Twenty-three is a weird number when it comes to anniversary celebrations, wouldn’t you agree? I mean, it’s not a big deal. Even the traditional anniversary gift for 23 – silver plate – isn’t so special.

But for those of us at PhilanthropyMiami, though, 23 is a pretty big deal. For us, it’s an inflection point.

Twenty-three years ago, Theresa Valdes-Fauli Weintraub and Hank Raattama started writing a story, just for Miami. They called it Leave A Legacy. At the time, it was part of a national public awareness campaign designed with a very specific purpose: to inspire people to make charitable bequests.

Over the years, our purpose grew. We added programs to celebrate philanthropy in Miami and to bring together those working in nonprofits for educational programs at networking.

In time, our founding purpose, while still important, was eclipsed by the needs and opportunities of Miami’s nonprofit community, and so we became PhilanthropyMiami.

As new voices joined the PhilanthropyMiami conversation during the past couple of years, we began asking some very important questions. What does our sector need? How can we best serve organizations of all stripes and sizes? How can we convene the individuals who are dedicated to this sector – staff, volunteers, advisors, funders, donors – to facilitate the building of relationships and partnerships?

If you’ve followed us over the past couple of years, if you’ve been part of our story, you know that we’ve expanded our conference and that we’ve added new programming offerings. We’ve created more opportunities for our community to come together.

Today, at the age of 23, we’re celebrating the beginning of the next chapter in PhilanthropyMiami’s story.

We’ve long partnered with The Miami Foundation as our fiscal agent. But over the summer, the child grew up. We’ve become independent by filing our incorporation papers as a 501(c)(3) organization. Not terribly sexy, but a significant step, nonetheless.

It’s a practical manifestation of something much bigger. A more expansive and bolder vision of what we can mean to Miami…to the sector, to our organizations, and to all of you.

We’re convening and building a thriving community of professionals and volunteers, all working toward a greater Miami by increasing the ability of individuals – and through them, institutions – to drive social change. Through curated, elevating experiences for learning and networking, we are enhancing our sense of belonging to something bigger than ourselves…a movement, if you will.

As we turn the page to the next chapter, we’ve refreshed our visual identity. As you’re reading this blog post, you’re partaking in our new website experience. We’re growing our group presence on LinkedIn and Facebook. Through those channels and a new newsletter, we’re committed to creating and sharing great, useful content, and helping all of us get to know each other a little bit better.

Our new Board of Directors, representing a great diversity of skills and experiences, is actively working to shape and lead this new chapter in our story. In addition to our signature programs, we’ve added new offerings.

Last year, we introduced our Deep Dive series, an in-depth exploration of key issues for just for executive leadership.

In January, we inaugurate the PhilanthropyMiami Academy, which will ultimately feature an array of courses on a wide range of topics. Our first offering will be Fundraising Fundamentals, an eight-week, cohort-based, live course for individuals who are new to the development profession. Registration is now open for the 24 spots in this class, which is being hosted at United Way.

We are also proud to announce that PhilanthropyMiami has commissioned a study of the economic impact of the nonprofit sector in Miami-Dade County. The FIU Metropolitan Center is conducting the study, which is supported by Wells Fargo, The Miami Foundation, the Knight Foundation, the Children’s Trust, and the Center for Social Change, the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce. We’re excited to see the results, as the last study was done 16 years ago by the Beacon Council and what was, at the time, the Dade Community Foundation. We’ll release the results of this study on February 7, at a breakfast event hosted by the Adrienne Arsht Center.

We’re writing an ambitious next chapter in our Miami story. We hope that you will continue to be a part of our story.