My Conference 2019 Top 5

(left to right) Playhouse Manager Liz Kepniss, Founding President Erin Morris, Mia Morris, Gala Chair Catherine Payne, Youth Board Secretary Brenna Payne and Board Member Dan Edelstein

GiGi’s Playhouse Leadership Conference is one of my favorite events of the year. It is no secret that, as the Playhouse Manager of GiGi’s Playhouse Hillsborough, I love my job. And those four days (Nov. 6 – 9) spent with my counterparts from other Playhouses throughout the network only further reinforced my adoration for my job.

Every year I take away something new from conference, and 2019 was no different. This is my Conference 2019 Top 5!

5. Introducing volunteers to the GiGi’s Playhouse INC National Office for the first time! Showing our key volunteers the original Playhouse and the growth it has achieved in 16 years is amazing. It is one of the best examples we can give of all that our local Playhouse is capable of achieving.

Visiting GiGi’s Playhouse INC in Hoffman Estates, IL.

4. Meeting new employees, Board members and key volunteers from other Playhouses…while also reconnecting with the returning attendees whom I have not seen in a year.
3. Learning about all the good things in the works to ensure that our purposeful programming continues to expand to best meet the therapeutic and educational needs of individuals with Down syndrome.

Over 300 staff, volunteers and advocates from all over the US and Mexico attended the 2019 GiGi’s Playhouse Annual Leadership Conference

2. Seeing firsthand and being inspired by the GiGi’s “ripple effect.” Each action we take on the local level is reaching and affecting thousands of lives each day.
1. Exchanging valuable information and ideas that will enable GiGi’s Playhouse Hillsborough to continue to grow and positively impact the Down syndrome community. With over 300 attendees this year, we are all truly stronger together!

I cannot wait to learn what Leadership Conference 2020 will bring!