Posted February 13, 2026

Read on LI Herald

By Alyssa R. Griffin

With nonprofit funding growing increasingly competitive and state budgets under pressure, more than 100 community leaders, policymakers and executives gathered at Molloy University to explore how data can be used to tell more powerful stories of impact.

The sold-out forum and panel discussion, “From Numbers to Neighbors: Tracking Impact for Results,” took place at the Hayes Theatre on Molloy’s Rockville Centre campus and was co-hosted by the Nonprofit Resource Hub and Molloy’s Institute for Social Innovation.

Designed for nonprofit and public-sector leaders tasked with defending budgets and demonstrating program results, the Feb. 6 event focused on the growing need for measurable outcomes and return-on-investment data to secure funding and shape policy.

“This kind of work is really critical to what we do, really critical to our teaching mission here at Molloy and critical to the people that you all serve and that we all serve together,” Molloy University President James Lentini said. “It means something to us, and we’re really proud.”

The panel was moderated by Suffolk County Legislator Rebecca Sanin and featured Ronald Rosado Abad, CEO of Community Housing Innovations; Vanessa Baird-Streeter, president and CEO of the Health and Welfare Council of Long Island; Jean Kelly, CEO of The INN; and Lauren Wagner, executive director of the Long Island Arts Alliance.

Baird-Streeter opened the discussion by highlighting how sustained investment is essential to Long Island’s economic stability, public health and long-term resilience.

“Just because the contract asks for the numbers, I think it is incumbent upon nonprofits to tell the story behind the numbers,” she said.

She added that nonprofits have a responsibility to go beyond compliance reporting by using data-informed storytelling to engage funders and government partners in deeper conversations.

Abad spoke about tracking metrics such as eviction risk and demand for homeownership counseling as indicators of shifting cost pressures and housing needs on Long Island.

“I need to see whether it’s really translating into helping a family move from shelter here on Long Island to permanent housing, which is basically to have a place of their own,” he said.

He noted that tracking metrics across finance, operations, personnel and community outreach allows leaders to manage more effectively and help more families achieve long-term housing stability.

Wagner addressed how the arts sector combines qualitative storytelling with hard data to make its case to policymakers.

“We’ve always led with powerful, tactful, life-changing stories about the arts,” she said. “And oftentimes those stories are not necessarily anchored to the types of data points that policymakers have been trained to value, and it’s been hard to translate that in a way that everyone really understands.”

By layering data with personal narratives, she said, the arts sector is demonstrating that it is an essential — not optional — part of community life.

Kelly spoke during the discussion with a call to center dignity in community services.

“We get so deep in the trenches because we’re dealing with basic needs that it’s very hard to get out to discuss things like numbers and statistics,” she said.

She emphasized that how services are delivered matters as much as what is delivered, citing The INN’s welcoming soup kitchen, which treats those it serves as guests.

The program concluded with a question-and-answer session, during which audience members engaged directly with the panelists.