The Collective

So this happened yesterday....

Congratulations, you have been selected for The Collective. We are a group meant to inspire and empower Central Florida’s nonprofit leaders.

What is The Collective?

Almost anyone who has worked in the nonprofit sector can agree: It can be tough. The hours are long, the stress is high and the pay is usually low. But working to improve the community - whether that’s on the local level or on a global scale – is also rewarding.

In the United States, nonprofits represented 5.3 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) during 2014, contributing more than $900 billion to the economy. Despite the huge impact that nonprofits, charities and foundations have on U.S., there are very few organizations working to help those that help everyone else.

Enter The Collective.

https://www.collectiveorlando.org/

Launched March 2017 by Andrae Bailey and Jon Busdeker, The Collective is made up of change agents, social disruptors and nonprofits leaders who are trying to make a difference in the community. Open to anyone with a passion for change, The Collective is meant to empower and inspire its members through collaboration and education.

The Collective membership stands at nearly 300 members from across the region with representatives from Second Harvest Food Bank, The Salvation Army, the Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando, Clean the World, Central Florida Community Arts, Feeding Children Everywhere and many more.

What we do

Each month, The Collective hosts several events and training opportunities with the goal of sharing ideas, learning from proven social innovators and creating a community of like-minded passionate advocates. Those events include a membership-wide meeting, after-work networking and a breakfast learning session.

Since its inception, The Collective has hosted some of Central Florida’s most respected leaders, including WKMG’s Julie Broughton, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, Orlando Police Chief John Mina, Walt Disney World’s Ramit Kapoor, former member of the Florida House of Representatives Dick Batchelor and the Orlando Magic’s Linda Landman Gonzalez.

Why we started The Collective

Andrae Bailey, the former head of the Central Florida Commission on Homelessness and founder of Change Everything, is a 20-year nonprofit veteran. But working within the nonprofit realm for two decades is rare. According to Nonprofit Quarterly, the yearly turnover rate at most nonprofits is nearly 20 percent.

Bailey started The Collective with the hope of supporting nonprofit leaders and giving them the tools and motivation to continue working within the nonprofit sector.

Jon Busdeker, a Michigan native, is a former reporter at the Orlando Sentinel and WESH-TV. After leaving the news business, Busdeker chose to stay in Central Florida – his adopted home. The longtime reporter covered hundreds of stories about people doing good in the community, and now he's giving back with the hope of making Central Florida an even better place to call home.