2026 Nonprofit Data Capacity Summit - Toronto
About this Event
The Nonprofit Data Capacity Summit brings together nonprofit staff & leaders, intermediaries, funders and government for a day of engaging in meaningful cross-sector conversations.
The summit is designed to foster collaboration and offer strategies to help strengthen the sector’s capacity to create data informed impact for the communities they serve.
The day will feature insightful presentations from leaders in the field and funding partners, along with breakout sessions focused on building data capacity, sharing tools and resources, and exploring what a more connected, equitable future state of nonprofit data could look like.
Who should attend this event?
The summit is designed for anyone in the nonprofit sector, especially those involved in program management, evaluation, operations, strategy, or data use. Whether you're just beginning to explore data or looking to deepen your capacity, this event is for you.
What will the program be?
The day's agenda will be released by July 2026, with the attendees spending the morning engaging in ecosystem level conversation and content. In the afternoon, content will become more tailored to specific topics and audiences. These sessions will be curated from a series of submissions from folks across the sector. Please see the event website for more details on how to submit.
Agenda
🕑: 08:00 AM
Registration Opens
🕑: 08:30 AM - 09:30 AM
Breakfast
🕑: 09:30 AM - 10:15 AM
Welcome and Opening Remarks
🕑: 10:15 AM - 11:00 AM
Keynote
🕑: 11:00 AM - 11:15 AM
Break
🕑: 11:15 AM - 12:30 PM
Research Informing Innovation - Panel
🕑: 12:30 PM - 01:30 PM
Lunch
🕑: 01:30 PM - 02:30 PM
Values Aligned AI Design and Governance
Host: Neil Price
Info: This session presents two AI related case studies with speakers exploring how culturally responsive AI capacity building and values-based AI governance can help organizations adopt AI in ways that are equitable, practical, and aligned with their mission. LogicialOutcomes will present Year One of the AI Lab for B3 organizations that co-designed AI tools and training to reflect their realities. While, Health Commons Solutions Lab will walk through developing and implementing AI governance that is values aligned and grounded in an organization’s core principles.
🕑: 01:30 PM - 02:30 PM
Beyond the Data Deficit: Working with Nonprofit Sector Data
Host: Anita Khanna
Info: The nonprofit sector is often described as lacking data, yet valuable information exists across a growing number of datasets and research initiatives. This session explores key sources of nonprofit sector data and how they have been used to better understand the sector's workforce, economic contribution, and broader impact. Nonprofit data practitioners will leave with case studies and ideas for putting sector data to work in research, advocacy, and planning.
🕑: 01:30 PM - 02:30 PM
Building Nonprofit Data Capacity
Host: Wilfreda Edward
Info: Canada’s not-for-profit sector is being asked to do more with less. AI, data storytelling, and data collaboration tools are often presented as solutions to limited capacity and resources. But, as with past waves of technology, many organizations are being pushed toward new tools before the data foundations needed to support them are in place.
This presentation proposes, through practical examples and sector experience, that data management, governance, privacy, and security are not bureaucratic barriers. They are the infrastructure that determines whether these tools actually deliver value. Open North and CCNDR present a shared approach grounded in their hands-on work with organizations across Canada.
🕑: 02:30 PM - 02:45 PM
Break
🕑: 02:45 PM - 03:45 PM
Measuring Reconciliation
Host: Vanitha Lucas
Info: This session explores the challenge of measuring reconciliation and large-scale social movement work across Canada. While nonprofits are increasingly expected to demonstrate impact through data, it can be difficult to quantify outcomes such as relationship building, cultural understanding, and systemic change. The presentation will use a case study to show how an activity list can evolve into a database, enabling deeper insights into year-over-year trends related to reconciliation.
🕑: 02:45 PM - 03:45 PM
Getting It Right: How Your Data collection Connects to Your Work
Host: Zeen Qurshi
Info: This session explores how nonprofit and community-serving organizations can use stronger quantitative and qualitative research methods to better understand the people, communities, and systems they work with. Drawing on examples from Mass Culture’s work mobilizing arts and culture research and the National Institute on Ageing’s research on ageing in Canada, panelists will discuss how they have used data collection to generate meaningful insights and actionable policies. Participants will leave with ideas for designing data collection approaches that are purposeful, responsive, and grounded in the realities of the people they are intended to support.
🕑: 02:45 PM - 03:45 PM
Building Data Capacity Across Communities: Data Insights to Strategies
Host: Cara Eaton
Info: This session explores how nonprofit and community organizations can move beyond collecting data for compliance and toward using data as a tool for equity, learning, and sector-wide action. Drawing on examples from Data for Change and Volunteer Toronto, presenters will share practical approaches to building organizational data culture, collecting and interpreting social identity and volunteerism data, and translating insights into more responsive programs, services, and engagement strategies. Participants will leave with concrete tools, case studies, and a clearer understanding of how community-generated data can help organizations identify gaps, tell stronger stories, and drive meaningful change.
🕑: 03:45 PM - 04:00 PM
Break
🕑: 04:00 PM - 05:00 PM
Data Management in Practice & Closing Remarks
Host: Steve Cumming
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
CAD 242.19 to CAD 272.28
