Program Description

Florida voters will consider a proposed constitutional amendment this November that would expand homestead property tax exemptions and significantly reduce local government revenues for cities and counties across the state.

Join Florida Nonprofit Alliance to better understand the proposed amendment and its potential implications for nonprofit organizations, along with a review of how nonprofits can legally advocate and an overview of resources available to support nonprofits in educating about the amendment.

SPEAKER

Leah McDermott, Florida Nonprofit Alliance

Leah Donelan McDermott has been working and volunteering in the nonprofit sector for more than 25 years. She specializes in helping organizations grow their capacity to meet their mission through training, leadership development, strategic thinking and planning, research and processes and procedures implementation. Leah conducts and facilitates trainings on various topics including board roles and responsibilities; board governance and engagement; advocacy; and research and trends in the nonprofit sector, among others. She also has been an active volunteer and Board member for local and international nonprofit organizations. In her role as Vice President of Policy and Programs at Florida Nonprofit Alliance, she oversees research, curriculum development, learning events, and membership and supports the advocacy and lobbying activities for FNA.

Full participation in the AI in our Mission-Driven World program is applicable for 1 point in Category 1.B-Education of the CFRE Internatioal application for initial certification and/or recertification.

Program Description

Pam and Trisha will lead a discussion on the current state of AI, including what they are hearing, seeing and the challenges the nonprofit sector is facing. The primary focus will be to have a discussion about AI landscape, application, and ethics, principles, and guidance.

Topics

AI landscape (what we are hearing and seeing and the challenges we face)

• Democratization of tools (e.g., Canva, LLMs, Workspaces) and the access it allows for smaller nonprofits
• Concerns of privacy + security
• Productivity
• Fundraising (i.e. grants, donor profiles)
• Humans vs. AI (i.e. assets, writing, efficiency driver)

AI application (how are nonprofits using it today: pros/cons)

• Building documents and assets
• AI-enabled features within applications
• Open vs. Closed AI
• Platform intent & best use (LinkedIn vs. Email vs. SMS)

AI ethics, principals and guidance

• “Human-in-the-loop” or “Human-led AI”
• Ethics, principals and guidance
• Donor trust & proactive disclosure
• Example Questions: Are the values you are advancing for good and according to whose values? Is the work you are doing helping, more than hurting? 

Questions and Discussion

SPEAKERS

Pam Ayers, MSW | Executive Vice President, Strategic Initiatives

Empreinte Consulting, LLC.
LinkedIn Profile
pamayers@empreinteconsulting.com

 Over the course of her career, Pam has crafted a co-creative, human centered design approach to her work in grants and program development and strategy. Her methodology follows the philosophy that any program or project must start with the people for whom we’re designing and end with a tailor-made solution to attain their own identified aspirations. Pam draws from an innate empathic nature and 25 years working in human services to facilitate creative, diverse groups toward developing solutions.

 Prior to partnering with Empreinte, Pam served as the Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives & Project Development at Coordinated Care Services, Inc (CCSI), where she partnered closely with customers and stakeholders to identify critical program and community needs and design projects and services individualized to meet these needs. Such projects included a community-wide COVID prevention initiative for the Monroe County homeless shelter system and a County-City partnership to disperse federal eviction prevention funds. Pam has provided leadership and customer relationship management for the organization’s Capacity Building team and served in a fractional COO role for several small, community-based organization partners, building on a passion Pam has for strengthening infrastructure so that small organizations can do their critical work on the stability of strong foundations.

 Before CCSI, Pam worked for Hillside Family of Agencies for 20 years, in both clinical and administrative roles. Ultimately, she developed and led the Public Grants and Program Development function, comprised of a team responsible for the design and sustainability of programs across the multi-affiliate, $100M+ organization. This team won the company more than $50M in grants funding over the last seven years of Pam’s time with Hillside. In addition to public grants procurement, Pam also led multiple systems redesign and community collaborative projects over her time with the organization.

 Pam is a social worker by nature, which drives her to give back to her community in and out of work. Pam serves as a proud board member for Compeer Rochester, hosts a Roc Food Not Bombs community food stand at her home, and is an active board member and volunteer for her two children’s sport and musical endeavors. She is a triathlete, a runner, a dog lover, and an aspiring Adirondack 46-er with her husband, Alex.

Pam earned her Master of Social Work from Syracuse University and her Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Elmira College.

Trisha Botty, MA | Senior Advisor, Strategic Initiatives

Empreinte Consulting, LLC.
LinkedIn Profile
Tbotty@empreinteconsulting.com\

Trisha Botty is a skilled communicator and relationship builder with extensive professional experience in non-profit, government, for-profit, philanthropic, and social impact work, and community leadership. Her vast and multifaceted experience in various sectors makes her a tenacious and skilled strategist, equipped to lead programs and communication campaigns that address complex problems using a systems-thinking approach.

Her specialties and experience include strategic communications, public interest communication, community relations, social impact, public relations, crisis management, grant leadership, capacity building, program analysis and measurement, fundraising, government relations, and brand identity. More importantly, she uses research, social and behavioral science, and narrative storytelling to inform, build, implement, measure, and lead programs towards organizational success.

Trisha earned a Master of Arts in Mass Communication degree with a concentration in Public Interest Communication from the College of Journalism & Communication at the University of Florida. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree with a concentration in Political Science from the State University of New York at Oswego (SUNY Oswego). Additionally, she was honored to receive the recognition of 40 Under 40 in Gulfshore Business Magazine in Southwest Florida in 2020.

Trisha, her husband, and two children have lived in Southwest Florida for nearly ten years, enjoying the community, warm weather, and beautiful sunsets. In her free time, you will find Trisha on a soccer field coaching competitive youth soccer or outside cultivating her home food forest and gardens.

National Philanthropy Day 2026

November 17, 2026 – 5:30 to 8:00 pm

The Club at Grandezza
11481 Grande Oak Boulevard
Estero, FL 33928

Thank You To Our 2026 Sponsors