Morris County Chamber launches inaugural nonprofit summit

The Morris County Chamber of Commerce brought nonprofit leaders, businesses, funders and community partners together in Madison for its first Thrive Together Summit. The event focused on collaboration, capacity-building and practical steps nonprofits can use to strengthen local impact.

Why it matters: - The Thrive Together Summit created a cross-sector forum for nonprofits to build relationships with businesses, government leaders, funders, educators, volunteers and community advocates. - The gathering was aimed at helping nonprofits strengthen capacity, expand partnerships and address community challenges with practical action steps. - Morris County's nonprofit sector plays a central role in delivering services and resources across the region.

What happened: - The Morris County Chamber of Commerce hosted the inaugural Thrive Together Summit at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison. - The summit brought together representatives from nonprofits in Morris County and the surrounding area. - Dr. Kimberly Iozzi, the chamber’s vice president of operations and programming, said the event was designed to spark ideas and inspire action. - Meghan Hunscher, chamber president, said the chamber wants to make the summit an annual event.

The details: - Attendees could learn about innovative ideas, proven practices and resources that support mission delivery and organizational capacity. - The program emphasized connection and collaboration with potential volunteers, interns, board members, businesses, nonprofits and funders. - The day included a keynote, breakout sessions, a panel discussion and a resource expo. - Monique de Maio, founder and chief marketing officer of OnDemandCMO, delivered the keynote, titled “You Always Have a Choice: Three Small Decisions That Change Everything.” - De Maio told attendees they always have a choice and led an interactive exercise to help participants identify three words to guide decision-making. - Breakout sessions covered fundraising and philanthropy, community partnerships, financial stability and artificial intelligence at nonprofits. - Session leaders included Kelly Castro of Greater Somerset County YMCA, Chelsea Dormer of Valley Bank, Joanne Bjornson of Family Promise Morris County, Melinda Iannarone of ARC Morris, Joanne Lopez of Valley Bank, Halbert Rodriguez of Valley Bank, Adam Holzberg and April Kushner of SAX LLP, and Daniel S. Makoski of Porzio Bromberg & Newman. - The chamber has more than 700 member organizations, ranging from entrepreneurs and small businesses to large corporations and Fortune 500 companies. - The chamber is headquartered in Florham Park. - The chamber’s mission is to advance the interests of its members and support a thriving business and community environment. - The chamber said its events, meetings and seminars are designed to help members connect, collaborate, learn and succeed.

Between the lines: - The summit reflects a growing emphasis on nonprofit resilience, not just fundraising. - By including business, banking, legal and consulting leaders, the chamber positioned the nonprofit conversation as a regional ecosystem issue rather than a standalone charity event. - The AI-focused breakout suggests local nonprofits are also being pushed to think about technology adoption, not only traditional operations.

What's next: - The Morris County Chamber wants to repeat the summit as an annual event. - Future editions may build on the same mix of networking, training and cross-sector collaboration if the inaugural gathering draws continued interest.

The bottom line: - The chamber used the first Thrive Together Summit to turn nonprofit networking into a more structured, action-oriented regional collaboration effort.