NEW REALITIES: Nonprofit Public Policy Conferences

HSN has spearheaded four citywide public policy conferences that have united and educated the nonprofit community.

New Realities 4: Nonprofit Health and Human Services in San Francisco: Building a Unified Movement for Surviving and Thriving, July 9, 2010

For much of the last decade, public sector funding for health and human services for our most vulnerable residents has been consistency reduced. While these reductions have directly affected the nonprofit sector, they have also affected the very capacity of government itself to meet critical human service needs. These cuts have been of such size and duration that we now face a qualitatively different reality of the future relationship between government, nonprofits and the continuing needs of the people we serve.

If this was simply a public funding problem, albeit severe, then it would be a question we have often struggled with and generally know how to address. But what we now face is a profound shift in the capacity of government to continue functioning in any recognizable form. This creates a new challenge for those of us who must depend upon state and local government not only for funding, but for policies and programs to address the constantly changing needs of the people, now and in the future.

Inherent in this new reality are profound changes for our system of care, our workforce, our organizational capacity, and our very role in the city.

How do we affect public policy towards vulnerable populations when the very capacity of government to respond is in question? What new courses of action, tactics, alliances and allies do we need in this period of rapid shrinkage of the public sector? How do we revitalize and reinforce a service delivery system that truly meets the needs of all San Franciscans?

We need to come together and agree on a set of locally actionable proposals to strengthen the system of care for our most vulnerable neighbors, and place them before local decision makers in the public and private sectors. Join the San Francisco Human Services Network for New Realities 4 on June 18, as we develop our action plan for the next five years!

2010 Community Congress: A New Deal for the City!,
August 14-15, 2010

On August 14-15, the San Francisco Human Services Network will come together with affordable housing, economic development, and MUNI / public transportation leaders to convene a Community Congress at the University of San Francisco.

In each of the four major issue areas, leaders held a recent event to develop actionable policy recommendations that the city could implement in the next few years. The Community Congress will bring together these community activists, residents, workers, artists and thinkers to create a progressive vision for the future of San Francisco. The impetus is to bring people together in a way that moves us beyond our particular "silos" and areas of specific concern to create a more unifying policy agenda and shape the priorities of city officials.

We have an incredible opportunity this weekend to create a new set of relationships and creative, inspiring, economically and socially just policy ideas to lead our city forward. Please get involved!

• New Realities breakout group info
  
• New Realities recommendations
  
• New Realities: Summary of critical issues
  
• New Realities: Sign up to get involved!
  
• Community Congress packet

New Realities 3: Building a Healthy Human Service Partnership for San Franciscans, October 24, 2001

HSN's third New Realities conference built on the dialogue and initiatives from previous years to develop concrete steps for improving the partnership between nonprofit human service agencies, the City and the philanthropic community. The conference provided an opportunity to examine the underlying issues and the necessary components of a healthy partnership - a relationship that enables all parties to meet San Francisco's human service needs efficiently and to collaborate effectively. New Realities 3 was HSN's largest conference to date, attracting a sell-out crowd of over 400 attendees.

• New Realities 3 schedule of conference events

• HSN Discussion Paper: Elements of a Healthy Partnership

• Final Conference Report

New Realities 2: Critical Public Policy Issues for San Francisco Nonprofits, June 23, 2000
New Realities 2, which drew over 350 people, focused on nonprofits' major concerns in dealing with the City including contracting, city budgeting, performance evaluations, and the impact of the Bay Area economy on nonprofits.



New Realities 1: Critical Public Policy Issues for San Francisco Nonprofits, May 25, 1999
The first New Realities conference brought together over 250 senior nonprofit staff, foundation officials, and City policymakers to discuss nonprofit advocacy, sunshine legislation, unionization and living wage issues.