ease with which conference attendees connected, resulting in rich conversations throughout the two-day event.
Nebraska Community Foundation Director of Marketing Carrie Maldek-Malani said this conference is unique and a good fit for the Nebraska Community Foundation staff, board and volunteers because it is centered on community and relationship building.
Pribbeno extended his stay to be able to explore Toronto.
He was there for a week and was able to visit Graffiti Alley, which is one of the projects on which he based the Art Park project in Imperial.
“Canadians are known across the world as very friendly and nice and that’s absolutely what we saw, not just at the conference but also exploring Toronto. Everyone I came across was very sweet and genuinely kind,” he said.