The Nonprofit Alliance of Bermuda was formed in 1996 as the Inter Agency Committee for Children, Families and the Community (IAC). IAC’s original purpose was to bring together social sector organisations to improve sector communication, collaboration and standards of services. For its first two decades, IAC functioned as a vibrant network of service providers, with many collaborative outcomes. These included:
- Compiling a Health for Success service directory and Needs Assessment of Youth and Families in 2003.
- Partnering with the Bermuda National Standards Committee (BNSC) between 2005 and 2011 to provide trainings that supported accreditation and certification training from 2005 to 2011.
- Hosting social sector convenings in 2009 and 2010 that explored the root cause issues of Bermuda’s social challenges.
- Conducting in depth research on the the needs of vulnerable children and families from 2011 to 2015, resulting in consensus on eight priority areas to tackle to ensure the wellbeing and rights of children.
- Jointly hosted the Adverse Childhood Experiences Conferences in 2018 and 2019 in partnership with Family Centre.
In 2016, IAC entered a new phase of development by adjusting its mission to focus on sector capacity building and receiving registered charity status in 2017. This started an important transition from being a volunteer led committee of professionals to a staffed organisation that provides core programmes and services. In 2019, IAC hired its first full time Executive Director.
During the early stages of the pandemic, IAC was a key member of the Third Sector Coordinated Crisis Response Effort (CCRE) team. The CCRE was pivotal in ensuring that nonprofit essential services had the coordination and funding needed to maintain operations through the early stages of the pandemic, in particular through the 2020 Shelter In Place and subsequent lockdowns.
With the 2020 closure of the Centre on Philanthropy and the onset of COVID-19, IAC became the primary support entity for nonprofits. To stay relevant to the needs and trends in the capacity building field, IAC made a strategic decision in 2023 to change its name, mission and vision statements to more clearly communicate its priority focus on nonprofits. IAC officially became the Nonprofit Alliance of Bermuda in July 2023, taking the name of a former nonprofit collaborative group that functioned under IAC as the original Nonprofit Alliance collective. In September 2023, the newly named Nonprofit Alliance of Bermuda announced a new strategic plan and Theory of Change to guide its future direction.