Recently, leaders from across Greater Philadelphia’s nonprofit sector gathered at WHYY’s headquarters for the summer convening of the Nonprofit Leaders Group, a coalition of local leaders who have met biweekly since January 2025 to exchange timely updates, share resources, and build community. 

The half-day convening featured three key panels, including one on “Navigating Nonprofit Partnerships,” which was moderated by Joe Pyle, President of the Scattergood Foundation, and featured panelists Lindsay Kijewski, Partner at Sea Change Capital Partners (host of the Nonprofit Repositioning Fund), Sean Vereen, President and CEO of Heights Philadelphia, and Sharmain Matlock-Turner, CEO of the Urban Affairs Coalition.

At a time when Philadelphia’s nonprofit sector faces unprecedented challenges, the panel was an opportunity to share perspectives from the field about the power of strategic partnerships and mergers. The panelists, each of whom had direct experiences of successful collaborations, offered hard-won insights about what it takes to move beyond organizational survival toward genuine transformation. Their stories demonstrated that partnerships, rather than being a sign of weakness, can be a tool for creating strong, more impactful organizations that better serve our communities. Their message was clear: this challenging moment demands courage, not caution.

Beyond Survival: Creating Something New

Sean Vereen, President and CEO of Heights Philadelphia, exemplified this mindset through his organization’s journey. What began as a coffee conversation in 2018 between two healthy nonprofits—Philadelphia Futures and Steppingstone Scholars—evolved into a bold decision to merge and create something entirely new.

“We did not get into this to exist,” Vereen emphasized. “We got into this to solve societal problems.” Heights Philadelphia now serves 3,600 students with plans to reach 5,000, operating in 25 School District of Philadelphia schools with a $25 million endowment and a staff of 75. The merger allowed both organizations to evolve their focus toward economic mobility by creating pathways for young people from middle school through college and into careers.

The process wasn’t easy. Vereen described it as managing “bundles of feelings” across boards, staff, and constituencies. The merger required two years of careful relationship-building, due diligence committees, extensive people management, including individual meetings with nearly 70 staff members, and constant communication about the vision driving the change.

The Art of Strategic Collaboration

Sharmain Matlock-Turner, CEO of the Urban Affairs Coalition, brought decades of perspective to the conversation, noting that strategic partnerships have been core to UAC since its founding in 1969. Today, UAC operates a comprehensive fiscal sponsorship model supporting 50 partner organizations, providing everything from unified employment systems to legal support through relationships with five major law firms.

“Partnerships really matter,” Matlock-Turner explained. “Out of partnerships, you figure out challenges and then get to solutions.” UAC’s approach demonstrates how a strong, scaled organization can serve as a platform for preserving community assets by providing the infrastructure that smaller organizations need to thrive.

Since January alone, UAC has welcomed four new organizations into fiscal sponsorship, with 35 more in conversation, a clear indication that nonprofits are actively seeking collaborative solutions rather than struggling in isolation.

Investment in Organizational Strength

Lindsay Kijewski from the Nonprofit Repositioning Fund offered the funder perspective, emphasizing that strategic partnerships require investment in organizational strength, not weakness. Over ten years, the fund, which is a joint initiative of 14 regional funders, has supported organizations through mergers, shared services, asset transfers, and strategic dissolutions.

“This is not and never has been a tool for the weak,” Kijewski stressed. “This is a tool that strong, proactive, creative leaders have been using.” The most successful partnerships share several characteristics: internal clarity about organizational realities, deep mission alignment, understanding of the collaborative process, and honest, trusting relationships both internally and between partner organizations.

In the current moment, as focus shifts to “preservation of community assets,” there is growing recognition that nonprofit resources belong to the community, not to individual organizations or their boards.

The Courage to Choose Impact Over Safety

Perhaps the most powerful theme from the panel was the call for courage in uncertain times. As Vereen put it, “Easier doesn’t equal better. This stuff is hard to do and it will be for the better.” He challenged both nonprofit leaders and funders to move beyond the mindset of organizational preservation toward strategic risk-taking for greater impact.

“There will be fewer of us, and that isn’t a bad thing,” Vereen argued. “We have to get out of the mode of trying to protect ourselves.” Instead, he called for nonprofits to serve as catalysts for addressing societal problems, willing to put resources on the line for more effective solutions.

This perspective extends to the philanthropic community as well. The panelists advocated for funders to support strategic collaboration not as a last resort, but as a proactive strategy. As Kijewski noted, “This should be a piece of your routine conversation, your routine strategic planning.”

Building on Philadelphia’s Collaborative Foundation

Philadelphia Foundation’s support for the convening represents our ongoing commitment to serving as a civic catalyst by bringing capacity off the sidelines and creating spaces where leaders can learn from each other’s experiences. The nonprofit sector’s willingness to engage in honest conversations about collaboration, even in challenging times, demonstrates the kind of leadership that makes transformative change possible.

As this panel discussion made clear, the current moment demands more than organizational survival strategies. It requires the courage to imagine and create stronger, more effective ways of serving our communities, even when the path forward isn’t easy or certain. The organizations willing to take those risks today will be the ones positioned to drive meaningful change tomorrow.