This day of professional development including a keynote presentation, breakouts, and networking is dedicated to current topics in the field of early childhood education. Topics presented are relevant for individuals, partners, and teams.

Join us for a dynamic and engaging School Administrative Assistant Conference, designed to empower, educate, and connect administrative professionals in the education field. This event features breakout sessions led by both nationally and regionally recognized speakers. It is a valuable opportunity to enhance your skills, gain fresh insights, and network with peers who play a vital role in supporting schools. Don't miss this chance to invest in your professional growth and celebrate the important contributions of school administrative assistants!

Join us for our annual Sourcewell Family Child Care Conference! This is a great opportunity to network with fellow professionals and receive valuable professional development. Don't miss out on this chance to connect, learn, and grow in your child care career. 

Beyond New Teacher Academy is designed to support teachers in years 2, 3, and beyond! The sessions will be structured around standards, procedures, and fostering collaboration with other regional teachers. There will be four professional development days at Sourcewell and three individual coaching days in their classroom. Content will be presented, collaboratively discussed and applied to lesson planning for use in their classrooms. Attendees will have the opportunity to take Catalyst Whole Group Classroom Leadership Day 1 and attend Catalyst Live.

This cohort is for districts who are participating in the Career Consultant program. District identified career committees will attend to engage in professional learning, collaboration, and program planning. Development of career pathways is based on the nationally recognized Redefining Ready metrics and professional learning will include outside expertise and exemplars to guide district teams in design. Cohort sessions may take place at Sourcewell or another location dependent on content of the session.

Join a dynamic community of forward-thinking educators committed to transforming student learning. Discover innovative teaching practices from our region, explore how they can be adopted to any grade level or subject, and connect with local teachers to exchange ideas, strategies, and inspiration. Together, we can elevate engagement and enrich the classroom experience for all students.

Topics include:

• Sharing innovative ideas


• Inquiry-based learning


• Creative problem solving through design thinking


• Experiential learning from the natural world


• Independent research projects


• Technology supporting innovation


• Sharing in success and iterations towards success when trying something new

The New Teacher Academy is designed to increase confidence and capacity in novice educators by combining relevant training with growth-focused coaching support. Support throughout the year includes five full-day trainings at Sourcewell, four individual in-classroom coaching sessions, Catalyst Whole Group Leadership, and Catalyst Live.

The New Teacher Academy is designed to increase confidence and capacity in novice educators by combining relevant training with growth-focused coaching support. Support throughout the year includes five full-day trainings at Chase on the Lake, five individual in-classroom coaching sessions, Catalyst Whole Group Leadership, and Catalyst Live.

Add+VantageMR® (AVMR) Course 2 includes dynamic, diagnostic, individual assessments in place value, multi-digit addition and subtraction, and multiplication and division strategies. The assessment, organizational, and teaching tools accelerate the educator's ability to recognize the students' current levels of numeracy understanding to make data-driven instructional decisions. AVMR Course 2 is most appropriate for kindergarten through elementary classroom and special education teachers, as well as interventionists who work with children kindergarten through middle school.

Learn to create environments that support all children in engaging thoughtfully through room layout and design by understanding how a student’s physical surroundings impact their ability to function, learn, and thrive at school. Students who learn in a predictable, safe, and purposeful environment are able to spend more of their energy on the content and less on navigating their space.

Dig deeper into the Catalyst Whole Group Leadership foundation skills as well as additional strategies and refinements to impact the learning in your classroom even more. Collaborate and practice with other educators who are committed to preserving relationships, increasing engagement, and have more curriculum time for their students.

At the core of strong classroom management is how the adults manage themselves. In this class, participants learn strategies (based on observations and field-testing in more than 50,000 classrooms) that allow them to strengthen relationships, increase equity, reduce frustration, and foster independence in the classroom.

The Minnesota Service Cooperatives have collaborated to bring you a virtual, asynchronous option to meeting your Cultural Competency licensure requirement. This course provides video learning, personal reflection time, an opportunity to hear from educators in the field, and many additional resources to explore as you continue your journey to be an even more culturally competent educator.

EcoTime 2.0: Where Outdoor Learning Meets 3-Dimensional Teaching 

This interactive session introduces teachers to life science lessons that encourage outdoor learning while incorporating the use of science journals. Teachers will participate in lessons that: build community and engagement in science concepts; promote investigation, analysis, and interpretation of data; and extend science instruction to language arts, math, art, and engineering. Teachers will receive a copy of EcoTime 2.0, which includes 120 lessons that focus on the 3-dimensions of science instruction emphasized in the new science standards, and learn about opportunities for free workshops at their schools. Participants will learn through experience, so come prepared to go outdoors!

