Community Leaders Series
As We See It
Come with a challenge. Leave with connections to help solve it.
Free, 75-minute gatherings where local business owners, school leaders, public sector, and nonprofit leaders hear from a local guide, meet people they would not otherwise cross paths with, and leave with connections that help their work.
Past gatherings have brought together up to 50 local leaders.
- 100% of leaders we surveyed after our spring gatherings met someone new
- 64% met three or more new people
- 45% left with a partnership they were considering
- One director found a hard-to-find hire through a connection made here.
Register for November 17
Tuesday, November 17, 4:00 to 5:15 PM, Glendale Heights Police Department. We'll send a reminder before the event.
Next Gathering
Beyond the Call
When police and social work team up, the response does not end when the call does. And that kind of partnership reaches well beyond the police department:
- In a business: knowing who to call when an employee or customer is in crisis
- In a school: police liaisons, social workers and families working together when a student is struggling
- In local government: connecting residents with the right support at the right time
Many calls need more than law enforcement alone. That is why NuPAGE Communities social workers partner with local police departments, including Glendale Heights, to follow up after a crisis with counseling, family support and connections to the right resources. Chief George Pappas (Glendale Heights Police Department) and Shannon Hartnett (NuPAGE Communities) will share how that partnership works, and what any organization can learn from it about knowing who to call when someone needs more help than you can give.
“This event made me excited to see so many people in my community concerned about our youth.”
“Thanks for bringing like-minded people into the room together!”
Hosted with
Past Gatherings
What happened
September 2026 · NEDSRA, Addison
Partnership is a practice
Leaders from Addison Park District and NEDSRA described a partnership that grew from working side by side on real projects, until the line between their agencies mattered less than what they could deliver together. The shift: from "us and them" to "us."
May 2026 · NAMI DuPage, Wheaton
Mental health at work is a leadership question
Leaders from business, government, nonprofits and behavioral health talked about why the higher you go, the harder it is to talk about. Since then, a government leader reached out to a nonprofit serving their community, and a clinic owner offered a wellness seminar to an agency she met that morning.
March 2026 · Alive Center, Hanover Park
Behavior is communication
So many leaders came that we overwhelmed the space. Schools, police and nonprofits agreed that schools cannot do this alone, and that the challenge is not a lack of care. It is coordination.
February 2025 · NuPAGE Communities, Bloomingdale
A first look at crisis care
Business owners, mental health professionals and community leaders learned about DuPage County Health Department's Crisis Recovery Center and toured a local counseling center. The most common reaction: "I didn't know all of this existed!"
Who It's For
The people who help you do great work in your community
They are often people you have not met yet. At As We See It you will meet business owners, school leaders, nonprofit directors, faith leaders, local government staff and public safety professionals, all invested in the same place you are.
Business owners
You are out in the community every day and notice patterns others miss: customers struggling to find childcare, employees caring for aging parents.
School leaders
The same issues keep surfacing in staff meetings: families facing housing instability, students needing mental health support you cannot provide in-house.
Law enforcement
You respond to the same addresses again and again, where mental health, substance use and community safety meet. You know there must be better solutions.
Nonprofit leaders
You know your services inside and out. But what are schools facing? What patterns are police seeing? What do businesses need to understand about your work?
What to Expect
75 minutes. Long enough to matter. Short enough to be there.
A local guide.
A trusted leader shares a real challenge they are working on, not a polished presentation.
Small-group conversation.
You compare what you are seeing from your corner of the community. This is problem-solving, not just information-sharing.
People worth knowing.
Time to connect with leaders who care about the same challenges, before and after the program.
A look inside.
Each gathering is hosted by a different organization, so you see work you have never seen from the inside.
Held four times a year, with networking before and after the program.