The nonprofit game isn’t what it used to be.

Every day, these organizations work with children, families, schools, and local leaders to build our communities and better our lives—but this sector is now just beginning to experience a seismic shift, in Denver especially, toward innovation and entrepreneurship.

On Sept. 12 at the Commons on Champa, we’ll be discussing and exploring solutions for non-profit organizations in this time of change as well as why we need to build sustainable non-profits that will continue strengthen our communities in the coming years. This panel, Harnessing Innovation for Social Good: Women Leaders Bringing Entrepreneurial Change to Non-Profit Organizations, will take a look at the issues at hand exclusively through the perspective of Denver’s women leaders.

Elizabeth Suarez, director of Denver’s HERS Institute, has a wealth of experience in facilitating, coaching, and training individuals in the executive management ranks on how to improve their leadership capabilities and skills in order to reach their personal and professional goals. She will also be the moderator of this panel.

Given her experience with clients in the nonprofit arena, her involvement in the community of women, and her leadership in Denver, the event’s organizers feel that she is uniquely positioned as someone who possesses the capability of asking the necessary questions to get most out of this opportunity.

We had the pleasure of briefly speaking with Suarez and picking her brain regarding her ideas for the upcoming panel. Here’s what she had to say.

Innovators Peak: Tell me about some things you’re interested in covering with these panelists.

Elizabeth Suarez: The main thing I would like to cover is how being a leader in the nonprofit arena has changed substantially in the last decade. It seems that prior to this decade there was a lot more funding capable of going to the nonprofits. Now, since there are now so many of them, I view them as having to compete for funding and becoming entrepreneurs in a way.

It’s not only about saying we have the best service for our community, but it’s convincing the angel investors and other people that constantly provide money to the nonprofits that if you have $100 in your pocket, maybe you’ll give me 60 percent of it rather than only 10 percent. That’s where I’d like to talk to these panelists about how they can run a P&L that is effective. They have to act like entrepreneurs to provide the service that is needed in their community.

IP: How specifically will you plan to drive that dialogue and push it to new limits? Tell me about some of the ideas you’re going to be covering.

ES: I haven’t thought about a lot of the questions because a lot of the questions come after you start the conversation, but I think the conversation needs to be geared toward the financial aspect and how [nonprofits] keep their board members complacent with how they’re operating financially, while still serving the community to the level that they need to be served. How do you do that?

In prior years it used to be: “Well people will just donate money and we can go from there.” That’s no longer the case. You have to figure out strategies and how you get money beyond the funders and beyond the donors you’ve had for the last ten years. Also: How do you retain those funders? A lot of them are being tapped and even being asked by others to donate. So now they’re dealing with [donors] that need to be convinced. That’s one of the key questions—what would you do to change my position?

IP: Can you tell me about leading change in the nonprofit sector exclusively through the perspective of women? Not only how but why can we learn from our female leaders as innovators?

ES: What we have noticed in both the nonprofit and entrepreneurial world is that women are stepping up as leaders. We’re looking at women from this perspective, that they are the leaders. In our country and government, a lot of emphasis is being put on women. “Why not women?” would be my question back to you. Why not give this platform to women where they can discuss this—how to improve the growing nonprofit world.

IP: Why do you think this type of event is so crucial in pushing our communities forward?

ES: I think it’s extremely crucial with what is happening in the Denver market. I think this is why Comcast decided to start in Denver with this effort. Denver has become, in the last couple of months, the “it” place. I can tell you that it wasn’t that way five or 10 years ago. In the past year or two, it has become this hub where anyone from the baby boomers to the millennials want to come and live. [Because of that], a lot of nonprofits have been established here. It’s a market that is very technically savvy, so it gives Comcast this opportunity to illustrate this type of facility that opened last spring and to share this with the community at large in Denver. It’s not just a networking event, but a place where we can have discussions that can make a difference in and better serve our communities.

IP: What are you looking forward to and hoping to see from this panel?

ES: What I’m looking forward to is having an open and honest conversation. I know the people we have extended invitations to—these are women that are trailblazers in this market. When we provide these questions they will be open to it. They’ll say, “Bring it on.” They will welcome the opportunity. I’m excited about helping that. I can be the one that brings up the topic and have them bring it up, discuss it, and share it with everyone that is there and interested in non-profits and leadership.

For more information about this exciting event as well as other coming up at the Commons on Champa, visit their website here.