Speaking & Training
INSPIRE • CONNECT • ACTIVATE • TRANSFORM
Here are some of my more popular talks
Below are samplings from some of my more popular talks that are designed to increase the impact of your employees, members, students and your organization / company.
Craft your story and clarify your purpose to increase your impact
Based on my Resource Alliance Presentation for #FRO2021
In this interactive and hands-on session, you will be guided through the Liz Ngonzi Transforms ICAT (Inspire, Connect, Activate, and Transform) Coaching Framework and the distinctive approach to storytelling it incorporates.
- The session will consider how you can use that framework to achieve greater clarity about your purpose and how one can translate that understanding into a personal purpose statement to serve as the basis for a personal story.
- Participants will learn how those stories can be incorporated into in-person and online communications and work collaboratively with other participants using the Liz Ngonzi Transforms Online Storytelling Development Tool to craft their own.
This session is suitable for all audience sizes. It can also be delivered as a Master Class or up to 50 people, and as a webinar for an unlimited number of people.
Everyone's A Fundraiser: How to tell your story for peak effect
Based on my JCC Pro Con 2021 Conference Presentation
In this interactive session, participants will be guided through the Liz Ngonzi Transforms ICAT (Inspire, Connect, Activate and Transform) Coaching Framework and the distinctive approach to storytelling that it incorporates. Using those tools, participants will endeavor to achieve greater clarity about their purpose and translate that understanding into the framing of their personal story – the story that is delivered through the decisions one makes, the friends and colleagues with whom one associates, how one communicates with the public and the vocation one pursues. An overarching theme of the session is that clarity of purpose leads to clarity of mind, which contributes to enhanced wellness and a greater capacity to impact others.
This session is suitable for all audience sizes. It can also be delivered as a Master Class or up to 50 people, and as a webinar for an unlimited number of people.
Want Your Venture to Change the World? Start with Yourself!
Based on my TEDx CornellU Talk
Before undertaking any major new endeavor – whether starting or expanding an enterprise – it is essential to look inward and examine the underlying motivations and priorities that are propelling you in this new direction. In similar fashion, today’s global COVID disruption has caused many people to reassess their priorities, determine a new way forward and even completely reinvent themselves. In this session, participants will learn about:
- The importance of listening to one’s “internal GPS” in order to identify when change is necessary.
- How to identify the type of change that is needed.
- How to apply frameworks for assessing one’s situation, identifying one’s purpose, developing one’s story and mapping out a strategy to move forward.
- How to navigate the twists and turns that arise as one executes one’s strategy.
- The importance of celebrating success.
This session is suitable for audiences of all sizes. It can also be delivered as a full-day Masterclass for up to 40 people and as a webinar for an unlimited number of participants.
Personal Branding to Pivot Through Crises and Beyond
Based on my eCornell Personal Branding Keynote
In today’s climate, many of our most carefully developed plans and expectations have been thoroughly overturned. Nearly all of us must pivot, or even try to reimagine ourselves comprehensively, if we are to continue to thrive in this new environment. Developing a personal brand helps to set the direction for a career pivot and transition. A successful personal brand also leads to engagement and association with institutions facing their own crises. It will inspire and form connections with them and activate them to look to you for the knowledge, experience, networks and vision that you, uniquely, have to offer. Participants will learn:
- How to formulate the key elements of your personal brand
- Why effective storytelling is critical to establishing your personal brand
- How to assess your personal brand’s effectiveness
- How to tell your story effectively anywhere
- How to decide where, how, and with whom to share your story
This session is suitable for audiences of all sizes. It can also be delivered as a full-day Masterclass for up to 50 people and as a webinar for an unlimited number of participants.
Leveraging Digital Storytelling to Increase Your Organization’s Impact
Based on my Foundation Center Blog Post
This session introduces nonprofits and grant-makers to why and how digital storytelling is necessary for establishing credibility in the sector, increasing public trust, improving relationships and collaboration with other stakeholders, and decreasing redundancy. Participants will learn about:
- The key elements of effective digital storytelling.
- Which resources they can access to research and engage with stakeholders.
- Which tools and metrics are available for analyzing their organizations’ digital presence.
- How to access resources to create a digital strategy and how to use social media platforms effectively for storytelling.
This full-day session is suitable for up to 40 people and as a webinar for an unlimited number of participants.