This event is offered in partnership with the Initiative Foundation.

Are you ready to strengthen your nonprofit’s fundraising game? Whether you’re new to fundraising or looking to refine your approach, in this interactive workshop Janet Cobb will guide you through the essential building blocks of a strong, sustainable development strategy.

What You’ll Learn:

• Put Your Policies and Processes in Place—Set the foundation for ethical, effective fundraising.


• Craft a Strong Case for Support—Inspire donors with a compelling story and clear impact.


• Get It on Your Calendar—Plan and prioritize your fundraising activities for success.


• Know Your Numbers—Gain confidence in your financials and fundraising metrics.


• Get Your Board on Board—Engage your board as fundraising champions.

Key Takeaways:

• Fundraising Policies & Processes Checklist—A ready-to-use framework to ensure your nonprofit’s fundraising is ethical, legal, and effective.


• Case for Support Template—A structured document to help you craft a compelling, donor-focused case for funding.


• Fundraising Action Plan & Calendar—A customizable template to help you plan, track, and execute your fundraising activities with clarity and confidence.

This hands-on session is designed for nonprofit leaders, development professionals, and board members who want to build confidence, clarity, and consistency in fundraising.

Take the next step toward sustainable growth and lasting impact!

Sourcewell strives to bring the highest-quality resources, information, and training opportunities to our members. We’re honored to team up with the Initiative Foundation to bring this opportunity to our central Minnesota region.   

This event is offered in partnership with the Initiative Foundation.

Fundraising events are more than just a means to bring in immediate dollars—they are key moments to cultivate individual donors, engage corporate partners, and build long-term financial sustainability. Too often, nonprofits see events as an isolated fundraiser, missing opportunities to maximize revenue, deepen donor relationships, and secure lasting corporate sponsorships.

This six-hour interactive workshop, led by Janet Cobb, a seasoned nonprofit strategist and fundraising coach, will show you how to make your events work smarter—creating profit while serving as a catalyst for ongoing donor and corporate engagement.

Key Takeaways

• Designing Events That Drive Revenue and Relationships:
  
  
  
  • Develop events that balance profitability with donor cultivation, ensuring that ticket buyers and attendees stay engaged beyond the event.
  
  
  • Learn budgeting and planning strategies to maximize your net revenue while creating an experience that strengthens donor and sponsor connections.
  
  
  
  


• Corporate Partnerships That Extend Beyond the Event: 
  
  
  
  • Learn how to position your nonprofit as a valuable partner that corporations want to invest in—not just for a one-time sponsorship, but for long-term collaboration.
  
  
  • Understand what companies seek from nonprofit partnerships and how to craft compelling sponsorship packages that align with corporate goals and community impact.
  
  
  
  


• Using Events to Cultivate Individual Donors for Long-term Support:
  
  
  
  • Move beyond “just an event” by using it as a springboard for deeper donor relationships.
  
  
  • Learn strategies for effective follow-up, donor segmentation, and post-event engagement to convert attendees into long-term supporters, monthly donors and major gift prospects.
  
  
  
  

You will leave the workshop with an ROI calculator, corporate partnership communications templates and an event follow-up calendar template.

Sourcewell strives to bring the highest-quality resources, information, and training opportunities to our members. We’re honored to team up with the Initiative Foundation to bring this opportunity to our central Minnesota region.   

This event is offered in partnership with the Initiative Foundation.
Minnesota’s Give to the Max Day on Nov. 20, 2025, is a prime opportunity to engage donors, inspire giving, and build momentum for a strong year-end finish. But how do you ensure that your nonprofit stands out in a crowded field of organizations vying for attention? And how do you transition Give to the Max Day donors into long-term supporters, rather than just one-time givers?

This 6-hour interactive workshop will equip you with practical strategies to maximize Give to the Max Day results while integrating it into a powerful year-end fundraising plan. Led by Janet Cobb, a seasoned nonprofit strategist and fundraising coach, this session will help you navigate timing, messaging, donor engagement, and revenue planning—so you can turn Give to the Max Day into a launchpad for long-term financial health.

Key Takeaways:

• Crafting a standout Give to the Max Day campaign:
  
  
  
  • Learn what motivates donors on giving days and how to craft compelling messaging that inspires action.
  
  
  • Master the art of donor segmentation—tailoring asks to new, recurring and major gift prospects.
  
