In conjunction with the release of our new report, I am really excited that we are launching a blog where you can participate in discussions about the future of the sector. This tool is part of our yearlong effort to create a dialogue about where the sector is going. NonprofitNext grows out of an initial research grant from Fieldstone Alliance and a later investment by the James Irvine Foundation, which is particularly interested in how these issues play out in California.

The NonprofitNext initiative has enabled us to meet many pioneers, people who are reinventing the nonprofit sector as we watch. They are young and older, working within the sector and outside of its official borders. They are in large cities and small towns across the country. They think differently about leadership and organizational life, technology, civic engagement, and the very concept of nonprofit. In our new report you can read some of their stories. But this is not a “final report” from a static project. It is rather a call to engagement in inventing the future, together.

The release of the report is being launched at Independent Sector’s annual conference this week in Detroit. Jim Canales, President of the James Irvine Foundation, will announce it in his plenary session. Heather Gowdy and Alex Hildebrand, two of my colleagues who are leading the way on this effort, will be on site, blogging about the conference, IS’s FutureLab project, and other interesting events.