W1: Pre-Conference: Getting to Know the GEO Community
Session Designer
Jason Twiss, Grantmakers for Effective Organizations
Session Description
GEO is a vibrant community of approximately 370 grantmakers focused on smarter grantmaking, stronger nonprofits and better results. Where does your organization fit in? Kick off your conference experience by attending this session where participants will learn more about GEO’s philosophy, our agenda for change and how we support the work of our members. Through networking and interactive discussion, you will meet like-minded peers and share common questions and challenges you’re encountering in your work. While this session is designed with new GEO members or first-time conference attendees in mind, anyone is welcome to come to meet new colleagues and learn more about what GEO and the conference have to offer.
Conference Theme
Networking
Speakers
![[photo]](https://8ca84662c5b8f0cff50d-4baaaf97d63fd7b01243e1b1c57f0cc1.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com/1065/profile_b241150f93cf9deafafc1279c98f93f9.png "Jason Twiss, Grantmakers for Effective Organizations")
Jason Twiss, Grantmakers for Effective Organizations
Title
Manager of Member Engagement
Speaker Biography
As manager of member engagement, Jason Twiss works closely with the executive vice president to expand and deepen GEO's memberships and partnerships. He creates and executes strategies in the areas of member recruitment and retention, workshops and presentations, and partnership development with regional associations and funder networks. Jason joined GEO in 2005 as operations assistant and later worked as operations specialist and special projects coordinator before serving in his current role.
![[photo]](https://8ca84662c5b8f0cff50d-4baaaf97d63fd7b01243e1b1c57f0cc1.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com/26/profile_9aaf54468a50fcef899a1ed761799c94.png "J McCray, Grantmakers for Effective Organizations")
J McCray, Grantmakers for Effective Organizations
Title
Chief Operations Officer
Speaker Biography
J McCray is chief operating officer at Grantmakers for Effective Organizations. He is responsible for overseeing GEO’s strategic planning, financial management, internal learning, human resources and fundraising. J directed GEO’s first multiyear strategic planning process and leads GEO’s field research on grantmaker practice. J speaks on issues of grantmaker effectiveness, in particular strategies for learning for improvement and evaluation.
J brings 15 years of experience in the nonprofit sector. Previously J was a development program manager at the National Prostate Cancer Coalition (NPCC) where he worked with individual donors, corporate grantmakers and private foundations to garner financial support for life-saving advocacy and prostate cancer screening efforts. Prior to joining NPCC, J was a state-certified case manager at the Council on Aging of St. Lucie County, Florida where he worked to identify services that would allow seniors to remain in their homes. J holds a master’s of business administration from The George Washington University and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from The College of William and Mary. ndlepin bowling alley in Lisbon Falls.