Walter Abernathy
Chief Executive Officer · NANA
Conference
Leadership Summit 2025
1,120 association leaders convened in Washington for NANA's flagship three-day Summit.
- Jun – , 2025
Washington, DC · In-person
- 18 CAE hrs
Members $795 · Non-members $1,150 (early bird $595)
Who attended
1,120 executive directors, board members, and senior staff filled the NANA National Conference Center from June 4 to 6, 2025 — up from 1,050 the year before. It was the last Summit before the board's November 2025 vote to move the flagship gathering to December starting in 2027.
What attendees left with
Walter Abernathy opened with the state of the sector, followed by Inês Carvalho-Reyes on what State of Associations 2025 meant for a movement holding steady at 2.1% growth for a second straight year. Gordon Ashcombe and Benjamin Oduya walked the room through the bylaws review Oduya completed in 2024 — a past-chair board seat and three-year director terms, both now in effect.
Renée Okafor previewed the member-portal rebuild ahead of its 2026 launch, and Julian Achterberg ran a session on what was working, and what wasn't, across NANA's six chapters. Lorraine Petrakis gave her annual finance briefing, and Haruko Tanaka previewed the Dues Model Study a month before its July kickoff webinar.
"A dues model that worked when you had 200 members doesn't survive at 900. We're not guessing anymore — we're about to have data."
— Haruko Tanaka
Simone Radcliffe closed the advocacy track with an update on postal rates and the association health plan rulemaking, and Rosalind Kettering sat for a conversation on running the Summit — one of eleven she had by then run since 2014. The Summit closed with a live taping of the NANA podcast and a plenary on governance in a growth year.
Venue and travel
The Summit met at the NANA National Conference Center, ten minutes from Reagan National by Metro. Registration ran $795 for members and $1,150 for non-members, with an early-bird rate of $595 for those who registered ahead of the spring deadline. The Summit carries up to 18 CAE credit hours across the full three days.
Agenda
12 sessions
General
Opening plenary: the state of the sector
Main Hall
Walter Abernathy
Chief Executive Officer, NANA
Walter Abernathy opens the Summit with a look at where the association sector stands going into 2025.
Research
State of Associations 2025: what flat growth means
Main Hall
Inês Carvalho-Reyes
Director of Research, NANA
Inês Carvalho-Reyes breaks down a second straight year of 2.1% median membership growth across 720 surveyed associations.
Governance
Governance: the bylaws review, one year in
Room 202
Benjamin Oduya
Secretary, Coalition of Independent Museums
Gordon Ashcombe
Immediate Past Chair, Society of Rural Hospital Administrators
Benjamin Oduya and Gordon Ashcombe on the new past-chair board seat and three-year director terms adopted in the 2024 bylaws review.
Digital operations
The member portal: what's coming next
Room 202
Renée Okafor
Director of Digital, NANA
Renée Okafor previews the redesigned member portal ahead of its 2026 launch, including single sign-on and a unified resource library.
Chapter leadership
Chapter relations: what's working across six chapters
Room 105
Julian Achterberg
Director of Membership and Chapter Relations, NANA
Julian Achterberg compares recruitment and renewal practices across NANA's six regional chapters.
Finance
Finance and reserves: the CFO's view
Main Hall
Lorraine Petrakis
Chief Operating Officer and CFO, NANA
Lorraine Petrakis on reserve policy and budget discipline for associations of every size.
Finance
Dues models ahead of the study kickoff
Main Hall
Haruko Tanaka
Treasurer, Alliance of Regional Credit Unions
Haruko Tanaka previews the Dues Model Study, a month before its July 2025 kickoff webinar, and the 300-association survey behind it.
Advocacy
Advocacy update: postal rates and health plans
Room 202
Simone Radcliffe
Director of Public Policy, NANA
Simone Radcliffe updates members on the newly introduced Nonprofit Mail Stability Act and the association health plan rulemaking.
Events and meetings
Running the Summit: eleven years in
Room 105
Rosalind Kettering
Director of Meetings and Events, NANA
Rosalind Kettering, who has run every Summit since 2014, on how the event has grown from a few hundred attendees to over a thousand.
Career development
Learning and credentialing: what CAE prep can do for your staff
Room 105
Theo Nakashima-Ward
Director of Learning and Credentialing, NANA
Theo Nakashima-Ward on NANA's CAE prep courses and pre-approved credit hours.
General
Podcast live taping: sector basics revisited
Main Hall
Amara Obiledu
Senior Editor and Podcast Host, NANA
Walter Abernathy
Chief Executive Officer, NANA
A live taping of the NANA podcast with host Amara Obiledu and Walter Abernathy, its first guest.
Governance
Closing plenary: governance in a growth year
Main Hall
Gordon Ashcombe
Immediate Past Chair, Society of Rural Hospital Administrators
Walter Abernathy
Chief Executive Officer, NANA
Gordon Ashcombe and Walter Abernathy close the Summit with a look ahead to the fall board ballot and the sector's next year.
Speakers
Gordon Ashcombe
Immediate Past Chair · Society of Rural Hospital Administrators
Inês Carvalho-Reyes
Director of Research · NANA
Benjamin Oduya
Secretary · Coalition of Independent Museums
Renée Okafor
Director of Digital · NANA
Julian Achterberg
Director of Membership and Chapter Relations · NANA
Lorraine Petrakis
Chief Operating Officer and CFO · NANA
Haruko Tanaka
Treasurer · Alliance of Regional Credit Unions
Simone Radcliffe
Director of Public Policy · NANA
Rosalind Kettering
Director of Meetings and Events · NANA
Theo Nakashima-Ward
Director of Learning and Credentialing · NANA
Amara Obiledu
Senior Editor and Podcast Host · NANA
Sponsors
Presenting
Premier
Supporting
Venue & travel
NANA National Conference Center, 1000 Association Blvd, Washington, DC 20001. Ten minutes from Reagan National (DCA) via Metro.
Frequently asked questions
Yes — up to 18 CAE credit hours across the full three days.
Yes. Organizations sending five or more attendees receive 15% off the registration total.
Registering and paying in full 60 days before the Summit's start date qualified attendees for the $595 early-bird price.
This event has ended
1,120 association leaders convened in Washington for NANA's flagship three-day Summit.