by April Carter, Chief Programs Officer, Tennessee Nonprofit Network
I’ve spent nearly two decades in the nonprofit sector. I have grown up professionally here, starting as an Executive Assistant, moving into Membership, stepping into Program leadership, and now serving as Chief Program Officer. I have sat at nearly every kind of table there is, from folding chairs in the back of a conference room to the head of a strategic planning table.
Working for an organization that provides technical assistance has been one of the greatest privileges of my career. Over the years, I have taken countless nonprofit training courses. Board governance. Grant writing. Fundraising. HR compliance. Finance. I have earned certifications, completed licensures, and invested deeply in learning how to do the work well. That knowledge matters. It is the foundation. It is what allows me to perform with confidence, credibility, and competence in whatever role I’m in.
When Training Was Not Enough
Yet the truth is this. The moments that made the biggest difference in my career were not found in a workbook or a slide deck. They came through connection.
I was reminded of this recently while planning TNN’s large-scale conference. I had done the trainings. I understood timelines, contracts, room blocks, food and beverage minimums, and budget projections. On paper, I was prepared. Then reality showed up. Venues were unavailable. Costs were far beyond budget. Negotiations stalled. The textbook approach did not offer much help in that moment.
What did help was my network.
I reached out to my Leadership Tennessee connections and was introduced to a higher-level decision maker in the hospitality industry. That relationship changed everything. We secured a location that had previously been out of reach, and at nearly half the cost of other options. No training manual could have solved that problem. A relationship did.
Where Growth Really Happens
That experience reinforced something I have seen again and again throughout my career. Professional development opens the door to knowledge. Connection opens the door to opportunity.
Mentorship sits at the intersection of the two. Mentors translate theory into practice. They help you navigate gray areas, avoid costly mistakes, and see possibilities you may not yet recognize. They advocate for you when you are not in the room. They make introductions that shorten learning curves and expand influence.
Too often, professional development is narrowly defined as formal training. A conference. A certification. A course. Those things matter deeply and should never be dismissed. Knowing what you are doing is essential. There is truth in the saying that what you know is what keeps you there.
At the same time, believing that connection, networking, or leadership cohorts are not “real” professional development often reflects access that others have never had. When you have always been surrounded by mentors, decision makers, and informal opportunities, it is easy to underestimate how transformative those experiences are for someone else.
For many nonprofit professionals, especially those early in their leadership journey or from historically underrepresented backgrounds, development is not only about skill-building. It is about access. Access to rooms. Access to relationships. Access to people who can say your name when opportunities arise.
Why This Matters to Me
One of the most equitable choices an organization can make is allowing team members to help define what professional development means for them.
For some, that may look like a certification or advanced degree. For others, it may be attending a national conference and seeing what is possible beyond their city. For someone else, it may be coaching, mentorship, or being part of a cohort where they are no longer the only one in the room.
This is why it matters so much to me that the programming we offer through Tennessee Nonprofit Network creates space not only for learning the content, but for building real connection. The goal has never been to simply deliver information and move on. The goal is community. When people learn together, struggle through challenges together, and share their stories openly, something lasting is formed.
We see this clearly in our TeamUp, LeadingUp, and other cohort programs. Long after the sessions end, graduates are still calling one another, collaborating on projects, sharing resources, and showing up for each other. Years later, those relationships remain. That kind of sustained connection does not happen by accident. It happens when professional development is designed with intention.
A Commitment, Not a Checkbox
If we want to retain strong talent, build diverse leadership pipelines, and create cultures where people grow rather than burn out, professional development must be treated as an investment rather than a line item. Nonprofit leaders are asked to be visionary, mission-driven, emotionally intelligent, culturally competent, and fiscally responsible, often all at once. Without a holistic approach to growth, the risk is stagnation, inequity, and loss.
Professional development is not a checkbox. It is a commitment. It requires training, yes. It also requires relationships, mentorship, and trust. That is where growth takes root, and that is what sustains leaders for the long haul.
So, the question is not whether professional development matters. It does. The real question is whether we are willing to expand how we define it, listen to what people actually need, and invest accordingly.