Nonprofit Westchester's executive director, Jan Fisher, provides a sneak peek at our website's upcoming 2025 Nonprofit OpCon event.
Nonprofit Westchester, an organisation dedicated to addressing the needs and interests of Westchester's nonprofit sector, hosted its 11th annual Nonprofit OpCon forum in New York. The event brought together over three dozen nonprofit experts and featured eight panel discussions focused on the critical challenges and strategies currently facing nonprofits in the state.
Key challenges discussed included significant funding shortfalls affecting the ability of nonprofits to provide essential services. In response, leaders highlighted strategies such as responsible growth and collaboration to address these financial constraints while sustaining service delivery.
The forum also honoured nonprofit leaders dedicated to serving diverse community needs despite these challenges, underscoring resilience and innovation within the sector. Panels explored systemic change through creative communication approaches, signalling a strategic emphasis on community engagement and advocacy.
Additionally, the event connected with broader civic themes like voting rights protection and economic growth, reflecting nonprofits’ intersectional role in social issues.
The challenges facing New York's nonprofit sector are primarily financial sustainability amid rising demand. Strategies emphasise responsible expansion, collaboration, creative community engagement, and advocacy.
According to a report by the New York state Comptroller's office, there are 33,536 nonprofits in New York. During the pandemic, approximately 1 in every 5 nonprofit jobs were lost in the state. From 2017 to 2022, nonprofit employment declined by 4.1% in comparison to a 1.5% decrease for the public sector and a 1% increase for all other private sector establishments.
Nonprofit Westchester is concerned about federal orders and funding cuts that threaten programs supporting the trajectory out of poverty. The organisation is addressing issues such as housing, food, and mental health to ensure people have access to healthcare that takes care of them so they can go to school and work healthy.
Jan Fisher, the executive director of Nonprofit Westchester, will discuss reasons the event is a draw every year and tease some of the topics that will be discussed. Fisher is working with a coalition to advance a fair and equitable system for nonprofit contracting in New York state. Human rights is a huge issue for the nonprofit sector, according to Fisher.
In 2022, nonprofits in New York supported more than 1 in 5 private sector jobs and paid over $96.8 billion in wages. Despite the nationwide employment at other private sector establishments having fully recovered by 2022, New York had the lowest nonprofit job recovery, regaining just 7.4% of the jobs lost. By 2022, New York ranked 11.1% of the nationwide total in nonprofit employment.
The 11th annual Nonprofit OpCon will be held at The Hebrew Union College in Manhattan's West Village. Nonprofit Westchester's mission is to strengthen the sector in Westchester through advocacy and research, professional development, education, and community education.
Sources: [1] Nonprofit OpCon 2025: Addressing the Challenges Facing Nonprofits in New York. (2025). Nonprofit Westchester. Retrieved from https://www.nonprofitwestchester.org/opcon2025 [2] Nonprofit OpCon 2025: Emphasis on Community Engagement and Advocacy. (2025). Nonprofit Westchester. Retrieved from https://www.nonprofitwestchester.org/opcon2025-community-engagement-advocacy
- As Nonprofit Westchester works towards advocacy and research, they are focusing on strategies such as labor collaboration and creative community engagement to address financial sustainability challenges in the nonprofit sector, which also impacts the business sector and employee count, as seen in the New York state Comptroller's report.
- In alignment with Nonprofit Westchester's mission, the 11th Annual Nonprofit OpCon forum emphasized crucial topics such as housing, labor rights, and mental health financing, aiming to ensure access to essential services for the community while supporting a growing workforce within the nonprofit sector.
