Eastern Connecticut Chamber’s program for non-profits will offer insights on how to cope with challenging times


EASTERN CONNECTICUT – Shawn Anchor, a nationally recognized author and lecturer, and Millie Devine, a respected leader in trust administration and grants writing, will be the featured speakers at special program Oct. 19 in Norwich presented by the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut and the presenting sponsor Sensations Charitable Foundation.
The half-day session at the Holiday Inn begins with breakfast and will end with a closing address at noon. Kostin, Ruffkess & Company, a certified public accounting and business advisory firm, is also a sponsor.

The program, Non-profit conference on leadership in uncertain times and a taste of grant writing—what matters most, will offer useful insights and helpful tips, said Tony Sheridan, the chamber’s president and CEO.

“We have worked with Sensations Charitable Foundation, a region organization that is helping children and their families in many ways, to present this valuable program,” Sheridan said. “I would urge anyone interested in these topics to register and hear some great experts.”

Brian Armstrong, the president of Sensations Foundation, said his organization (www.sensationscharitablefoundation.org ) helps individuals with disabilities and weakened health conditions in a number of important areas.

These include working with families to help individuals receive the necessary therapeutic, recreational, and educational services needed to sustain a positive quality of life.

“After last year’s non-profit breakfast, an interview with Shawn Anchor was on the radio and that prompted us to find ways to bring his research-based strategies to our peers and the youth of New London County,” Armstrong said. “Shawn’s simple data-driven approach will teach our youth how to acknowledge their current situation, demonstrate simple ways to focus on the positive and use happiness as a way to drive positive change for themselves and their world.”

To register, or obtain additional information contact the chamber at 860-701-9113, or visit www.ChamberECT.com and click on chamber events.

 


Here is more about the program and the speakers:

7: 45 a.m.
Breakfast

8:20 a.m.
Positive Leadership in Uncertain Times: Resiliency, Adaptivity and Possibility in the Midst of Change with Shawn Achor

The most successful people see stress and adversity as a challenge they can overcome, not as a threat that overwhelms. In fact, research has found that the difference between the resilient and the overstressed is almost entirely in mindset and how our brains process this world.  Based upon our own groundbreaking research at UBS and KPMG, this training gives employees the cognitive tools necessary to adopt a mindset that conquers emotional hijacking, restores rational decision making, and actually uses change, and even tumult, as fuel for greater achievement.

10:00 a.m.
Break

10:15 a.m.
Grant Writing: Tips and What to Avoid in the Grant Writing Process with Millie Devine, Devine Planning

12:00 p.m.
Closing Remarks

 

 

About Shawn Achor:

Shawn Achor is the winner of over a dozen distinguished teaching awards at Harvard University, where he delivered lectures on positive psychology in the most popular class at Harvard. His research and lectures on happiness and human potential have received attention in The New York Times, Boston Globe, The Wall Street Journal, as well as on NPR and CNN Radio.

Mr. Achor travels around the United States and Europe giving talks on positive psychology to Fortune 500 corporations, schools, and non-profit organizations, including American Express, Credit Suisse, KPMG, Harvard Law School, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, One Day University, and Phillips Andover Academy.

Based on his research and 12 years of experience at Harvard, he clearly and humorously describes to organizations how to increase happiness and meaning, raise success rates and profitability, and create positive transformations that ripple into more successful cultures.

 

 

About Millie Devine:

Mildred E. Devine is a 1960 graduate of Waterford High School, Waterford, CT and received a BA with honors in business administration from Upper Iowa University, Fayette, Iowa. She is a 1973 graduate of the New England School of Banking at Williams College with a major in trust and a 1978 graduate of the National Graduate Trust School at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. She is also a Certified Trust and Financial Advisor (CTFA) and an Accredited Estate Planner (AEP®).

Millie has 32 years of trust administration experience and was responsible for a $360 million Trust Unit. She was also responsible for estate planning, personal trust administration, and business development. In addition to personal trust administration and extensive work with individuals in estate planning, Millie has administered private foundations for over twenty years, including the R.S. Gernon Trust, Frank Loomis Palmer Fund, Bodenwein Public Benevolent Foundation, and the J. Martin & Caroline S. Leatherman Foundation.
Millie is very involved in civic and professional organizations having served as president of the S.E.CT_Estate & Tax Planning Council, Financial Women Int'l., Big Brothers-Big Sisters of S.E. CT, Family Service Assoc. of Southern New London County, American Heart Assoc., Rotary Club of New London (Paul Harris Fellow with sapphires), and is a Corporator of Lawrence & Memorial Hospital. She is a board member of The Planned Giving Group of Connecticut, The Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut Foundation, and New London Development Corporation.  Her memberships include The Association of Fundraising Professionals/Connecticut, The National Committee on Planned Giving, and The National Estate Planning Council. She is the first recipient of the prestigious ATHENA Award from the Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce.

 

 

About The Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut:

The Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut is a collaborative of business and community leaders dedicated to securing and enhancing the economic vitality of eastern Connecticut. The chamber works to create value for its members and the region by providing forums for business networking, leadership and discussions of issues that affect the region; providing opportunities for members to showcase their products, services and accomplishments; helping small businesses succeed through educational programs; and working to reduce the costs of doing business in Connecticut.  For more information: www.chamberect.com