Expand Your International Organization’s Digital Presence to Attract U.S. Funders
Based on my GuideStar Blog Post and my Nonprofit Tech for Good Webinar
This session teaches nonprofits how to demonstrate their unique value proposition, how to identify and connect with the U.S.-based funders most closely aligned with their mission, and about the four different legal paths available for accessing those funders. Participants will learn how to:
- Develop digital engagement strategies to convey a sense of credibility and value.
- Identify and research U.S. foundations that are most closely aligned with their Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) and mission.
- Connect with U.S.-based funders online.
This full-day session is suitable for up to 50 people and as a webinar for an unlimited number of participants.
Digital Innovation to Differentiate Your Organization’s Fundraising and Service Delivery
Based on my New York University courses
This session highlights trends, case studies and practical tips to enable your organization to enhance its value proposition by leveraging digital innovations. Participants will learn about:
- Digital trends that are shaping the future of the global philanthropic sector.
- Best-in-class organizations that are incorporating digital innovations such as Drones, Artificial Intelligence, Cryptocurrencies and Virtual Reality into their fundraising and service delivery.
- How to integrate similar digital innovations into one’s own organization.
This session is suitable for up to 50 people in-person and as a webinar for an unlimited number of participants.
Digital Storytelling and Virtual Events to Revive Your Fundraising
Based on webinar I presented during Project Everyone: The Global Virtual Summit Supporting Charities Through COVID-19
With the COVID-19 crisis looming over the world, live events of all sizes have been cancelled, with significant impact on nonprofits / NGOs who rely on events for fundraising. Organizations must now find alternative ways to fundraise, with special emphasis on digital platforms. They must therefore understand how to effectively leverage those digital platforms to tell their story, and how to develop compelling virtual events and peer-to-peer digital fundraising campaigns.
- This session will provide participants with:
- Digital storytelling frameworks and strategies to bolster their organizations’ engagement online.
- Access to tools that will enable effective social media engagement.
- Virtual event best practices to engage, inspire and activate stakeholders.
This session is suitable for up to 50 people in-person and as a webinar for an unlimited number of participants.
As an international public speaker and an invited member of the U.S. Speaker Program at the U.S. Department of State, I frequently address audiences about leadership, philanthropy, personal branding, digital storytelling, and digital innovations facilitating social impact. I have spoken on these topics before audiences around the world:
North America
Borough of Manhattan Community College; Columbia University; Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF); Cornell University; ENGIE North America; Harvard University; the Issroff Family Foundation; JCC Association of North America; King Baudouin Foundation US; McCann Worldgroup; McGraw-Hill Financial; the New York Association of Volunteer Administration (NYAVA); the Obama Foundation; SXSW; Syracuse University; TEDxCornellU; UNICEF; WeWork; and the Woodrow Wilson Center, among other venues.International
Gordon Institute of Business (South Africa); the International Step by Step Association (The Netherlands); ISOBRO (Danish nonprofit association); the Kenya Association of Fundraising Professionals (KAFP); Nelson Mandela University (South Africa); the Southern Africa Institute of Fundraising (SAIF); Uganda Women Entrepreneurs Association LTD (UWEAL); Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ), among other venues.
Additionally, as an award-winning Adjunct Assistant Professor of Fundraising at New York University, and as a trainer to organizations such as Cornell University, Candid, The Resource Alliance (UK), and Vital Voices Global Partnerships, I have delivered courses to thousands of professionals from organizations on six continents, teaching them how to activate their stakeholders through effective storytelling.
I customize virtual and in-person sessions for clients, be they associations, corporations, educational institutions, foundations, or nonprofit organizations. I can develop and deliver keynote addresses, masterclasses, interactive workshops, and moderate or serve on fireside chats and panels.
You can also learn about my upcoming and recent speaking engagements and courses.
Contact Liz
Why Learning How to Tell Your Story Can Help You Align Your Purpose and Your Paycheck
Over the last year of remote work, Zoom school, and simply trying to stay healthy, many of us have been wondering about our careers, and about whether our current job allows us to be the best version of ourselves – for ourselves, for our families, and for our communities. Some of us have lost the jobs and titles that seemed to define us and are reflecting on career issues as a matter of necessity. But the solitude and isolation that we all experienced has brought up, even for many whose careers seemingly remain on track, questions like “What is my purpose?” and “Could I earn a paycheck in a way that enables me to fulfil that purpose?”