Blackbaud Announces First Featured Speakers and 100 Session Topics for bbcon 2020 Virtual

CHARLESTON, S.C., Aug. 20, 2020 /CNW/ -- Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB), the world's leading cloud software company powering social good, is pleased to announce the first set of featured speakers who will join bbcon 2020 Virtual October 6-8, 2020. Among the latest speaker announcements are Dr. Cornel West—a prominent author, philosopher, professor and activist—who will lead a fireside chat on day two of the global virtual event. Award-winning entrepreneur, author of A Selfish Plan to Change the World and founder/CEO of FRDM, Justin Dillon will be joining the mainstage. Alice L. Ferris, fundraising leadership expert and founder of GoalBusters, and digital wellness and leadership coach Meico Marquette Whitlock will lead a discussion on working in a changing world as part of the mainstage lineup.

To date, nearly 15,000 people from around the world have already registered to attend the tech conference for a better world. This week, bbcon 2020 Virtual also previewed 100 session topics with details on speakers, networking opportunities and social events to be released soon.

"When we set out to plan our first virtual, global bbcon, we knew we wanted to reimagine the experience entirely for the social good community," said Catherine LaCour, Blackbaud Chief Marketing Officer. "Having nearly 15,000 registrants (and counting!) from around the world tells us that this is exactly what our Ecosystem of Good^® needs in 2020 – a way to connect with others in this space while learning about the latest trends and innovations to drive their missions forward. We couldn't be more pleased to have these four prominent, inspiring speakers join us on the mainstage as we bring that vision to life. This is just the first of many announcements to come, so stay tuned!"

Below is an overview of the first four mainstage speakers announced for bbcon 2020 Virtual. More speaker announcements to come.

Dr. Cornel West – Fireside Chat
Dr. Cornel West is professor of the practice of public philosophy at Harvard University and professor emeritus at Princeton University. He has written 20 books and is a frequent guest on the Bill Maher Show, CNN, C-Span and Democracy Now. He has a passion to communicate to diverse audiences in order to keep alive the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. – a legacy of telling the truth and bearing witness to love and justice. 

Justin Dillon – Built for a Changing World:  Reimagining the Future
Justin Dillon is an award-winning entrepreneur, author and founder/CEO of FRDM, an enterprise-grade software company trusted by Fortune 500 companies to manage risks of modern slavery deep in their supply chains. He is the author of A Selfish Plan to Change the World. In 2008, Justin made is his directorial debut in the film Call + Response and has worked in technology and human rights for over ten years, advising the United Nations, White House and Fortune 100 companies on supply chain transparency and the purpose economy.

Alice L. Ferris – Working in a Changing World:  Best Practices 
Alice L. Ferris, MBA, CFRE, ACFRE, is the founder of GoalBusters, providing hands-on, comprehensive fundraising leadership for small- to medium-sized charitable organizations. Alice has 30 years of experience in the philanthropic sector, focusing on strategic and development planning, board development, annual giving, nonprofit operations and small shops.

Meico Marquette Whitlock – Working in a Changing World:  Best Practices
Meico Marquette Whitlock is a digital wellness and leadership coach who helps changemakers create work-life and tech-life balance. He is the founder and CEO of Mindful Techie and author of the Intention Planner. He has worked with organizations such as Cigna, Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund and has been a featured speaker on ABC News, Fox 5, Radio One.

For information about bbcon 2020 Virtual and to register for the tech conference for a better world happening October 6-8, visit bbconference.com. 

About Blackbaud
Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB) is the world's leading cloud software company powering social good. Serving the entire social good community—nonprofits, higher education institutions, K–12 schools, healthcare organizations, faith communities, arts and cultural organizations, foundations, companies and individual change agents—Blackbaud connects and empowers organizations to increase their impact through cloud software, services, expertise and data intelligence. The Blackbaud portfolio is tailored to the unique needs of vertical markets, with solutions for fundraising and CRM, marketing, advocacy, peer-to-peer fundraising, corporate social responsibility, school management, ticketing, grantmaking, financial management, payment processing and analytics. Serving the industry for more than three decades, Blackbaud is headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina, and has operations in the United States, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit  www.blackbaud.com or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.

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Except for historical information, all of the statements, expectations, and assumptions contained in this news release are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including statements regarding expected benefits of products and product features. Although Blackbaud attempts to be accurate in making these forward-looking statements, it is possible that future circumstances might differ from the assumptions on which such statements are based. In addition, other important factors that could cause results to differ materially include the following: general economic risks; uncertainty regarding increased business and renewals from existing customers; continued success in sales growth; management of integration of acquired companies and other risks associated with acquisitions; risks associated with successful implementation of multiple integrated software products; the ability to attract and retain key personnel; risks associated with management of growth; lengthy sales and implementation cycles, particularly in larger organization; technological changes that make our products and services less competitive; and the other risk factors set forth from time to time in the SEC filings for Blackbaud, copies of which are available free of charge at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov or upon request from Blackbaud's investor relations department. All Blackbaud product names appearing herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of Blackbaud, Inc.

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