  
  • Get tools to amplify your reach through peer-to-peer fundraising, corporate matches, and social media strategies.
  
  
  
  


• Bridging the Gap Between Giving Day and Year-End Fundraising:
  
  
  
  • Develop a seamless follow-up and stewardship plan to turn one-time donors into ongoing supporters.
  
  
  • Understand the psychology of year-end giving and how to use momentum from Give to the Max Day to maximize holiday giving.
  
  
  • Learn how to align Giving Day efforts with your larger fundraising goals and integrate it into your year-round donor engagement strategy.
  
  
  
  


• Managing the Financial Ebbs & Flows of Year-End Fundraising:
  
  
  
  • Address the challenge of calendar-year donations vs. budget-year planning and how to manage fluctuating revenue.
  
  
  • Explore tools for cash flow management, reserve planning, and donor retention to create a more sustainable funding model.
  
  
  • Learn how to use year-end giving data to refine your fundraising approach for the coming year.
  
  
  
  

You’ll leave the workshop with templates for communicating effectively leading up to Give to the Max Day and through year-end, and a plan for creating a sustainable funding model.

Sourcewell strives to bring the highest-quality resources, information, and training opportunities to our members. We’re honored to team up with the Initiative Foundation to bring this opportunity to our central Minnesota region. 

Get equipped to use FastBridge interventions tailored to meet students' instructional needs. Interventions for early reading, independent reading, foundational math, applied and advanced math, and behavior will be explored.

Take a deep dive into FastBridge reports. Explore popular reports such as the Group Screening Report, Screening to Intervention Report, Progress Monitoring Report, and Group Growth Report alongside an experienced and knowledgeable FastBridge trainer. Questions about best practice uses of any and all FastBridge reports will be addressed.

Master the basics of screening students' social-emotional behaviors using SAEBRS and mySAEBRS. During this virtual session participants will learn how to collect, interpret, and use SAEBRS and mySAEBRS data for instructional planning in the area of social-emotional behavior.

This on-demand course will define formative assessment and explore the benefits of utilization. Participants will learn about various formative assessment techniques for both virtual and in-person learning, and will leave the session ready to implement and achieve some formative assessment quick wins.

Using formative assessments regularly and consistently can give both educators and learners an even clearer picture around what learners know. Formative assessments also provide educators with a guide to developing learning experiences and lesson planning that can meet the needs of all learners. By using formative assessments with purpose, educators can maximize student learning and increase the effectiveness of their lesson design and delivery.

This event is offered in partnership with the Initiative Foundation.

This intermediate-level intensive workshop is geared toward nonprofit staff or long-term volunteers with grant writing experience who are ready to take the next step in crafting winning proposals. Learn to write stronger proposals and win more grants.

Get ready to level up your grant-writing game! This hands-on workshop will help you:

• Decode grant proposal formats like a pro


• Craft compelling proposal sections to stand out from the crowd


• Build a rock-solid plan for spending grant funds wisely


• See proposals through a funder’s eyes for a winning edge


• Master key budget terms and calculations without the headache


• Celebrate the win—then learn how to manage your grant like a pro! Know what’s next and keep your funders happy.

Sourcewell strives to bring the highest-quality resources, information, and training opportunities to our members. We’re honored to team up with the Initiative Foundation to bring this opportunity to our central Minnesota region.   

This course is designed to equip new paraprofessionals with essential skills and knowledge for effective work in educational settings. Participants will explore foundational topics, including an Introduction to Special Education, which covers 13 disability categories, and the impact of implicit bias in the classroom. The course also emphasizes the importance of leading in the classroom and understanding the paraprofessional role. Additionally, learners will gain insights into how the brain responds to stress and the concept that behavior is communication. This comprehensive approach ensures that paraprofessionals are well-prepared to support diverse learners effectively.

Participants will explore foundational topics, including an Introduction to Child Development, which covers physical and cognitive development as well as developmental delays. You will also watch an interview with Shana Larson, Early Childhood Special Education Coordinator and Heidi Hahn, Sourcewell Special Education Partner. The course also emphasizes that behavior is a form of communication and what to expect. Additionally, learners will gain insights into de-escalation, dysregulation, and how to support students. This comprehensive approach ensures that paraprofessionals are well-prepared to support diverse learners effectively.

We invite K-8 social studies educators to a workshop that will provide an overview of the new 2021 Minnesota social studies standards. This workshop includes time for teachers to work together to bundle benchmarks into cohesive, interdisciplinary instructional units. Participants will also have worktime to start aligning these units with existing resources and primary sources.