Can’t Miss 2016 Conferences for Purpose Driven Professionals

2016 stands to be another great year for meaningful work. How do we know this? In part because of the growing number of impressive conferences in the space. Conferences provide opportunities for professional development, career exploration, and creating new partnerships. There’s no shortage of networking events, inspiration from leading edge thinkers, and products or ideas poised to change the world. So whether you’re in the job market or looking to grow your social enterprise, conferences have something to offer everyone.

We’ve put together our list of can’t miss conferences for 2016 that cover Corporate Citizenship, Cause & Brands, Social Good, Impact Investing, and Nonprofit. Use one of these conferences to up your professional development and networking game. If you can’t go then share the list with your team which not only demonstrates your proactive nature but it also showcases your professional interest, making you an all-star employee. Another upside is that many conferences are posting conference material after the fact, so you and your colleagues can still pick up some of the key insights.

Corporate Citizenship Conferences 

2016 International Corporate Citizenship Conference

Atlanta, Georgia

March 20-22, 2016

Hosted by Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship, the 2016 International Corporate Citizenship Conference will hear from experts from around the world on innovative new programs, partnerships, and solutions that are driving positive change across the globe—one community at a time.

Charities@Work

New York, NY

March 28 – 30, 2016

The 15th Annual Best Practices Summit on Employee Engagement in Corporate Citizenship. Fresh new speakers and valuable content will be presented through plenary sessions, workshops and peer-to-peer breakout sessions. Attendance for this event is reserved for a corporate audience only. The conference is hosted by Charities@Work, an organization that bridges the corporate and nonprofit sectors in order to achieve greater social impact.

Cause & Brands Conferences

Cause Marketing Forum

Chicago, Illinois

June 1-2, 2016

The annual Cause Marketing Forum conference is the place to hear from the best and the brightest minds in the world of doing well by doing good. This conference is the one event laser-focused on what’s working in the world of corporate/nonprofit partnerships.

Sustainable Brands

San Diego, California

June 6-9, 2016

Dive deep into the brand innovation trenches at SB’16 San Diego and learn to successfully innovate your brand for sustainability. The conference is the largest gathering of courageous optimists who are shaping the future of commerce worldwide. Brand, sustainability & design leaders find inspiration, tools and partnerships to drive business success and positive impact.

Companies and Causes Canada

Toronto, Ontario

2016 Date TBD

This full day event showcases best practices in corporate/cause partnerships, provides an opportunity to network with both corporate and nonprofit peers and teaches attendees how to take their programs to the next level.

Social Good Conferences

MCON

Washington, DC

June 21-23, 2016

MCON is about turning interest into action. Each year, MCON gathers leaders, activists and social entrepreneurs from all generations to understand today’s social movements and how to turn interest in an issue into action. The MCON experience is devoted to the new ways organizations and companies need to operate, the culture they represent, the transparency they need to compete and innovation that is taking place for social issues.

Net Impact

Seattle, Washington

2016 Date TBD

The Net Impact Conference is the leading forum for students and professionals to come together to tackle the world’s toughest social and environmental problems. Hundreds of speakers and breakout sessions allow attendees to dig deep into a particular topic of interest and explore groundbreaking ideas, meet role models face-to-face, and jump-start their career path to change the world.

Skoll World Forum

Oxford, England

April 13-15, 2016

Each year, nearly 1,000 of the world’s most influential social entrepreneurs, key thought leaders, and strategic partners gather at the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School to exchange ideas, solutions, and information. The Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship is the premier international platform for advancing entrepreneurial approaches and solutions to the world’s most pressing problems. The forum’s mission is to accelerate the impact of the world’s leading social entrepreneurs by uniting them with essential partners in a collaborative pursuit of learning, leverage, and large-scale social change.

Social Good Summit

New York, NY

2016 Date TBD

The Social Good Summit is a two-day conference examining the impact of technology and new media on social good initiatives around the world. The summit unites a dynamic community of global leaders and grassroots activists to discuss solutions for the greatest challenges of our time. During the summit, global citizens around the world unite to unlock the potential of technology to make the world a better place.

SXGOOD

Austin, Texas

March 11-20, 2016

South By Southwest introduces SXgood – the official social good platform at SXSW. SXgood is the wayfinder for attendees interested in social innovation, impact design, and cause issues.

Impact Investing Conferences

SOCAP

San Francisco, California

September 13-16, 2016

SOCAP is the world’s leading conference on impact investing and social enterprise.  SOCAP16 will unite innovators in business, tech, the sharing economy, health, philanthropy, and more to advance environmental and social causes.

Social Finance Forum

Toronto, Ontario

2016 Date TBD

The Social Finance Forum is the place to engage leaders & practitioners in Canada’s diverse social finance scene. The aim of the conference is to enable attendees to converge, collaborate and break through on their world-changing work.

Nonprofit Conferences 

NTEN

San Jose, California

March 23-25, 2016

This conference is where the nonprofit technology community meets. The Nonprofit Technology Conference (NTC) is the nonprofit sector’s signature technology event. The 2016 conference promises over 2000 of the best and brightest nonprofit professionals from around the world. Together, they collaborate, innovate, and discover new ways to spark change with technology. Hosted by NTEN, the organization aspires to a world where all nonprofit organizations use technology skillfully and confidently to meet community needs and fulfill their missions.

AFP International Fundraising Conference

Boston, Massachusetts

March 20-22, 2016

The AFP International Fundraising Conference is held each spring and brings more than 4,000 fundraising professionals together to discuss, teach, and learn about new development issues. It offers more than 150 educational sessions designed to serve the development needs of participants from entry level to highly experienced. The Conference exhibit hall features over 300 vendors.

Are we missing any must-attend conferences? Let us know in the comments and we’ll add to the list.

UPDATE: thanks to all those in the Bmeaningful community who sent in the following additions to our list.

Globe 2016: The Leadership Summit For Sustainable Businesses

March 2-4, 2016

Vancouver, BC

The Heart Series

February 11-12, 2016

Los Angeles, CA

Stanford Social Innovation Review Presents Frontiers of Social Innovation

May 3-5, 2016

Stanford, CA